On This Day, Dec. 9: Prince Charles, Princess Diana divorce announced

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1907, the first Christmas Seals to raise money to fight tuberculosis went on sale in the post office in Wilmington, Del.

In 1955, two weeks of bloody student uprisings against President Fulgencio Batista appeared to follow the pattern of the student riots that deposed Cuban Dictator Gerardo Machado 22 years ago. Batista would remain in power four more years before losing power to Fidel Castro.

In 1958, in Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H. W. Welch, Jr., established the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceived to be the extensive infiltration of communism into U.S. society.

In 1974, White House aide John Ehrlichman testified at the Watergate trial that U.S. President Richard Nixon was responsible for a coverup.

UPI File Photo

In 1987, the First Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinians protested and rioted after an Israeli Defense Forces truck struck a civilian vehicle, killing four Palestinians.

In 1990, Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential vote.

In 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced the formal separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

In 1992, some 1,700 U.S. Marines landed in Somalia to secure the airfield, port and U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu and restore order to the conflict- and famine-stricken country.

In 2002, United Airlines, which said it was losing $22 million a day, filed for bankruptcy.

In 2008, federal agents arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges in a scheme involving the sale of Illinois' open Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

File Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI

In 2009, the U.S. government's bailout program for ailing major banks "played a critical role in renewing the flow of credit and preventing a more acute crisis," the independent Congressional Oversight Panel said in a year-end report.

In 2014, a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report said the CIA's interrogation of terror suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were more brutal than it told the White House or public. The so-called "CIA torture report" called CIA tactics "deeply flawed."

In 2016, South Korea's National Assembly voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye because her unofficial aid, Choi Soon-sil, sought donations from businesses and influenced Park politically. Park was permanently removed from power in March 2017.