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Today is Tuesday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2025. There are 22 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 9, 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the first animated TV special featuring characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, premiered on CBS.

Also on this date:

In 1990, Solidarity founder Lech Wałęsa won Poland’s first free presidential election since 1926.

In 1979, scientists certified the global eradication of smallpox, a disease which killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century.

In 1992, the first U.S. Marines made a predawn beach landing in Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope; they were met by hundreds of reporters awaiting their arrival.

In 2006, the space shuttle Discovery launche

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