Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 8

December 8: Constitution Day in Romania (1991); Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Roman Catholicism.

John Lennon

• 1854 – In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.

• 1941 – World War II: Takashi Sakai and the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Hong Kong and quickly achieved air superiority by bombing Kai Tak Airport.

• 1941 – The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in Poland, the first Nazi extermination camp to use poison gas, began operations.

• 1980 – Mark David Chapman fatally shot former Beatle John Lennon (pictured) outside the Dakota apartments in New York City.

• 1991 – Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine met to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.

More anniversaries:

• December 7
• December 8
• December 9