December 8

December 8 is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 23 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1609 – The Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library in Europe.
• 1659 – The 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 is officially opened.
• 1869 – Timothy Eaton founds T. Eaton Co. Limited in Toronto, Canada.
• 1886 – The American Federation of Labor is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
• 1889 – The KNVB is founded in the Netherlands
• 1904 – Konservativ Ungdom (Young Conservatives) in Denmark is founded by Carl F. Herman von Rosen. Still existing today, it is the oldest political youth organization in Denmark and believed to be one of the oldest in the world.
• 1907 – King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
• 1912 – First Balkan War: The Greek army captures Korçë that had been under Ottoman rule.
• 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.
• 1941 – World War II: The Japanese invade the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. They also invade the portions of Shanghai administered by European powers and bomb American bases in the Philippines.
• 1941 – World War II: Pacific War – After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.
• 1941 – World War II: Pacific War – the Republic of China officially declares war against Japan.
• 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.
• 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
• 1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the Atoms for Peace speech.
• 1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
• 1971 – Luis Fernando Figari founds the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.
• 1974 – A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
• 1980 – John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City.
• 1982 – Activist Norman Mayer threatens to blow up the Washington Monument, before being killed by United States Park Police.
• 1982 – In Suriname several opponents of the military government are killed.
• 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 – The 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.
• 1992 – The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted.
• 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.
• 2008 – Kirsty Williams elected as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. The first female leader of a political party in Wales.

Births

• 65 BC – Horace, Roman poet (d. 8 BC)
• 1542 – Mary Queen of Scots (d. 1587)
• 1574 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1616)
• 1626 – Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
• 1678 – Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d. 1757)
• 1699 – Maria Josepha of Austria, queen of Poland (d. 1757)
• 1708 – Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1765)
• 1730 – Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch physician, physiologist and botanist (d. 1799)
• 1756 – Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria (d. 1801)
• 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 laureate (d. 1910)
• 1848 – Joel Chandler Harris, American author and folklorist (d. 1908)
• 1860 – Amanda McKittrick Ros, Irish novelist and poet (d. 1939)
• 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 – Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician (d. 1963)
• 1865 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (d. 1957)
• 1874 – Ernst Moro, Austrian physician (d. 1951)
• 1886 – Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (d. 1959)
• 1894 – E.C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye) (d. 1938)
• 1894 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (d. 1961)
• 1899 – John Qualen, Canadian actor (d. 1987)
• 1900 – Sun Li-jen, Chinese general (d. 1990)
• 1902 – Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist (d. 1982)
• 1908 – John A. Volpe, 61^st and 63^rd Governor of Massachusetts, 2^nd United States Secretary of Transportation (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Gratien Gélinas, French-Canadian playwright 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 – Lucian Freud, English painter
• 1922 – Jean Ritchie, American folk singer
• 1923 – Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-born American chemist
• 1925 – Sammy Davis Jr., American actor and singer (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Carmen Martín Gaite, Spanish author (d. 2000)
• 1925 – Jimmy Smith, American jazz organist (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Ferdie Pacheco, American boxing trainer
• 1927 – Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1930 – Julian Critchley, British politician (d. 2000)
• 1930 – Maximilian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor and film director
• 1931 – Bob Arum, American boxing promoter
• 1933 – Flip Wilson, American comedian (d. 1998)
• 1935 – Dharmendra, Indian actor
• 1935 – Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Israeli chess player
• 1936 – David Carradine, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1937 – James MacArthur, American actor
• 1937 – Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber and businessman (d. 2004)
• 1939 – Red Berenson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 – Jerry "The Iceman" Butler, American soul singer
• 1939 – Sir James Galway, Northern Irish flautist
• 1939 – Soko Richardson, American rhythm and blues drummer (d. 2004)
• 1940 – Brant Alyea, American baseball player
• 1941 – Ed Brinkman, American baseball player
• 1941 – Bob Brown, American football player
• 1941 – Randall Cunningham, American politician
• 1941 – Sir Geoff Hurst, English footballer
• 1943 – Ken Johnson, American professional wrestling manager
• 1943 – Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)
• 1943 – Bodo Tümmler, German olympic middle-distance runner.
• 1943 – Mary Woronov, American actress
• 1945 – John Banville, Irish novelist and journalist
• 1946 – John Rubinstein, American actor, composer, director
• 1946 – Sharmila Tagore, Indian Actress
• 1947 – Gregg Allman, American musician
• 1947 – Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1947 – Kati-Claudia Fofonoff, Skolt Sámi writer
• 1947 – Gérard Blanc, French singer
• 1948 – Luis Caffarelli, Argentine-American mathematician
• 1949 – Mary Gordon, American writer
• 1949 – Nancy Meyers, American film director, producer and screenwriter
• 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
• 1950 – Dan Hartman, American musician (Edgar Winter Group) (d. 1994)
• 1951 – Bill Bryson, American author
• 1951 – Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer-songwriter
• 1952 – Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore Health Minister
• 1953 – Kim Basinger, American actress
• 1953 – Roy Firestone, American sports announcer
• 1953 – Norman Finkelstein, American professor
• 1953 – Sam Kinison, American comedian (d. 1992)
• 1954 – Harold Hongju Koh, Korean-American Dean of Yale Law School
• 1954 – Gadowar Singh Sahota, Indian professional wrestler
• 1956 – Warren Cuccurullo, American musician
• 1956 – Andrew Edge English musician
• 1957 – Phil Collen, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
• 1958 – Bird McIntyre, Thai pop singer, musician
• 1959 – Stephen Jefferies, former South African cricketer
• 1959 – Mark Steyn, Canadian writer and cultural critic
• 1960 – Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian statesman
• 1961 – Ann Coulter, American political commentator
• 1961 – Mikey Robins, Australian comedian
• 1962 – Marty Friedman, American guitarist
• 1963 – Greg Howe, Americal guitarist
• 1963 – Toshiaki Kawada, Japanese wrestler
• 1964 – James Blundell, Australian country singer
• 1964 – Sandy Burnett, English record producer
• 1964 – Teri Hatcher, American actress
• 1964 – Chigusa Nagayo, Japanese wrestler
• 1965 – Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress
• 1966 – Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician
• 1966 – Jeff Tremaine, American television and film director
• 1967 – Jeff George, American football player
• 1967 – Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
• 1967 – Darren Sheridan, English footballer and manager
• 1968 – Michael Cole, American professional wrestling commentator
• 1968 – Mike Mussina, American baseball player
• 1969 – Steve Van Wormer, American actor
• 1972 – Marco Abreu, Angolan footballer
• 1972 – Frank Shamrock, American mixed martial artist
• 1973 – Doron Bell Jr., Canadian actor
• 1973 – Corey Taylor, American singer (Slipknot, Stone Sour)
• 1974 – Cristian Castro, Mexican singer
• 1974 – Tony Simmons, American football player
• 1974 – Nick Zinner, American guitarist (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
• 1975 – Jerrelle Clark, American wrestler
• 1975 – Kevin Harvick, American racing driver
• 1976 – Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter
• 1976 – Reed Johnson, American baseball player
• 1976 – Dominic Monaghan, English actor
• 1977 – Elsa Benítez, Mexican supermodel
• 1977 – Sébastien Chabal, French rugby union footballer
• 1977 – Ryan Newman, American racing driver
• 1978 – John Oster, Welsh footballer
• 1978 – Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer
• 1978 – Ian Somerhalder, American actor
• 1978 – Vernon Wells, American baseball player
• 1978 – Park Kyung-lim, South Korean entertainer
• 1979 – Daniel Fitzhenry, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1979 – Johan Forssell, Swedish politician
• 1979 – Raymond Lam, Hong Kong actor and Singer
• 1979 – Ingrid Michaelson, American indie-pop singer-songwriter
• 1979 – José Peña Quevedo, Venezuelan track and field athlete
• 1979 – Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish footballer
• 1981 – Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player
• 1981 – Philip Rivers, American football player
• 1982 – Alfredo Aceves, American Baseball Player
• 1982 – Hamit Altıntop, Turkish footballer
• 1982 – Jang Ja-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1982 – Noelle Pikus-Pace, American skeleton racer
• 1982 – Jimmy Rave, American wrestler
• 1982 – Dee Dee Trotter, American athlete
• 1983 – Neel Jani, Swiss racing driver
• 1983 – Liu Song, Chinese snooker player
• 1984 – Greg Halford, English footballer
• 1984 – Badr Hari, Dutch kickboxer
• 1985 – Meagan Duhamel, Canadian figure skater
• 1985 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player
• 1985 – Oleksiy Pecherov, American basketball player
• 1986 – Amir Khan, English boxer
• 1986 – Kate Voegele, American musician
• 1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian ice hockey player
• 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 Gundulić, 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 (b. 1690)
• 1768 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1702)
• 1779 – Nathan Alcock, English physician (b. 1707)
• 1793 – Madame du Barry, last royal mistress of France, guillotined (b. 1743)
• 1811 – Eliza Poe, English-born American actress and the mother of the American author Edgar Allan Poe (b. 1787)
• 1830 – Benjamin Constant, Swiss writer (b. 1767)
• 1859 – Thomas de Quincey, English author (b. 1785)
• 1864 – George Boole, British inventor of Boolean algebra (b. 1815)
• 1869 – Narcisa de Jesús Martillo, Ecuadorian saint (b. 1832)
• 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, Swiss writer (b. 1896)
• 1940 – George Exton Lloyd, Anglican Bishop and theologian (b. 1861)
• 1952 – Charles Lightoller, English second officer on the Titanic (b. 1874)
• 1954 – Joseph B. Keenan, American political figure (b. 1888)
• 1958 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player (b. 1888)
• 1963 – Sarit Dhanarajata, Thai poltician (b. 1908)
• 1966 – Ward Morehouse, American theater critic and newspaper columnist (b. 1899)
• 1967 – John Mills, Sr., American singer (Mills Brothers) (b. 1889)
• 1971 – Eleni Ourani, Greek writer (b. 1896)
• 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 (The Beatles) (b. 1940)
• 1982 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist (b. 1951)
• 1982 – Marty Robbins, American singer (b. 1925)
• 1983 – Slim Pickens, American actor (b. 1919)
• 1984 – Luther Adler, American actor (b. 1903)
• 1984 – Razzle, English musician and drummer (Hanoi Rocks) (b. 1960)
• 1984 – Robert Jay Mathews, White Nationalist (b. 1953)
• 1991 – Kimberly Bergalis, claimed to have contracted HIV from her dentist (b. 1968)
• 1991 – Buck Clayton, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1911)
• 1992 – William Shawn, American magazine editor (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer and arranger (b. 1927)
• 1996 – Howard Rollins, American actor (b. 1950)
• 1997 – Bob Bell, played Bozo the Clown (b. 1922)
• 1998 – Michael Craze, British Actor (b.1942)
• 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 (Pantera, Damageplan) (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)
• 2007 – Gerardo García Pimentel, Mexican journalist
• 2008 – Kerryn McCann, Australian athlete (b. 1967)
• 2008 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer. (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Robert Prosky, American actor (b. 1930).

Holidays and observances

December 8 marks the conception of the Virgin Mary in many Christian denominations and the enlightenment of Buddha in most Buddhist sects.

• R.C. Saints – The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (Holy Day of Obligation in Ireland, U.S.); Saint Eucharius, first bishop of Trier
• Eastern Christianity – Conception of the Theotokos (Mother of God) by Saint Anne – Major Feast Day
• Buddhism – The Enlightenment of Gautama Buddha (Bodhi Day)
• Romania – Constitution Day
• Spain – Immaculate Conception – Day of the National Army of Spain
• Portugal – Immaculate Conception – Day of the national Patron Saint
• CARICOM-Cuba Day – To celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
• Discordianism – Afflux – Second holiday in the season of The Aftermath using the Discordian calendar.
• France – Festival of Lights held in Lyon to honor the Virgin Mary.
• Panama – Mother's Day – Originally in honor of the Immaculate Conception.
• Uzbekistan – Constitution Day, celebrated as official holiday since 1992.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: December 8

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada