On This Day for December 9 - Lech Wałęsa elected president of Poland, Robert Hawke is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. December 09 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Robert Hawke READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1990 Lech Wałęsa elected president of Poland READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2016: South Korean President Park Geun-Hye was impeached by the National Assembly amid allegations of corruption; she left office the following year, after the country's Constitutional Court upheld the parliamentary decision. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Korea.] 1998: The United Nations General Assembly declared anti-Semitism a form of racism. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.] 1990: Slobodan Milošević was reelected president of Serbia at the head of the Socialist Party, formerly the League of Communists of Serbia (LCS). [Test your knowledge of European history.] 1979: Some 10 years after the World Health Organization began a global vaccination program against smallpox , the disease was officially declared eradicated. [Take our viruses, bacteria, and diseases quiz.] 1965: The animated special A Charlie Brown Christmas, featuring characters from Charles Schulz's popular Peanuts comic strip , first aired on American television, and it became a holiday classic. [How much do you know about pop culture?] 1961: Tanganyika became independent, with Julius Nyerere as its first prime minister, and in 1964 the territory united with the island of Zanzibar to form Tanzania. [Test your knowledge of Africa.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1916 Kirk Douglas American actor and producer 1905 Dalton Trumbo American author 1934 Judi Dench British actress 1929 John Cassavetes American actor and director 1906 Grace Hopper United States naval officer and mathematician 1946 Sonia Gandhi Indian politician SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help