Today is Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 — the 343rd day of the year, with 22 days remaining.
On this day in history:
– 1965: A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first animated television special featuring Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts characters, premiered on CBS.
Other notable events that occurred on Dec. 9:
– 1979: Scientists declared the global eradication of smallpox, a disease that killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century.
– 1990: Solidarity founder Lech Wałęsa won Poland’s first free presidential election since 1926.
– 1992: The first U.S. Marines made a predawn beach landing in Somalia to support Operation Restore Hope; they arrived amid heavy media coverage.
– 2006: Space shuttle Discovery launched on a mission to add to and rewire the International Space Station.
– 2013: Scientists announced that NASA’s Curiosity rover had found evidence of an ancient freshwater lake on Mars.
– 2019: The Whakaari/White Island volcano off New Zealand’s coast erupted, killing 22 visitors and guides and injuring many others; most of the 47 people on the island were U.S. and Australian cruise ship passengers.
– 2021: A cargo truck carrying migrants crashed in southern Mexico, killing at least 53 people and injuring dozens more.
Today’s birthdays:
– Judi Dench, actor — 91
– Beau Bridges, actor — 84
– Tom Kite, World Golf Hall of Famer — 76
– John Malkovich, actor — 72
– Donny Osmond, singer — 68
– Felicity Huffman, actor — 63
– Empress Masako of Japan — 62
– Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — 59
– Jakob Dylan, rock singer-musician (The Wallflowers) — 56
– Simon Helberg, actor — 45
– McKayla Maroney, Olympic gymnastics gold medalist — 30
– Nico Parker, actor — 21
