December 9 in history: • 1775 – American Revolutionary War: After their loss in the Battle of Great Bridge, British authorities were forced to evacuate from the Colony of Virginia. → go there • 1940 – Second World War: British and Commonwealth forces began Operation Compass, the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert campaign. → go there • 1965 – A large, brilliant fireball was seen by thousands in midwestern North America before landing in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania. → go there • 1979 – A World Health Organization commission of scientists certified the global eradication of smallpox (virus pictured), making it the only human infectious disease to date to have been completely eradicated. → go there • 1990 – In Serbia's first multi-party election, Slobodan Milošević won the presidential election and the Socialist Party of Serbia won the majority of seats in the National Assembly. → go there Died 748: Nasr ibn Sayyar Wiki link Born 1865: Isabelle Urquhart Wiki link Born 1885: Grete Wiesenthal Wiki link Born 1995: McKayla Maroney Wiki link Pictured: Electron micrograph of the smallpox virus.