© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Almanac - Wednesday 12/9/20

llamas, by flickr user Deb Watson

It's Llama Day...

Today is December 9, 2020

It is the 344rd day of the year

22 days remain until the end of the year.

12 days until Winter Solstice.

The Sun comes up at 7:14 this morning 

and the sun comes down at 4:51 this afternoon

We will have 9 hours and 37 minutes of daylight.

The first high tide is at 7:06 this morning

The only low tide of the day will be at 1:10 this afternoon

and the final high tide at Aquatic Park will be at 7:10 tonight
 
The Moon now is about one-third visible

It's a Waning Crescent

We will have a new moon on Monday December 14th

Today is...

Christmas Card Day

International Anti-Corruption Day

International Day of Veterinary Medicine

National Llama Day

National Pastry Day

Weary Willie Day
    born on this day in 1898 – Emmett Kelly, American clown and actor (d. 1979)

World Techno Day

Today is also...

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)

Armed Forces Day (Peru)
  
    Fatherland's Heroes Day (Russia)

Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tanganyika from Britain in 1961. (Tanzania)

National Heroes Day, formerly V.C. Bird Day. (Antigua and Barbuda)

Navy Day (Sri Lanka)

On this day in history...

1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.

1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.

1868 – The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.

1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African-American governor of a U.S. state.

1905 – In France, the law separating church and state is passed.

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).

1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (rinderpest in 2011 being the other).

2017 – The Marriage Amendment Bill receives royal assent and comes into effect, making Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage.

And if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You!  You share this special day with...

1608 – John Milton, English poet and philosopher (d. 1674)

1883 – Joseph Pilates, German-American fitness expert, developed Pilates (d. 1967)

1897 – Hermione Gingold, English actress and singer (d. 1987)

1899 – Jean de Brunhoff, French author and illustrator (d. 1937)

1900 – Margaret Brundage, American illustrator, known for illustrating pulp magazine Weird Tales (d. 1976)

1902 – Margaret Hamilton, American schoolteacher, actress and voice artist (d. 1985)

1905 – Dalton Trumbo, American author, screenwriter, and blacklistee (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)

1912 – Tip O'Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1994)

1915 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-Austrian soprano and actress (d. 2006)

1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 2020)

1922 – Redd Foxx, American actor (d. 1991)

1928 – Dick Van Patten, American actor (d. 2015)

1929 – John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)

1929 – Bob Hawke, Australian union leader and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2019)

1930 – Buck Henry, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2020)

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

1934 – Junior Wells, American blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player (d. 1998)

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 (d. 2016)

1942 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1997)

1943 – Kenny Vance, (no relation at all!) American singer-songwriter and music producer

1944 – Neil Innes, English singer-songwriter (d. 2019)

1946 – Sonia Gandhi, Italian-Indian politician

1947 – Tom Daschle, American soldier, academic, and politician

1950 – Joan Armatrading, Kittian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1953 – John Malkovich, American actor and producer

1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor

1966 – Kirsten Gillibrand, American lawyer and politician
  
    1967 – Joshua Bell, American violinist and conductor

1969 – Jakob Dylan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist