December 9 is the 343rd day of the year.
There are 22 days remaining until the end of the year.
The sun rose at 7:13 this morning
the sun will set tonight at 4:51 pm
there will be 9 hours 37 minutes 22 seconds of daylight
Winter Solstice will occur Monday December 21, 2015 at 8:49 PM
Low tide early this morning was at 3:20 am at 2.5 feet
High tide this morning will be at 9:34 am at 6.1 feet
Low tide again this afternoon at 4:19 pm at minus point three feet
and High tide again at 11:22 pm tonight at 4.5 feet
The moon is now 3.6 percent illuminated, a waining crescent
The next full moon will be on Christmas morning December 25 at 3:11 A.M.
Today is National Pastry Day
Anna's Day, marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve, as well as a Swedish name day, celebrating all people named Anna. (Sweden and Finland)
Christian feast day:Feast of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by St. Anne (Orthodox Church)
Independence Day (Tanzania), celebrates the independence of Tanganyika from Britain in 1961
International Anti-Corruption Day (International)
National Heroes Day (Antigua and Barbuda), formerly V.C. Bird Day
Remembrance for Egill Skallagrímsson, a Viking-Age poet, warrior and farmer. He is also the protagonist of Egil's Saga. (The Troth)
Yuri's Day in the Autumn (Russian Orthodox Church)
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1854The poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England.
1907Christmas seals went on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office. The proceeds went to fight tuberculosis.
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking – Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing (Nanking).
1952: London fog clears after days of chaosThe sunshine returns following four days of thick fog that brought the capital to a standstill.
1965 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, first in a series of Peanuts television specials, debuts on CBS.
1968 – Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS).
On Dec. 9, 1990, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland.
1993: Astronauts put Hubble back in actionA record-breaking mission to repair the faulty Hubble telescope in outer space is declared an unqualified success.
2004Canada's Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.
2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama's election to the Presidency.
If today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share birthday cake with...
1608 – John Milton, English poet and philosopher (d. 1674)
1897 – Hermione Gingold, English-American actress and singer (d. 1987)
1898 – Emmett Kelly, American clown (d. 1979)
1899 – Jean de Brunhoff, French author and illustrator (d. 1937)
1902 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress, singer, and educator (d. 1985)
1905 – Dalton Trumbo, American screenwriter and novelist (d. 1976)
1906 – Grace Hopper, American admiral and computer scientist, designed COBOL (d. 1992)
1909 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (d. 2000)
1911 – Broderick Crawford, American actor and singer (d. 1986)
1912 – Tip O'Neill, American politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1994)
1914 – Frances Reid, American actress (d. 2010)
1915 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-Austrian soprano and actress (d. 2006)
1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor, singer, and producer
1922 – Redd Foxx, American actor and singer (d. 1991)
1928 – Dick Van Patten, American actor (d. 2015)
1929 – John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
1929 – Bob Hawke, Australian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia
1930 – Buck Henry, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1932 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player and academic (d. 2013)
1933 – Ashleigh Brilliant, English-American author and illustrator
1933 – Morton Downey, Jr., American singer-songwriter, actor, and talk show host (d. 2001)
1934 – Judi Dench, English actress and singer
1940 – Clancy Eccles, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2005)
1941 – Beau Bridges, American actor, director, and producer
1941 – Dan Hicks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Charlatans and The Acoustic Warriors)
1942 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1997)
1944 – Neil Innes, English singer-songwriter and actor (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and The Rutles)
1946 – Sonia Gandhi, Italian-Indian politician
1947 – Tom Daschle, American soldier, academic, and politician
1950 – Joan Armatrading, Caribbean-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – John Malkovich, American actor and producer
1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (The Osmonds)
1963 – Masako, Crown Princess of Japan
1967 – Joshua Bell, American violinist and conductor
1969 – Jakob Dylan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Wallflowers)
1972 – Michael Corcoran, American singer-songwriter and producer