December 9th

+Scandinavia (specifically Sweden): Anna’s Day. Recognizes everyone named Anna, and marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve. +Tanzania – Independence Day (of Tanganyika from Britain, 1961)

Births*: 1608 – John Milton, English poet 1886 – Clarence Birdseye, American frozen food manufacturer (d. 1956) 1898 – Emmett Kelly, American circus clown (d. 1979) 1909 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (d. 2000) 1912 – Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives 1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor 1922 – Redd Foxx, American comedian (d. 1991) 1928 – Dick Van Patten, American actor 1934 – Judi Dench British actress 1941 – Beau Bridges, American actor 1942 – Dick Butkus, American football player 1947 – Tom Daschle, American politician 1953 – John Malkovich, American actor 1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer and actor 1962 – Felicity Huffman, American actress 1968 – Brian Bell, American guitarist (Weezer) 1969 – Jakob Dylan, American singer (The Wallflowers) 1976 – Imogen Heap, British singer and songwriter

Events*: +536 – Byzantine General Belisarius enters in Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city, returning the old capital to its empire. +1531 – First apparition of the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe) to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on Tepeyac Hill +1793 – New York City’s first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster. +1835 – The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio. +1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec. +1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state. +1897 – Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde in Paris. +1905 – In France, the law separating church and state is passed. +1941 – World War II: The Republic of China, Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and Cuba declare war on Germany and Japan. +1958 – Red Scare: The John Birch Society founded in the United States. +1965 – Kecksburg UFO incident +1969 – Groundbreaking of Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail system. +1990 – Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland. +1992 – The separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales is announced

AND December 9th, 2006, MY sister is getting married in a simple ceremony at our family home. Congratulations Elizabeth & Seth! (To all family members reading this, invitations will be sent. The whole thing was decided last night, so it’s very spur-of-the-moment!)

(*Heavily edited list of births & events.)