December 8

Events

• 1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
• 1886 - American Federation of Labor founded.
• 1914 - Battle of the Falkland Islands fought.
• 1941 - World War 2: After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day, the United States Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan, bringing the United States of America officially into World War 2; Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin casts the only "no" vote. In response, Hitler's Germany declares war on the United States.
• 1941 - Holocaust: First Nazi use of gas vans on Jews, at the Chelmno camp near Lodz.
• 1949 - Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan
• 1976 - The Eagles release one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, Hotel California
• 1991 - Leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine met and signed an agreement ending the U.S.S.R. and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Nature Reserve in Belarus
• 1993 - The North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
• 1994 - US President Bill Clinton signs a bill enacting United States participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT was formally signed on April 15 1994, in Marrakesh, Morocco by 124 nations).

Births

• 65 BC - Horace, poet († 8 BC)
• 1542 - Mary Queen of Scots († 1587)
• 1730 - Jan Ingenhousz, physiologist, botanist († 1799)
• 1765 - Eli Whitney, inventor († 1825)
• 1790 - Richard Carlille, reformer († 1843)
• 1813 - Adolf Kolping, theologian († 1865)
• 1815 - Adolph Menzel, painter and graphic artist († 1905)
• 1848 - Joel Chandler Harris, author and folklorist († 1908)
• 1861 - Aristide Maillol, sculptor († 1944)
• 1861 - William Durant, automobile pioneer († 1947)
• 1862 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright († 1921)
• 1864 - Camille Claudel, graphic artist († 1943)
• 1865 - Jean Sibelius, composer († 1957)
• 1886 - Diego Rivera, painter († 1957)
• 1890 - Bohuslav Martinu, composer († 1959)
• 1894 - James Thurber, writer († 1961)
• 1911 - Lee J. Cobb, actor († 1976)
• 1923 - Rudolph Pariser, chemist
• 1925 - Sammy Davis Jr., actor, singer († 1990)
• 1927 - Vladimir Shatalov, cosmonaut
• 1930 - Maximilian Schell, actor, film director, author
• 1933 - Flip Wilson, comedian († 1998)
• 1936 - David Carradine, actor
• 1937 - James MacArthur, actor
• 1939 - James Galway, flautist
• 1943 - Jim Morrison, singer (The Doors) († 1971)
• 1946 - John Rubinstein, actor, composer
• 1947 - Gregg Allman, musician
• 1950 - Rick Baker, film makeup artist
• 1953 - Kim Basinger, actress
• 1956 - Warren Cuccurullo, musician
• 1957 - Phil Collen Def Leppard guitarist
• 1964 - Teri Hatcher, actress
• 1966 - Sinead O'Connor, musician
• 1976 - Dominic Monaghan, actor

Deaths

• 1638 - Ivan Gundulic, poet, Croatia
• 1864 - George Boole, mathematician
• 1859 - Thomas De Quincey, author
• 1917 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, writer
• 1958 - Tris Speaker, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1964 - William Bendix, actor
• 1978 - Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel
• 1980 - John Lennon, musician
• 1982 - Marty Robbins, country music singer
• 1983 - Slim Pickens, actor
• 1996 - Howard Rollins Jr., actor
• 2001 - Kurt Ruh, specialist in German studies

Holidays and Observances

• The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

December 7 - December 9 - November 8 - January 8 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By