Historical Events on December 9

  • 1775: Colonial Virginia militia defeat British troops at the Battle of Great Bridge during the American Revolutionary War. Soon after, the British leave Virginia.
  • 1793: Noah Webster publishes the first daily newspaper for New York City – the American Minerva.
  • 1835: During the Texan Revolution, the Texan army captures the city of San Antonio, Texas.
  • 1851: The first YMCA in North America opens in the city of Montreal, Canada.
  • 1872: B. S. Pinchback is elected as the first African-American governor in a U.S state when he is elected to be Louisiana’s governor.
  • 1875: The organization that would become America’s oldest active gun club -the Massachusetts Rifle Association -is founded on this day.
  • 1911: 84 miners are killed when a mine near Briceville, Tennessee explodes.
  • 1917: Jerusalem is captured by Field Marshal Allenby on this day during World War I.
  • 1940: Major General Richard O’Connor leads Indian and British forces in an assault against Italian forces near Sidi Barrani, Egypt during Operation Compass of the Second World War.
  • 1941: China, Guatemala and the Commonwealth of the Philippines all declare war on Japan and Germany during World War II.
  • 1953: During the Red Scare of the 1950s, G.E announces that they will be discharging all employees who are communist from the company.
  • 1961: Tanganyika gains its independence from Great Britain.

Famous Birthdays on December 9

  • English poet and philosopher, John Milton is born in 1608.
  • English poet Richard Lovelace is born in 1617.
  • Irish chemist Thomas Andrews is born in 1813.
  • American actress Margaret Hamilton is born in 1902.
  • American actor and singer, Robert Livingston is born in 1904.
  • American author and screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo is born in 1905.
  • American captain and actor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is born in 1909.
  • American actor Broderick Crawford is born in 1911.
  • American actor Kirk Douglas is born in 1916.
  • American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, James Rainwater is born in 1917.
  • British actress Joyce Redman is born in 1918.
  • American actor Redd Foxx is born in 1922.