1. The first permanent European settlement in the United States, St. Augustine, was founded on December 9, 1565, by Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The settlement was named in honor of the Catholic saint Augustine of Hippo.

2. On December 9, 1939, The Miami Herald published the first crossword puzzle in a U.S. newspaper. The puzzle was created by journalist Arthur Wynne and was an immediate sensation, launching a new era of puzzle-solving passion in American culture.

3. The Space Shuttle Columbia launched on December 9, 1993, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission included the first woman to pilot a shuttle, Eileen Collins, and the deployment of the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, which retrieved and repaired the telescope's faulty optics.

4. Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most celebrated African American writers of the 20th century, was born on December 9, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama. She spent much of her childhood in Eatonville, Florida, which became the setting for many of her stories and novels, including Their Eyes Were Watching God.

5. On December 9, 2000, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a manual recount of the state's presidential election ballots, setting off a legal battle that ultimately ended with George W. Bush being declared the winner over Al Gore. The disputed election brought national attention to Florida and sparked a debate over the integrity of the American electoral system.