Today is Sunday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2018. There are 22 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight: On Dec. 9, 1987, the first Palestinian intefadeh, or uprising, began as riots broke out in Gaza and spread to the West Bank, triggering a strong Israeli response.
On this date:
In 1608, English poet John Milton was born in London.
In 1917, British forces captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks.
In 1935, the Downtown Athletic Club of New York honored college football player Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago with the DAC Trophy, which later became known as the Heisman Trophy.
In 1940, British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II.
In 1958, the anti-communist John Birch Society was formed in Indianapolis.
In 1962, the Petrified Forest in Arizona was designated a national park.
In 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the first animated TV special featuring characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, premiered on CBS.
In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan-authorization that officials of New York City and State said would prevent a city default.
In 1984, the five-day-old hijacking of a Kuwaiti jetliner that claimed the lives of two Americans ended as Iranian security men seized control of the plane, which was parked at Tehran airport.
In 1990, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa won Poland’s presidential runoff by a landslide.
In 1992, Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. (The couple’s divorce became final in Aug. 1996.)
In 2000, the U-S Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt in the Florida vote count on which Al Gore pinned his best hopes of winning the White House.
Today’s birthdays: Actor Kirk Douglas is 102. Actor-writer Buck Henry is 88. Actress Dame Judi Dench is 84. Actor Beau Bridges is 77. Football Hall of Famer Dick Butkus is 76. Comedian-songwriter Neil Innes is 74. Actor Michael Nouri is 73. Former Sen. Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., is 71. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite is 69. Singer Joan Armatrading is 68. Actor Michael Dorn is 66. Actor John Malkovich is 65. Country singer Sylvia is 62. Singer Donny Osmond is 61.
Thought for today: “In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844-1900).
— Associated Press
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