Important Events From This day in History – 9th December

Today in History

• 1979 Smallpox declared eradicated

  Smallpox was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization after a series of concentrated vaccination campaigns worldwide. Only two infectious diseases in history have been completely eradicated; the other is Rinderpest, a cattle infectious disease eradicated in 2011.

• 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas makes airs for the first time on television

  The popular animated musical Christmas special was based on Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip. Critics praised the special as a poignant commentary on America’s loss of the Christmas spirit. It is now shown every year around the world during the Christmas season.

• 1961 Tanganyika gains independence

  From 1916 to 1961, the British administered the Republic of Tanganyika. The territory was part of German East Africa until it was handed over to the British by a League of Nations mandate in 1922. The Republic did not last long. It merged with the People’s Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba in April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which later became the United Republic of Tanzania.

• 1960 First episode of Coronation Street airs

  This British production, the longest-running TV soap opera, follows the lives of people who live on Coronation Street, a fictional street in a fictional suburb of Manchester.

• 1893 Auguste Vaillant bombs the French Chamber of Deputies

  Auguste Vaillant, a French anarchist, bombed the French Chamber of Deputies. No one was hurt in the attack, but Vaillant was sentenced and executed for his actions.