On This Day: December 9th

The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.

Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio following the Siege of Béxar.

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.

French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a memoir read to the 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.

American Revolutionary War: British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British rule in Virginia.

The Qing dynasty of China, led by Emperor Hong Taiji, invades Joseon.

The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.

The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War.

Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami.

Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital.