THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 9

December 9 is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 22 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

NATIONAL PASTRY DAY 

536 – Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flee the capital.  

1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops lose the Battle of Great Bridge, and leave Virginia soon afterward. 

1835 – Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio, Texas.

1861 – American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress. It was established following the embarrassing Union defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, at the instigation of Senator Zachariah T. Chandler of Michigan, and continued until May 1865. Its purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate states, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing emancipation, the use of black soldiers, and the appointment of generals who were known to be aggressive fighters. It was chaired throughout by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, and became identified with the Radical Republicans who wanted more aggressive war policies than those of Abraham Lincoln.

1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African-American governor of a in the United States.

1911 – A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee (the Cross Mountain Mine), kills 84 miners despite rescue efforts led by the United States Bureau of Mines. The likely cause of the explosion was the ignition of dust and gas released by a roof fall. The Cross Mountain Mine operation was one of the first major rescue efforts carried out by the Bureau of Mines. Although only 5 of the 89 miners trapped by the explosion were rescued, the bureau collected invaluable information that aided later mine rescue efforts. The rescue effort also helped the bureau's public image, and ensured continued funding in the future.

1935 – Walter Liggett, American newspaper editor and muckraker, is killed in a gangland murder. In Minneapolis/St. Paul during the 1930s, Liggett worked as an investigative journalist and editor of the newspaper Midwest American. He specialized in exposés of Minneapolis and Saint Paul organized crime and their connections to corrupt politicians.

1935 – The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, is awarded for the first time. The winner is halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago.

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.

1948 – The Genocide Convention is adopted. More accurately, The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260. The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951. It defines genocide in legal terms, and is the culmination of years of campaigning by lawyer Raphael Lemkin. Yair Auron writes "When Raphael Lemkin coined the word genocide in 1944 he cited the 1915 annihilation of Armenians as a seminal example of genocide." All participating countries are advised to prevent and punish actions of genocide in war and in peacetime. The number of states that have ratified the convention is currently 143.

1950 – Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass secrets involving the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

1953 – The Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company. N.B.: The Wikipedia reference is flacid with respect to the actual issues of the time.

1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Air Force executes an airdrop of Indian Army units, bypassing Pakistani defenses.

1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.

2003 – A blast in the center of Moscow's Red Square kills six people and wounds several more. According to police, a female suicide bomber set off an explosive belt on a busy street close to the Moscow Kremlin, killing six people and injuring 44. Moscow's mayor Yuri Luzhkov reported speculation that the bomber had intended to target the nearby Moscow City Hall or State Duma instead. According to the investigation, the suicide bomber was identified as Khadishat (in other sources - Khedizhi) Mangerieva, a widow of a Chechen rebel commander of Kurchaloyevsky District, Ruslan Mangeriev, who was killed during the Second Chechen War.

2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

TODAY'S BIRTHS

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

1883 – Joseph Pilates, German-American fitness expert, developed Pilates (d. 1967)

1905 – Dalton Trumbo, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976)

1932 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player and academic (d. 2013)

1944 – Bob O'Connor, American businessman and politician, 57th Mayor of Pittsburgh (d. 2006)

From Wikipedia and Google, ex as noted.