Today is Wednesday, December 9, the 343rd day of 2009. There are 22 days left in the year.
0536 _ Byzantines Libya occupies Rome on Ostrogoten
1878 _ Joseph Pulitzer buys St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500
1905 _ French Assembly National votes for separation of church and state
1905 _ Richard Strauss' opera ``Salome" premieres in Dresden
1907 _ First Christmas Seals sold (Wilmington, Del., post office)
1931 _ Spain becomes a republic
1941 _ China declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy
1941 _ Hitler orders U.S. ships torpedoed
1990 _ Lech Walesa wins presidential election in Poland
1992 _ Prince Charles and Princess Diana separation announced by British P.M. John Major