9 Dec 1883
- Alexandros Papagos was born.
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9 Dec 1885
- Daniel Sultan was born.
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9 Dec 1910
- Stephen Jurika was born.
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9 Dec 1911
- Ryuzo Sejima was born.
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9 Dec 1937
- In the morning, Japanese troops reached the outskirts of Nanjing, China. At 1200 hours, Japanese aircraft dropped leaflets into the walled city, urging surrender within 24 hours. Chinese commanding officer Tang Shengzhi publicly rejected the demand, but in private he, urged on by the international community in Nanjing, considered negotiating for a ceasefire; such negotiation would be pending Chiang Kaishek's approval.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 9 Dec 1937
9 Dec 1939
- 27-year-old Corporal Thomas Priday, while leading a patrol near Metz, France, became the first British soldier to be killed in the European War. He was killed by friendly fire.
- German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee sailed toward the River Plate estuary on the border of Uruguay and Argentina to attack a reported convoy departing from Montevideo, Uruguay. Meanwhile, Royal Navy Force G (light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, soon to be joined by heavy cruiser HMS Exeter) was already en route toward the area in search of Admiral Graf Spee.
» In-depth article - German merchant freighter Kurmark, acquired by the German Navy in the fall of 1939, was commissioned into service as auxiliary cruiser Orion.
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9 Dec 1940
- Beginning at 0500 hours, Allied artillery and aircraft bombarded the Italian camp at Nibeiwa, Egypt for two hours. At 0715 hours, ground troops began moving toward the rear of the fort for attack; they were spotted by Italian aircraft, but it was too late for the Italians to reorganize the defenses. Troops of the Indian 4th Infantry Division, supported by tanks of the British 7th Royal Tank Regiment, captured the camp at 0830 hours. Italian positions at Tummar West and Tummar East were also captured by dusk. Along the coast, tanks of the British 4th Armoured Brigade cut off the main road to prevent an Italian withdrawal. Meanwhile, British monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird and HMS Aphis bombarded Italian positions at Sidi Barrani and Maktila.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-103 sank British ship Empire Jaguar 250 miles west of Ireland at 0132 hours, killing the entire crew of 37.
- The Special Landing Operation No. 2 exercise, conducted by US Navy and US Marine Corps in the Caribbean Sea, was completed.
- Battleship Bismarck arrived at Hamburg, Germany.
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9 Dec 1941
- Japanese troops seized Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands.
- Japanese submarines RO-63, RO-64, and RO-68 bombarded Howland and Baker Islands; it was believed that the US Navy had seaplane bases on those islands, but that intelligence was incorrect.
- Transport William Ward Burrows, en route to Wake Island, was re-routed to Johnston Island.
- After more than four years of full scale war, China finally formally declared war on Japan. Cuba and Panama also declared war on Japan on this day.
- US Navy purchased 25 airborne search radar sets for service test in dive bombers and torpedo planes.
- Soviet troops recaptured Tikhivin, northern Russia.
» In-depth article - When the rest of his flight was jumped on take-off by Japanese fighters, RAF Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf went on alone to bomb his target in Malaya. Attacked by 12 fighters on the way back, he was fatally wounded but landed his Blenheim bomber and saved his crew. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
- Japanese submarine I-10 shelled and sank unarmed Panamanian-flag motorship Donerail 200 miles southeast of Hawaii; only 8 out of the 40 people onboard survived.
- At Wake Atoll, Japanese Navy 24th Air Flotilla aircraft bombed Naval Air Station on Peale Island and Batteries A and E at Peacock Point.
» In-depth article - Bitter fighting between British and Japanese troops took place for the airfield at Kota Bharu in British Malaya, while two groups of Indian troops crossed into Thailand to destroy roads and railroads. In Thailand, the Japanese entered Bangkok. Out at sea, Japanese aircraft and submarine I-65 spotted British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse; torpedo bombers were launched from Saigon, occupied French Indochina, but they failed to locate the ships.
» In-depth article - USN river gunboat Mindanao, en route from Hong Kong to Manila, captured a Japanese fishing vessel and took her Taiwanese crew of ten aboard as prisoners.
- Japanese aircraft commenced the bombing of Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands; among the first targets in the capital city region was the US Army airbase Nichols Field.
» In-depth article - Japanese aircraft bombarded American defensive positions at Guam, Mariana Islands.
» In-depth article - Adolf Hitler arrived in Berlin, Germany at 1100 hours. He decided to declare war on the United States on this date, but decided to withhold the announcement until 11 Dec in order to have enough time to draft his speech.
» In-depth article - Japanese troops breached a western segment of the British Gin Drinker's Line, which stretched from the Gin Drinker's Bay (Zuijiu Wan) in the west to the White Sands Bay (Baisha Wan) in the east, at 225 High Ground north of Hong Kong Island. 27 prisoners were taken.
» In-depth article - Soviet 30th Army attacked north of Moscow, Russia, capturing many trucks and field guns abandoned by the German 3rd Panzer Army. South of Moscow, Soviet troops captured Venev and Yelets.
» In-depth article - German submarine U-652 sank French ship Saint Denis 50 miles south of the Balearic Islands at 1400 hours, killing 3; the ship was sunk in a case of misidentification, as she flew the flag of Vichy France.
- German submarine U-134 mistakenly sank German ship Steinbek 20 miles off of northern Norway at 2100 hours; 12 survived.
- Japanese destroyers Ayanami and Yugiri discovered Dutch submarine O 20 twenty miles east of Kota Bharu, British Malaya and attacked her with depth charges from 1100 to 1730 hours. O 20 was finally forced to surface after sundown and was scuttled. 7 were killed during the attack; 32 survived and were captured.
- Winston Churchill sent Franklin Roosevelt a message requesting a conference on the war with Japan. Roosevelt initially intended to reject this request, wishing to give his top generals more time to research the situation to avoid the British dominating the conference.
» In-depth article - Franklin Roosevelt had his first "Fireside Chat" radio address since the United States had entered the war, noting that the Axis powers had been tainted with "a decade of immorality".
» In-depth article - USS Swordfish became the first US submarine to attack the enemy when she fired on a Japanese ship 150 miles west of Manila.
» In-depth article - USS R-1 patrolled the New England coast of northeastern United States.
» In-depth article - USS Pollack arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article - USS Skipjack departed Manila, Philippine Islands for her first war patrol.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Part 6: Roosevelt's Radio Address of 9 Dec
» In-depth article - Historical document written: US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, Enclosure E, USS Breese
» In-depth article - Historical document written: US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, Enclosure E, USS Hull
» In-depth article - Historical document written: US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, Enclosure E, USS Mugford
» In-depth article - Historical document written: US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, Enclosure E, USS Rigel
» In-depth article - Historical document written: US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, Enclosure E, USS Sacramento
» In-depth article - Historical document written: US Navy Report of Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor, Enclosure E, USS Sicard
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Part 8: Proclamation Regarding German Enemy Aliens
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Part 9: Proclamation Regarding Italian Enemy Aliens
» In-depth article - Photos dated 9 Dec 1941
9 Dec 1942
- American operations on Guadalcanal, previously conducted by the US Marines under Major General Alexander Vandegrift, were turned over to the US Army under Major General Alexander Patch. The 1st Marine Division began its withdraw to Australia.
» In-depth article - HMS Marigold (Lieutenant J. A. S. Halcrow) was sunk by an Italian torpedo off Algiers, Algeria.
- Aleksandr Vasilevsky and Georgy Zhukov presented to Joseph Stalin a plan for a counteroffensive at Stalingrad, Russia.
» In-depth article - USS S-28 departed San Diego, California, United States.
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9 Dec 1943
- The British government announced the establishment of the Council of Freedom in Denmark.
9 Dec 1944
- The US Army Air Forces established the 509th Composite Group for atomic weapon delivery.
» In-depth article - Soviet troops reached the Danube River north of Budapest, Hungary.
- Whilst defending a position at Faenza, Italy, Captain John Blunt, age 22,of the British Lincolnshire Regiment used anti-tank PIATs, Bren guns and a 2-inch mortar to drive the enemy back. Later he turned another attack, blazing away with a Bren from the top of a tank. His conduct earned him the Victoria Cross but he did not live to know it. Supposedly safe by this time, he was killed on the following day by shellfire.
- USS Charr arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
» In-depth article - Photos dated 9 Dec 1944
9 Dec 1945
- George Patton sustained spinal cord and neck injuries in an automobile accident near Neckarstadt, Germany at 1145 hours.
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Interrogation Nav 115, Vice Admiral Shigeru Fukudome
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Interrogation Nav 116, Commander Ryosuke Nomura
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Interrogation Nav 113, Colonel Ichiji Sugita
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Interrogation Nav 114, Lieutenant Colonel Roji Tanaka
» In-depth article - Historical document written: Interrogation Nav 117, Commander Yoshimori Terai
» In-depth article
9 Dec 1946
- The Doctors' Trial began in Nuremberg before an United States military court against 20 doctors and 3 Nazi officials who were accused of involvement in human experimentation. Trial ended on 20 Aug 1947; 7 were acquitted, 7 were given death sentences, and 9 were given prison sentences.
» In-depth article
9 Dec 1949
- Dong Zhao, his wife, and his three children departed Chongqing, China for Taiwan.
» In-depth article
Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time."Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal
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