CNN Interactive - Almanac - December 9, 1998

A hearing for Dr. Jack Kevorkian is scheduled in Pontiac, Michigan. He's been charged with first-degree murder after the euthanization of a terminally ill man was aired on national television.
A hearing will be held in Laramie, Wyoming for the attack of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student beaten to death. Chasity Vera Pasley and Kristen LeAnn Price, girlfriends of the chief suspects in the murder, will enter a plea.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington is scheduled to hear oral arguments in two cases: a constitutional challenge to Chicago's anti-gang loitering ordinance; and a Pennsylvania case to decide whether defendants lose their right to remain silent after they've pleaded guilty or are about to be sentenced.
President Clinton is scheduled to light the National Tree in Washington, launching the annual holiday Pageant of Peace
The USO Tour of Hootie & the Blowfish is scheduled in Tuzla, Bosnia, to entertain American service members overseas.

On Thursday, December 10, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider articles of impeachment in Washington.
On Friday, December 11, President Clinton is scheduled to begin a Mideast trip. He is planning to visit Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem and Gaza City.
On Saturday, December 12, President Clinton is scheduled to meet with Israeli President Ezer Weizman in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, December 13, Puerto Ricans are scheduled to vote on their future relationship with the United States in a non-binding referendum that offers five options: seeking statehood, maintaining commonwealth status, getting independence, creating new "free association" with the U.S., or "none of the above."
On Monday, December 14, President Clinton is scheduled to travel to Gaza City in the West Bank. His tentative schedule includes a meeting with Yasser Arafat and an address to the Palestinian people.

NEWSLINK:		NOTABLE:
Banish those grinchly thoughts with Christmas music. Click here.		Singer Joan Armatrading is 48. Former basketball player Otis Birdsong is 43. Actor Beau Bridges is 57. Actor Dick Butkus is 56. Actor Kirk Douglas is 82. Actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is 89. Golfer Tom Kite is 49. Actor John Malkovich is 45. Actor-singer Donny Osmond is 41. Actor Dick Van Patten is 70.

In 1594, Gustavus II of Sweden was born; Sweden had become the strongest power in Europe at his death in 1632.
In 1608, the British poet John Milton, best known for "Paradise Lost," "Paradise Regained" and "Samson Agonistes," was born.
In 1625, the Treaty of The Hague was signed, under which England and the Netherlands agreed to subsidize Christian IV of Denmark in his campaign in Germany.
In 1909, actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was born.
In 1917, Turkish troops surrendered Jerusalem to British troops led by Viscount Allenby.
In 1940, the British Eighth Army launched an offensive in North Africa by attacking Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
In 1941, China formally issued a declaration of war against Japan, Germany and Italy.
In 1958, the John Birch Society was founded in the U.S., vowing to fight communism.
In 1961, Tanganyika became independent within the commonwealth; one year later, it became a republic within the commonwealth.
In 1964, English poet Dame Edith Sitwell died.
In 1966, Barbados became the 122nd member of the U.N.
In 1967, the Cunard liner Queen Mary docked at Long Beach, California, after her final voyage.
In 1985, former Argentine president Jorge Videla and his fellow junta member, Admiral Emilio Massera, were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the "dirty war" against left-wing guerrillas in which up to 9,000 people disappeared.
In 1987, the first riots of the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, erupted on the Gaza Strip.
In 1990, Lech Walesa, the former leader of the trade union Solidarity, won a landslide victory in the Polish presidential election.
In 1992, the separation of the prince and princess of Wales was announced.
In 1993, U.S. astronauts finished a grueling five-day repair work on the $3 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
In 1994, Britain and Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army's political wing, held their first formal talks for more than 70 years.