December 8

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 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.
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.
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)
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.

Translation

The phrase "December 8" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Pangasinan, Simple English.

Translation(s) in other languages: Afrikaans: 8 Desember, Arabic: 8 ديسمبر, Aragonese: 8 d'abiento, Franco-Provençal/Arpitan: 8 dècembro, Asturian: 8 d'avientu, Azeri: 8 dekabr, Bengali: ডিসেম্বর ৮, Min Nan: 12 goe̍h 8 ji̍t, Belarusian: 8 снежня, Belarusian (Taraškievica): 8 сьнежня, Central_Bicolano: Desyembre 8, Bosnian: 8. decembar, Breton: 8 Kerzu, Bulgarian: 8 декември, Catalan: 8 de desembre, Chuvash: Раштав, 8, Cebuano: Disyembre 8, Czech: 8. prosinec, Corsican: 8 di decembre, Welsh: 8 Rhagfyr, Danish: 8. december, German: 8. Dezember, Estonian: 8. detsember, Greek: 8 Δεκεμβρίου, Erzya: Ацамковонь 8 чи, Spanish: 8 de diciembre, Esperanto: 8-a de decembro, Basque: Abenduaren 8, Persian: ۸ دسامبر, Fiji Hindi: 8 December, Faroese: 8. desember, French: 8 décembre, West Frisian: 8 desimber, Friulian: 8 di Dicembar, Irish: 8 Nollaig, Manx: 8 Mee ny Nollick, Scottish Gaelic: 8 an Dùbhlachd, Galician: 8 de decembro, Gan: 12月8號, Korean: 12월 8일, Armenian: Դեկտեմբերի 8, Hindi: ८ दिसंबर, Croatian: 8. prosinca, Ido: 8 di decembro, Bishnupriya Manipuri: ডিসেম্বর ৮, Indonesian: 8 Desember, Interlingua: 8 de decembre, Icelandic: 8. desember, Italian: 8 dicembre, Hebrew: 8 בדצמבר, Javanese: 8 Desember, Kannada: ಡಿಸೆಂಬರ್ ೮, Kapampangan: Disiembri 8, Georgian: 8 დეკემბერი, Kashubian: 8 gòdnika, Kazakh: Желтоқсанның 8, Swahili: 8 Desemba, Haitian: 8 desanm, Kurdish: 8'ê berfanbarê, Ladino: 8 de Diziembre, Latin: 8 Decembris, Latvian: 8. decembris, Luxembourgish: 8. Dezember, Lithuanian: Gruodžio 8, Lombard: 08 12, Hungarian: December 8., Macedonian: 8 декември, Malayalam: ഡിസംബര്‍ 8, Maltese: 8 ta' Diċembru, Marathi: डिसेंबर ८, Egyptian Arabic: 8 ديسمبر, Malay: 8 Disember, Nahuatl: Tlamahtlācōnti 8, Dutch: 8 december, Dutch Low Saxon: 8 december, Japanese: 12月8日, Neapolitan: 8 'e dicembre, Norwegian (Bokmål): 8. desember, Norwegian (Nynorsk): 8. desember, Norman: 8 Dézembre, Novial: 8 de desembre, Occitan: 8 de decembre, Meadow Mari: 8 Теле, Uzbek: 8-dekabr, Low Saxon: 8. Dezember, Polish: 8 grudnia, Portuguese: 8 de dezembro, Ripuarian: 8. Dezemmber, Romanian: 8 decembrie, Russian: 8 декабря, Sakha: Ахсынньы 8, Northern Sami: Juovlamánu 8., Scots: 8 December, Albanian: 8 Dhjetor, Sicilian: 8 di dicèmmiru, Slovak: 8. december, Slovenian: 8. december, Serbian: 8. децембар, Serbo-Croatian: 8.12., Sundanese: 8 Désémber, Finnish: 8. joulukuuta, Swedish: 8 december, Tagalog: Disyembre 8, Tamil: டிசம்பர் 8, Tatar: 8. Dekäber, Telugu: డిసెంబర్ 8, Thai: 8 ธันวาคม, Turkish: 8 Aralık, Turkmen: 8 dekabr, Ukrainian: 8 грудня, Venetian: 8 de diçenbre, Vietnamese: 8 tháng 12, Volapük: Dekul 8, Võro: 8. joulukuu päiv, Walloon: 8 di decimbe, West Flemish: 8 december, Waray-Waray: Disyembre 8, Yoruba: 8 December, Cantonese: 12月8號, Zealandic: 8 december, Samogitian: Groudė 8, Chinese: 12月8日.