December 9

Today in History
• 1640 - Settler Hugh Bewitt banished from Mass colony when he says to be free of original sin
• 1783 - First execution at Newgate Jail in London
• 1793 - Noah Webster establishes New York's 1st daily newspaper, the "American Minerva"
• 1851 - 1st Young Men's Christian Association in North America set up in Montreal
• 1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London
• 1869 - Noble Order of Knights of Labor founded, Philadelphia
• 1884 - Levant Richardson patents ball-bearing skate
• 1907 - First Christmas Seals sold (Wilmington, Delaware, post office)


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Christmas Card Day
• Genocide Prevention Day
• International Day of Veterinary Medicine
• National Llama Day
• National Pastry Day
• Tanzania Independence Day
• Techno Day
• V.C. Bird Day

Birthdays
• 1447 - Chenghua, Emperor of China
• 1579 - Martinus de Porres, Peruvian saint (patron of social justice)
• 1594 - Gustavus II Adolphus, King who made Sweden a major power (1611-32)
• 1751 - Maria Luisa of Parma, Queen of Charles IV of Spain
• 1868 - Fritz Haber, German physicist and chemist (Nobel 1918)
• 1886 - Clarence Birdseye, inventor and founder of the modern frozen food industry (Birdseye)
• 1898 - Emmett Kelly, American circus clown (Weary Willie)
• 1929 - Robert J L Hawke, Lab, Prime Minister Australia, 1983 - 1991