Today is Friday, December 9, the 343rd day of 2011. There are 22 days left in the year.
1878 ― Joseph Pulitzer buys St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500
1884 ― Levant Richardson patents ball-bearing skate
1905 ― French Assembly National votes for separation of church and state
1931 ― Spain becomes a republic
1941 ― China declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy
1941 ― Hitler orders U.S. ships torpedoed
1948 ― U.N. General Assembly unanimously approves Convention on Genocide
1989 ― ``Les Miserables" opens at Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Australia
1990 ― Lech Walesa wins presidential election in Poland
1992 ― Prince Charles and Princess Diana separation announced by British P.M. John Major