Editing December 9 (section)

===1601–1900===
*[[1636]] &ndash; The [[Qing dynasty|Qing dynasty of China]], led by Emperor [[Hong Taiji]], [[Qing invasion of Joseon|invades]] [[Joseon]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Swope|first=Kenneth M.|title=The Military Collapse of China's Ming Dynasty, 1618-44
|publisher=Routledge|date=2014|isbn=9781138652330|page=115}}</ref>
*[[1688]] &ndash; [[Glorious Revolution]]: Williamite forces defeat Jacobites at [[Battle of Reading (1688)|Battle of Reading]], forcing [[James II of England|James II]] to flee England.<ref>{{cite book|last=Picton|first=Hervé|title=A Short History of the Church of England: From the Reformation to the Present Day|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|date=2015|isbn=9781443871761|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_SmBgAAQBAJ|page=60}}</ref> (Date is [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]]; the date in the New Style modern calendar is 19 December.)
*[[1775]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: British troops and [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]], misinformed about [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] militia strength, lose the [[Battle of Great Bridge]], ending British rule in [[Virginia]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Tucker|editor-first=Spencer C.|title=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. 3: 1775—1860|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2010|isbn=9781851096671|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC&dq=editions%3Aygd9_uP-_2MC&pg=PP1|page=916}}</ref>
*[[1822]] &ndash; French physicist [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel]], in a memoir read to the [[French Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]], coins the terms ''[[linear polarization]]'', ''[[circular polarization]]'', and ''[[elliptical polarization]]'', and reports a direct refraction experiment verifying his theory that [[optical rotation]] is a form of [[birefringence]].<ref name=fresnel-1822z>A. Fresnel, "Mémoire sur la double réfraction que les rayons lumineux éprouvent en traversant les aiguilles de cristal de roche suivant les directions parallèles à l'axe", read 9&nbsp;December 1822; printed in H.&nbsp;de Senarmont, E.&nbsp;Verdet, and L.&nbsp;Fresnel (eds.), ''Oeuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel'', vol.&nbsp;1 (1866), pp.{{nnbsp}}731–51; translated as "Memoir on the double refraction that light rays undergo in traversing the needles of quartz in the directions parallel to the axis", {{Zenodo|4745976}}, 2021 (open&nbsp;access).</ref>
*[[1824]] &ndash; Patriot forces led by General [[Antonio José de Sucre]] defeat a Royalist army in the [[Battle of Ayacucho]], putting an end to the [[Peruvian War of Independence]].
*[[1835]] &ndash; [[Texas Revolution]]: The [[Texian Army]] captures [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] following the [[Siege of Béxar]].
*[[1851]] &ndash; The first [[YMCA]] in North America is established in [[Montreal]].
*[[1856]] &ndash; The [[Iran]]ian city of [[Bushehr]] surrenders to occupying British forces.
*[[1861]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The [[Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War]] is established by [[Congress of the United States|Congress]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hyde|first=Bill|title=The Union Generals Speak: The Meade Hearings on the Battle of Gettysburg|location=Baton Rouge, La.|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|date=2003|isbn=9780807125816|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UOCdkV5USV4C|page=4}}</ref>
*[[1868]] &ndash; The first [[traffic light]]s are installed, outside the [[Palace of Westminster]] in London. Resembling [[railway signal]]s, they use [[Railway semaphore signal|semaphore]] arms and are illuminated at night by red and green [[gas lamp]]s.
*[[1872]] &ndash; In [[Louisiana]], [[P. B. S. Pinchback]] becomes the first [[African American]] governor of a U.S. state following the impeachment of [[Henry C. Warmoth]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=Joseph G.|title=Army Generals and Reconstruction: Louisiana, 1862-1877|location=Baton Rouge, La.|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|date=1994|isbn=9780807119600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwAzsqq898wC|page=137}}</ref>
*[[1893]] &ndash;  [[National Assembly bombing]] by [[Auguste Vaillant]] during the ''[[Ère des attentats]]'' (1892–1894).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm43706446 |title=Regards populaires sur la violence |date=2000 |publisher=Publications de l'Université de Saint-Etienne |isbn=978-2-86272-180-4 |editor-last=Piarotas |editor-first=Mireille |series=Travaux / Centre interdisciplinaire d'études et de recherches sur l'expression contemporaine |location=Saint-Etienne |pages=141–142 |oclc=ocm43706446}}</ref>