WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2008

Today is Wednesday, January 9, the ninth day of 2008. There are 357 days left in the year.

0536 _ Byzantines Libya occupies Rome on Ostrogoten

1212 _ Frederik II crowns himself Roman Catholic king

1688 _ King James II's wife and son flee England for France

1793 _ Noah Webster establishes New York's first daily newspaper, American Minerva

1878 _ Joseph Pulitzer buys St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500

1931 _ The Japanese army attacks the Chinese province of Jehol

1939 _ Russian air raid on Helsinki

1941 _ China declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy

1941 _ Hitler orders U.S. ships torpedoed

1948 _ The U.N. General Assembly unanimously approves the Convention on Genocide

1963 _ Zanzibar gains independence from Britain

1990 _ Lech Walesa wins presidential election in Poland

1992 _ Prince Charles and Princess Diana separation announced by British PM John Major

1992 _ Operation Restore Hope ― U.S. Marines land in Somalia