December 9th, 1992:

Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announce they are separating.

It happens more than a decade after their widely-watched wedding ... that seemed like out of a fairy tale.

Divorce becomes final for the royal couple nearly four years after their split.

1854:

Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, is published in Britain.

The Victorian-era poem recounts the climax of a battle during the Crimean War in what's now Ukraine.

1990:

Poland chooses Solidarity union leader Lech Wałęsa as its first popularly-elected president.

Walesa wins a runoff vote by a landslide, another sign of communism's collapse in Eastern Europe.

And, 1916:

Actor and film producer Kirk Douglas is born in Amsterdam, New York.

Among his roles: Spartacus, Vincent van Gogh, and several "tough guys."

Among his children: son Michael Douglas, also an actor and film producer.

Today in History, December 9th,_______,The Associated Press.