December 9th, 1896: What a difference 112 years make! The Mauna Loa arrives in Honolulu Harbor after an eight-day voyage from San Francisco. The Mauna Loa is a steamer, the first of its kind that will become the inter-island ferry for Hawaii. Its first route is Honolulu to Kahului, which it begins in less than a week.
Upon its evening arrival, the Mauna Loa turns on its electric searchlights. This attracts and startles the fish in the harbor and the huge crowd, which has formed at the wharf to greet the ferry, delights and applauds the jumping fish and arriving ferry.
I don’t see any cheers at the Superferry Harbor these days….
December 9,2009: The governor of the state of Illinois is arrested for trying to sell the senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
It’s things like this that make fabricating believable stories harder for a writer….
EVENTS ON THIS DAY
1738 Jews are expelled from Breslau Silesia
1762 British parliament accept Treaty of Paris
1783 1st execution at English Newgate-jail
1793 Noah Webster establishes New York’s 1st daily newspaper, American Minerva
1851 1st Young Men’s Christian Association in North America (Montréal)
1854 Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Charge of the Light Brigade” published
1878 Joseph Pulitzer buys St Louis Dispatch for $2,500
1883 New Brunswick adopts Eastern Standard Time (until 1902)
1884 Levant Richardson patents ball-bearing skate
1909 1st US monoplane flown (Henry W Walden, Long Island NY)
1910 French troops occupy Morrocan harbor city Agadir
1925 Pro football a hit in NYC; Grange & Bears beat Giants before 73,000
1939 Russian air raid on Helsinki
1940 Illegal Jewish immigrants to Haifa are deported to Mauritius
1941 1st US WWII bombing mission in the Far East, Luzon, Philippines
1941 Hitler orders US ships torpedoed
1948 UN General Assembly unanimously approves Convention on Genocide
1949 NFL merges Cleveland Browns, San Francisco ‘49ers & Baltimore Colts from AAFC
1961 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points vs New York
1963 Frank Sinatra Jr is kidnapped
1963 Zanzibar gains independence from Britain
1965 Nikolai Podgorny replaces Anastas Mikoyan as President of Presidium
1965 “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premieres
1965 Frank Robinson is traded from Cincinnati to the Orioles
1967 Jim Morrison, arrested on stage for disturbing the peace
1967 Lyndon Johnson’s daughter Lynda marries in the White House
1971 Lewis F Powell Jr appointed to the Supreme Court
1973 “Pajama Game” opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 65 performances
1973 Bruno Sammartino beats Stan Stasiak in New York, to become WWF champion
1974 Dow Jones index hits 570.01
1981 Porn star John Holmes charged with Laurel Canyon murders
1982 Mary-Beth & William Hurt divorce
1983 Attorney General Edwin Meese says people go to soup kitchens “…because the food is free and that’s easier than paying for it”
1990 Lech Walesa wins presidential election in Poland
1994 Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders resigns after masturbation comments
1995 61st Heisman Trophy Award: Eddie George, Ohio State (RB)
BORN ON THIS DAY
1561 Edwin Sandys a founder of Virginia colony
1608 John Milton London, poet/puritan (Paradise Lost)
1898 Emmett Kelly Sedan KS, circus clown (Weary Willie)
1909 Douglas Fairbanks Jr New York NY, actor (Ghost Story)
1918 Kirk Douglas [Issur Demsky] actor (Gunfight at the OK Corral, 7 Days in May)
1922 Redd Foxx St Louis MO, comedian (Sanford & Son, Redd Foxx Show)
1925 Dina Merrill New York NY, actress (Operation Petticoat, Butterfield 
1929 John Cassavetes New York NY, actor (Dirty Dozen, Rosemary’s Baby)
1929 Bob Hawke cricketer (no relation to Lord 12th man for Oxford University 1954)
1930 Buck Henry New York NY, screenwriter/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Get Smart)
1934 Dame Judi Dench York England, British stage & film actress (As Time Goes By, Goldeneye-”M”, Her Majesty Mrs Brown-Queen Victoria)
1942 Dick Butkus Chicago IL, NFL hall of fame linebacker (Bears)/sportscaster
1942 Joe McGinniss Rye NY, author (Selling of the President 1968)
1943 Rick Danko Canada, rocker (The Band-Islands, Stage Fright)
1953 John Malkovich Christopher IL, actor/director (Killing Fields)
1957 Donny Osmond Ogden UT, singer (Osmond Brothers, Donny & Marie)
1968 Brent Price NBA guard (Houston Rockets, Washington Bullets)
1968 Kurt Angle Pittsburgh PA, 220 lbs freestyle wrestler (Olympics-gold-96)
1969 Allison Smith Bronx NY, actress (Jennie-Cagney & Lacey, Kate & Allie)
1969 Jakob Dylan New York NY, singer/guitarist/Bob Dylan’s son (The Wallflowers-One Headlight)
1969 Greg[ory] Klingsporn Morristown NJ, rower (Olympics-1996)
1969 Ramon Garcia Guanare Venezuela, pitcher (Milwaukee Brewers)
1970 David Kersh Houston TX, country singer (If I Never Stop Loving You)
1970 Donald Douglas WLAF safety (Rhein Fire)
1970 Marlin Cannon Dallas TX, 200 meter/400 meter runner
1971 Chris Boniol NFL kicker (Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles)
1971 Clifton Abraham NFL cornerback (Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1973 Tony Batista Puerto Plata Dominican Republic, infielder (Oakland A’s)
1975 Joshua Rudoy actor (Harry & the Hendersons)
1975 Stuart McRae Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1978 Mandy James Jacksonville FL, rhythmic gymnast (US team-96)
2340 Worf Klingon character on Star Trek Next Generation
DIED ON THIS DAY
1165 Malcom IV king of Scotland (1153-65), dies at 24
1292 Sa’di great Persian poet (Orchard, Rose Garden), dies
1437 Sigismund German Emperor/king of Hungary/Bohemia, dies at 70
1565 Pius IV [Gianangelo de' Medici] Italian Pope (1559-65), dies at 66
1625 Ubbo Emmius [van Embden] Frisian humanist/historian, dies at 78
1636 Giovanni B Aleotti Italian writer/theater architect, dies at about 90
1641 Anthonie “Antoon” van Dyck Flemish painter, dies at 42
1669 Clement IX [Giulio Rospigliosi] Italian Pope (1667-69), dies
1674 Edward Hyde 1st earl of Clarendon English PM (1660-67), dies at 65
1706 Pedro II king of Portugal (1683-1706), dies at 58
1767 Benedetto Alfieri Italian architect (San Giovanni Battista), dies
1770 Gottlieb Theophil Muffat composer, dies at 80
1814 Jose Angel Lamas composer, dies at 39
1819 Ann C Coleman fiancee of President Buchanan, commits suicide
1827 François Leonard Rouwyzer composer, dies at 90
1893 George Elvey composer, dies at 77
1905 Henry Holmes composer, dies at 66
1916 P Paul Leroy-Beaulieu French economist (Economist France), dies at 73
1924 Bernard Zweers Dutch composer (Gisbertus of Aemstel), dies at 70
1925 Eugene Gigout composer, dies at 81
1929 Willis Cuttell cricketer (two Tests England vs South Africa 1899), dies
1930 Jim Slight cricketer (represented Australia at Oval 1880), dies
1933 Morice Bird cricketer (scored 280 runs in 10 Tests for England), dies
1940 Maletti Italian general, dies in battle
1941 Leonard “Leo” Polak Dutch philosopher, dies in Sachsenhausen at 61
1944 Laird Cregar actor (Charley’s Aunt, Hangover Square), dies at 28
1948 Sir Timothy O’Brien cricketer (Bart 5 Tests England 1884-96), dies
1956 Hans Barth composer, dies at 59
1957 Carswell Adams sportscaster (Your Sports Special), dies
1959 Walter Compton news anchor (DuMont Evening News), dies at 47
1959 Kurt Kläber writer, dies
1963 Philibert Schmitz Belgium, historian (Order of St BenoŒt), dies at 75
1964 Edith L Sitwell English poet/author (Wheels), dies at 77
1966 Yury Alexandrovich Shaporin composer, dies at 79
1970 Artem Mikoyan Russian aircraft designer (MIG), dies at 65
1971 Ralph J Bunche UN delegate/Nobel Prize winner, dies at 67 in New York NY
1974 George Carew cricketer (4 Tests for West Indies between 1935 & 1949), dies
1974 Jorge Croner de Vasconcelos composer, dies at 64
1975 William A Wellman US director (Ox Bow Incident), dies at 79
1976 Nino Martini actor (Here’s to Romance), dies at 71
1977 Clarice Lispector writer, dies
1981 Tonny Til rocker, dies at 56
1982 Joey Forman actor (Sid Caesar Show, Joey Bishop Show), dies at 53
1982 Leon Jaworski Watergate special prosecutor dies in Texas at 77
1982 Fritz Usinger German writer (Song against Death), dies at 87
1982 Paul Godwin [Goldfein] Polish/Dutch violist, dies at 80
1982 Roger Danneels Flemish accordionist, dies at 55
1983 David Rounds actor (Terence-Beacon Hill), dies at 53
1990 Mike Mazurski wrestler/actor (Centerfold Girls), dies at 80
1992 Carl Barger baseball president (Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins), dies at 62
1992 Vincent Gardenia actor (All in the Family, LA Law), dies at 71
1993 Danny Blanchflower North Ireland soccer/union coach, dies at 67
1993 Muhammad Reza Golpayegani ayatollah of Iran, dies
1994 Garnet Silk Jamaican raggae-singer, dies at 28
1994 Kim II Sung President of North Korea (1945-94), dies at 82
1994 Maureen Cox Starkey ex-wife of Ringo, dies of Leukemia at 48
1994 Max Bill Swiss painter/sculptor/politician, dies at 85
1995 Benny Lee entertainer, dies at 84
1995 Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan (aviator) dies
1995 Hugh Armstrong Clegg industrial relations academic, dies at 75
1995 Toni Cade Bambara filmmaker, dies at 56
1995 Vitali Viktorovich Savitsky biologist/politician, dies at 40
1995 Vivian Blaine actress (Guys & Dolls), dies of heart failure at 74
1996 Alain Emile Louis Marie Poher French President of European Parliament (1966-69), dies at 87
1996 Anne Bolt photo-journalist/trade unionist, dies at 84
1996 Faron Young country singer, commits suicide at 64
1996 Ivor Roberts-Jones sculptor, dies at 83
1996 Mary Douglas Nichol Leakey archaeologist/anthropologist, dies at 83
1996 Raphael Samuel historian, dies at 32
1997 Tamara Geva dancer, dies at 91
Christmas Card Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — 