Updated December 8, 2011, 1:28 pm
On Dec. 9, 1992, Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation.
On Dec. 9, 1912, Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, the American politician who was the Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives for 11 years , was born. Following his death on Jan. 5, 1994, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1608 Poet John Milton was born in London. 1854 The poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England. 1907 Christmas seals went on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office. The proceeds went to fight tuberculosis. 1940 British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II. 1941 China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy. 1958 The anti-Communist John Birch Society was formed in Indianapolis. 1975 President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default. 1992 Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. 1993 The Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty. 1995 Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., was chosen to head the NAACP. 2000 The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt in the Florida presidential vote count. 2002 United Airlines filed the biggest bankruptcy in aviation history after losing $4 billion in the previous two years. 2004 Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional. 2008 Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on suspicion of scheming to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat for cash or a job for himself in the new administration. (Blagojevich was convicted of lying to the FBI; he awaits re-trial on 23 other charges.) Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Kirk Douglas turns 95 years old today.
AP Photo/Charles Sykes
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., turns 45 years old today.
AP Photo/Don Heupel
1928 Dick Van Patten, Actor (“Eight is Enough”), turns 83 1930 Buck Henry, Actor, writer, turns 81 1934 Judi Dench, Actress, turns 77 1938 Deacon Jones, Football Hall of Famer, turns 73 1941 Beau Bridges, Actor, turns 70 1942 Dick Butkus, Football Hall of Famer, turns 69 1947 Tom Daschle, Former U.S. senator, D-S.D., turns 64 1949 Tom Kite, Golfer, turns 62 1950 Joan Armatrading, Rock singer, turns 61 1953 John Malkovich, Actor, turns 58 1957 Donny Osmond, Singer, turns 54 1959 Mario Cantone, Comedian, turns 52 1962 Felicity Huffman, Actress (“Desperate Housewives”), turns 49 1969 Jakob Dylan, Rock musician (Wallflowers), turns 42 1970 Kara DioGuardi, Songwriter, TV personality (“American Idol”), turns 41 1972 Tre Cool, Rock musician (Green Day), turns 39 1974 Canibus, Rapper, turns 37 1978 Jesse Metcalfe, Actor, turns 33 1980 Simon Helberg, Actor (“The Big Bang Theory”), turns 31 Historic Birthdays
Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill 12/9/1912 – 1/5/1994 (1977-86) American politician and longest serving speaker of the House of Representatives. Go to obituary »
65 John Milton 12/9/1608 – 11/8/1674
English poet and scholar43 Carl Wilhelm Scheele 12/9/1742 – 5/21/1786
Swedish chemist73 Comte Claude-Louis Berthollet 12/9/1748 – 11/6/1822
French chemist69 Clarence Birdseye 12/9/1886 – 10/7/1956
American businessman and pioneer of frozen foods80 Emmett Kelly 12/9/1898 – 3/28/1979
American circus clown70 Dalton Trumbo 12/9/1905 – 9/10/1976
American screenwriter and novelist85 Grace Murray Hopper 12/9/1906 – 1/1/1992
American admiral59 John Cassavetes 12/9/1929 – 2/3/1989
American actor and film director
