(Redirected from 8 December)
Events
★
1541 -
Thomas Culpeper and
Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with
Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of
Henry VIII.
★
1609 -
Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.
★
1659 -
Mexican border town
Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco.
★
1854 -
Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of
Immaculate Conception, which holds that
the Virgin Mary was born free of
original sin.
★
1864 - The
Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon was officially opened.
★
1869 -
Timothy Eaton founds
T. Eaton Co. Limited in
Toronto,
Canada.
★
1886 - The
American Federation of Labor is founded in
Columbus, Ohio.
★
1904 -
Konservativ Ungdom (Young Conservatives) in Denmark is founded by Carl F. Herman von Rosen. Still existing today, it is the oldest youth political organisation in Denmark and believed to be one of the oldest remaining in the world.
★
1907 - King
Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
★
1914 -
World War I:
Battle of the Falkland Islands - The
Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Admiral
Graf Maximilian von Spee is engaged by the
Royal Navy.
★
1935 - The
Japanese military police launches a violent suppression of the religious sect
Oomoto, beginning with a crackdown on the sect's operational bases of
Ayabe and
Kameoka in
Kyoto Prefecture and the arrest of its leader
Onisaburo Deguchi.
★
1940 - The
Chicago Bears defeat the
Washington Redskins 73-0, in the
NFL Championship Game. This is the most lopsided game in
NFL history.
★
1941 -
World War II:
Pacific War - After the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the
U.S. Congress and
Great Britain pass a
declaration of war against Japan.
★ 1941 -
World War II: Pacific War - the
Republic of China officially declares war against
Japan, after the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor.
★ 1941 -
World War II: Pacific War -
The Netherlands issues a proclamation in which it declares war against
Japan, after the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor.
★ 1941 -
World War II: Pacific War - The
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in China issues a proclamation which declared war against
Japan and
Germany on behalf of Korean people, who were under Japanese occupation since
1910.
★ 1941 -
World War II:
Battle of Hong Kong - The Japanese invade the
British Crown Colony of
Hong Kong less than 8 hours after the attack on
Pearl Harbor.
★ 1941 -
World War II: First Japanese attack on
Wake Island.
★ 1941 -
Holocaust:
Gas vans are first used as a means of execution, at the
Chelmno extermination camp near
Łódź in
Poland.
★
1942 -
Holocaust: in
Ternopil,
Ukraine,
German SS organise the last deportation of
Ternopil Jews to death camp in
Belzec, when 1,400
Jews were sent there. The chief of the
Gestapo,
SS-Sturmbannführer
Hermann Müller, bore overall responsibility for the mass
murder of the
Jews of
Ternopil and
Berezhany county.
★
1949 -
Chinese Civil War: The capital of the
Republic of China is moved from
Nanjing to
Taipei,
Taiwan.
★
1966 - The Greek ferry ''
Heraklion'' sinks in a storm in the
Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
★
1969 - An
Olympic Airways DC-6B crashes near
Athens during a storm, killing 93 people.
★
1972 -
United Airlines Flight 533 crashes near
Chicago Midway Airport, killing 45 people.
★
1982 - Activist
Norman Mayer threatens to blow up the
Washington Monument, before being killed by
United States Park Police.
★
1987 - The
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.
★ 1987 - The
Queen Street Massacre: Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills 8 people at the offices of
Australia Post in
Melbourne, Australia before being killed himself.
★ 1987 -
Alianza Lima air disaster
★
1991 - The leaders of
Russia,
Belarus and
Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the
Soviet Union and establishing the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
★ 1991 - The
Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.
★
1993 - The
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President
Bill Clinton.
★
1998 -
Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in
Algeria.
★
2002 - The Caribbean Community Heads of Government meet with the Government of Cuba and declare the date to be "
CARICOM-
Cuba Day" - To celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
★
2004 - The
Cuzco Declaration is signed in
Cuzco,
Peru, establishing the
South American Community of Nations.
★
2005 -
Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the
Playa de las Américas,
Tenerife by the Spanish police.
Births
★
65 BC -
Horace, Roman poet (d.
8 BC)
★
1542 -
Mary Queen of Scots (d.
1587)
★
1626 - Queen
Christina of Sweden (d.
1689)
★
1678 -
Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d.
1757)
★
1708 -
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d.
1765)
★
1730 -
Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch-born British physiologist and botanist (d.
1799)
★
1765 -
Eli Whitney, American inventor (d.
1825)
★
1795 -
Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish astronomer (d.
1874)
★
1815 -
Adolph Menzel, German painter and graphic artist (d.
1905)
★
1816 -
August Belmont, Sr., Prussian-born American financier (d.
1890)
★
1817 -
Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish nobleman and politician (d.
1896)
★
1832 -
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1910)
★
1848 -
Joel Chandler Harris, American author and folklorist (d.
1908)
★
1861 -
William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (d.
1947)
★ 1861 -
Aristide Maillol, French sculptor (d.
1944)
★ 1861 -
Georges Méliès, French filmmaker (d.
1938)
★
1862 -
Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d.
1921)
★
1864 -
Camille Claudel, French graphic artist and sculptor (d.
1943)
★
1865 -
Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (d.
1957)
★ 1865 -
Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician (d.
1963)
★
1874 -
Ernst Moro, Austrian physician (d.
1951)
★
1886 -
Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d.
1957)
★
1890 -
Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (d.
1959)
★
1894 -
James Thurber, American writer (d.
1961)
★ 1894 -
E.C. Segar, American cartoonist (
Popeye) (d.
1938)
★
1900 -
Sun Li-jen, Chinese general (d.
1990)
★
1909 -
Gratien Gélinas, Quebec playwright, actor, director and producer (d.
1999)
★
1911 -
Lee J. Cobb, American actor (d.
1976)
★ 1911 -
Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and lyricist (d.
1992)
★
1913 -
Delmore Schwartz, American poet (d.
1966)
★
1915 -
Ernest Lehman, American screenwriter (d.
2005)
★
1916 -
Richard Fleischer, American film director (d.
2006)
★
1918 -
Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d.
2004)
★
1919 -
Peter Tali Coleman, American politician (d.
1997)
★
1922 -
Jean Ritchie, American folk singer
★
1923 -
Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-born American chemist
★
1925 -
Sammy Davis Jr., American actor and singer (d.
1990)
★ 1925 -
Jimmy Smith, American jazz musician (d.
2005)
★
1927 -
Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet Union-born cosmonaut
★
1930 -
Maximilian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor, film director, and author
★
1933 -
Flip Wilson, American comedian (d.
1998)
★
1935 -
Dharmendra, Indian actor
★ 1935 -
Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Israeli chess player
★
1936 -
David Carradine, American actor
★
1937 -
James MacArthur, American actor
★ 1937 -
Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber and businessman (d.
2004)
★
1939 -
Red Berenson,
National Hockey League player
★ 1939 -
Jerry Butler, American soul singer
★ 1939 - Sir
James Galway, Northern Irish flute player
★ 1939 -
Soko Richardson, American rhythm and blues drummer. (d.
2004)
★
1940 -
Brant Alyea, baseball player
★
1941 -
Ed Brinkman, baseball player
★ 1941 -
Bob Brown, American football player
★ 1941 - Sir
Geoff Hurst, ex-English footballer
★
1943 -
Jim Morrison, American singer (
The Doors) (d.
1971)
★ 1943 -
Mary Woronov, American actress
★
1945 -
John Banville, Irish novelist and journalist
★
1946 -
John Rubinstein, American actor, composer, director
★
1947 -
Gregg Allman, American musician
★ 1947 -
Kati-Claudia Fofonoff, Finnish writer
★ 1947 -
Thomas R. Cech, American chemist and
Nobel Prize laureate
★
1949 -
Mary Gordon, American writer
★ 1949 -
Ray Shulman, English musician
★ 1949 -
Robert Sternberg, Proposed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
★
1950 -
Rick Baker, American film makeup artist
★ 1950 -
Tim Foli, American baseball player
★
1951 -
Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer-songwriter
★ 1951 -
Bill Bryson, American author
★
1953 -
Kim Basinger, American actress
★ 1953 -
Sam Kinison, American comedian (d.
1992)
★
1956 -
Warren Cuccurullo, American musician
★
1957 -
Phil Collen, British guitarist (
Def Leppard)
★
1961 -
Ann Coulter, American author, political commentator, and attorney
★
1962 -
Marty Friedman, American guitarist
★
1963 -
Toshiaki Kawada, Japanese professional wrestler
★
1964 -
Sandy Burnett, British record producer
★ 1964 -
Teri Hatcher, American actress
★ 1964 -
James Blundell, Australian country singer
★
1965 -
Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress
★
1966 -
Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician
★
1967 -
Jeff George, American football player
★ 1967 -
Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese
seiyu (voice actress)
★
1968 -
Mike Mussina, American baseball player
★ 1968 -
Michael Cole, American professional wrestling commentator
★
1969 -
Jeff Tremaine, American television & film director
★
1972 -
Marco Abreu, Angolan footballer
★ 1972 -
Frank Shamrock, American MMA-Fighter and younger brother of MMA-Fighter
Ken Shamrock
★
1973 -
Corey Taylor, American singer (
Slipknot,
Stone Sour)
★ 1973 -
Doron Bell Jr., Canadian actor
★
1974 -
Tony Simmons, American football player
★
1975 -
Kevin Harvick, American NASCAR driver
★
1976 -
Dominic Monaghan, German-born British actor
★ 1976 -
Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter
★ 1976 -
Reed Johnson, American baseball player
★
1977 -
Ryan Newman, American NASCAR driver
★ 1977 -
Elsa Benítez, Mexican supermodel
★ 1977 -
Sébastien Chabal, French international rugby player
★
1978 -
John Oster, Welsh footballer
★ 1978 -
Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer
★ 1978 -
Ian Somerhalder, American actor
★ 1978 -
Vernon Wells, American baseball player
★
1979 -
Johan Forssell, Swedish politician
★ 1979 -
Daniel Fitzhenry, Australian rugby league footballer
★ 1979 -
Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish footballer
★
1981 -
Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player
★ 1981 -
Philip Rivers, American football player
★
1982 -
Dee Dee Trotter, American athlete
★
1983 -
Neel Jani, Swiss racing driver
★
1984 -
Greg Halford, English footballer
★ 1984 -
Badr Hari, Dutch kickboxer
★
1985 -
Dwight Howard, American basketball player
★
1986 -
Amir Khan, British boxer
★
1993 -
AnnaSophia Robb, American actress and singer
Deaths
★
899 -
Arnulf of Carinthia (b.
850)
★
1626 -
John Davies, English poet (b.
1569)
★
1632 -
Philippe van Lansberge, Flemish astronomer (b.
1561)
★
1638 -
Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (b.
1589)
★
1643 -
John Pym, English statesman (b.
1583)
★
1649 -
Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (b.
1613)
★
1680 -
Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b.
1606)
★
1691 -
Richard Baxter, English clergyman (b.
1615)
★
1695 -
Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (b.
1625)
★
1709 -
Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (b.
1625)
★
1722 -
Liselotte von der Pfalz,
Duchess of Orléans (b.
1652)
★
1744 -
Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux, mistress of King
Louis XV of France (b.
1717)
★
1745 -
Etienne Fourmont, French orientalist (b.
1683)
★
1746 -
Charles Radclyffe, British politician (b.
1693)
★
1756 -
William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, British statesman and diplomat
★
1768 -
Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary (b.
1702)
★
1779 -
Nathan Alcock, English physician (b.
1707)
★
1830 -
Benjamin Constant, Swiss writer (b.
1767)
★
1859 -
Thomas de Quincey, British author (b.
1785)
★
1864 -
George Boole, British inventor of Boolean algebra (b.
1815)
★
1885 -
William Henry Vanderbilt, member of the
Vanderbilt family (b.
1821)
★
1894 -
Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (b.
1821)
★
1907 -
Oscar II of Sweden (b.
1829)
★
1914 -
Maximilian von Spee, German naval officer (b.
1861)
★
1917 -
Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian writer (b.
1836)
★
1938 -
Friedrich Glauser, German-language Swiss writer (b.
1896)
★
1952 -
Charles Lightoller, British second officer on the Titanic (b.
1874)
★
1958 -
Tris Speaker, American baseball player (b.
1888)
★
1963 - Field Marshal
Sarit Dhanarajata,
Prime Minister of Thailand (b.
1908)
★
1975 -
Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (
Uriah Heep) (b.
1948)
★
1978 -
Golda Meir, Russian-born
Prime Minister of Israel (b.
1898)
★
1980 -
John Lennon, English musician and peace activist (b.
1940)
★
1982 -
Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist (b.
1951)
★
1983 -
Slim Pickens, American actor (b.
1919)
★
1984 -
Luther Adler, American actor (b.
1903)
★ 1984 -
Robert Jay Mathews,
White Nationalist (b.
1953)
★
1991 -
Buck Clayton, American jazz trumpet player (b.
1911)
★
1992 -
William Shawn, American magazine editor (b.
1917)
★
1994 -
Tom Jobim, Brazilian composer and arranger (b.
1927)
★
1996 -
Howard Rollins, American actor (b.
1950)
★
1999 -
Péter Kuczka, Hungarian writer (b.
1923)
★
2001 -
Don Tennant, American advertising executive (b.
1922)
★
2003 -
Rubén González, Cuban pianist (
Buena Vista Social Club) (b.
1919)
★
2004 -
Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Abbott), American guitarist (b.
1966)
★
2005 -
Georgiy Zhzhonov, Russian actor and author (b.
1915)
★
2006 -
Martha Tilton, American singer (b.
1915)
★ 2006 -
José Uribe, Dominican baseball player (b.
1959)
Holidays and observances
★
R.C. Saints - The solemnity of the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (
Holy Day of Obligation in
Ireland,
USA);
Saint Eucharius, first bishop of
Trier
★
Eastern Christianity - Conception of the Theotokos (Mother of God) by Anna - Major Feast Day
★
Buddhism - The
Enlightenment of
Gautama Buddha (
Bodhi Day)
★
Bulgaria - Day of the Student (Студентски празник)
★
Italy - In
Milan, the
opera season starts.
★
Austria - Public Holiday.
★
Malta - Public Holiday.
★
Romania -
Constitution Day
★ Afflux (
50 Aftermath) (
Discordianism)
★
Panama - Mother's Day
★
Spain -
Immaculate Conception - Day of the National Army
★
CARICOM-
Cuba Day - To celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
★
France -
Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights) held in
Lyon to honor the Virgin Mary.
External links
★
BBC: On This Day
★
★
On This Day in Canada
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