June 9 Birthday
On June 9, 1954, during the Army-McCarthy hearings, attorney Joseph Welch confronted Senator Joseph McCarthy on live television. McCarthy had accused a young lawyer in Welch's firm of Communist associations. Welch responded: "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" The audience erupted. The moment is considered the end of McCarthy's influence. He was censured by the Senate in December. He died in 1957 at forty-eight, of alcoholism. Charles Dickens died on June 9, 1870, after suffering a stroke the previous evening. He was found in his dining room at Gad's Hill Place. He had been working on The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which would never be finished. He had written fifteen novels and hundreds of short stories and articles. He was buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey, against his wishes — he had asked for a simple burial. Queen Victoria sent a telegram of condolence. People born on June 9 fall under the zodiac sign of Gemini. The birthstone is Pearl and the birth flower is Rose. Historical events on June 9 include 1870: Charles Dickens dies at Gad's Hill Place, Kent, aged 58, 1934: Donald Duck makes his film debut in The Wise Little Hen, 1954: Army lawyer Joseph Welch asks Senator McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency?". Famous people born on June 9 include Cole Porter (1891), Les Paul (1915), Michael J. Fox (1961).