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8th December)
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.
[edit] Events
- 1660 – Margaret Hughes becomes the first actress to appear on an English public stage, playing the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.
- 1854 – Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
- 1907 – King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
- 1941 – The United States and the Republic of China declare war against Japan.
- 1949 – The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
- 1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by positive lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, United States, killing all 81 people on board.
- 1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
- 1972 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45.
- 1974 – A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
- 1980 – John Lennon, an English-American musician and peace activist, is assassinated by Mark David Chapman, a mentally unstable fan, in front of the Dakota apartment building in New York City.
- 1982 – In Suriname, several opponents of the military government are killed.
- 1987 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.
- 1987 – Croat Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills eight people at the offices of the Australia Post in Melbourne, before being killed himself.
- 1987 – The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
- 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 is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
- 1998 – Eighty-one 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, a Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
- 2008 – Kirsty Williams is elected as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. She becomes the first female leader of a political party in Wales.
- 2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 and injure 448.
[edit] 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)
- 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, 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts, 2nd 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, First Navy Vietnam Ace, 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
- 1967 – Andy Kapp, German curler
- 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
- 1976 – Joshua Butler, Celebrity Chef
- 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 (d. 2009)
- 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
[edit] 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 (b. 1983)
- 2008 – Kerryn McCann, Australian athlete (b. 1967)
- 2008 – Len Cariou, British television director (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer. (b. 1925)
- 2008 – Robert Prosky, American actor (b. 1930).
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
