On This Day December 9th

 OTD

December 9th is the 343rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 22 days remain until the end of the year.

 Events

1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British rule in Virginia.

1851 – The first YMCA in North America was established in Montreal.

1868 – The first traffic lights were installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

1946 – The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors' Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.

1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (with rinderpest in 2011 being the other).

2006 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-116 carrying the P5 truss segment of the International Space Station.

 

Birthdays

1608 – John Milton, English poet and philosopher (d. 1674)

1875 – Harry Miller, American engineer (d. 1943)

1886 – Clarence Birdseye, American businessman, founded Birds Eye (d. 1956)

1900 – Margaret Brundage, American illustrator known for illustrating pulp magazine Weird Tales (d. 1976)

1902 – Margaret Hamilton, American schoolteacher, actress and voice artist (d. 1985)

1906 – Grace Hopper, American admiral and computer scientist designed COBOL (d. 1992)

1909 – Douglas Fairbanks Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (d. 2000)

1922 – Redd Foxx, American actor (d. 1991)

1942 – Dick Butkus, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2023)

1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor

1967 – Joshua Bell, American violinist and conductor

 

Holiday Spotlight

Christmas Card Day

  Annual Christmas cards have become a widespread and time-honored (or maybe family-mandated) tradition, a means of telling your friends and family, however distant, “Happy holidays, we’re thinking of you, and look how great we’re doing!” They’re a way of doing a yearly catch-up and checking how much the children have grown and what big moves so-and-so have made. And while they seem commonplace now, that wasn’t always the case.

 Sir Henry Cole, a member of the British civil service, created the modern concept of the Christmas card along with his artist friend, John Horsley, in 1843 to encourage more people to use the new British postal system. Their first card was sold for one shilling or about 24 U.S. cents. By the 1860s, the practice of sending Christmas cards was more or less in full swing in Britain, thanks to the rise and advent of the printing press.

 Christmas cards inevitably reached the USA in the 1840s, close to when the first ones were printed. However, the expenses involved in their production rendered them a stagnant practice until 1875, when German printer Louis Prang started mass-producing the cards, making them affordable. It wasn’t until the Hall brothers opened Hallmark in the early 20th century that the practice took off in the U.S.

 Today, Christmas cards have become a significant part of the holiday tradition. Whether you take a family photo or create one out of construction paper, glue, and glitter, your Christmas cards will surely make their recipients smile.

 

Other Include

Cremation Day

Gingerbread Decorating Day

International Anti-Corruption Day

International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and the Prevention of This Crime

International Day of Veterinary Medicine

International Shareware Day

National Llama Day

National Pastry Day

Tanzania Independence Day

Weary Willie Day

World Genocide Commemoration Day

World Techno Day

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