Historical Events
- 1863 Abraham Lincoln issues his Amnesty Proclamation and plan for Reconstruction of the South
- 1941 US and Britain declare war on Japan, US enters World War II
- 1941 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers "Day of Infamy" speech to US Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
- 1965 Pope Paul VI signs 2nd Vatican council
- 1966 US and USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space
- 2004 Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the Union of South American Nations
- More Historical Events
Dec 8 in Film & TV
- 1978 "The Deer Hunter", directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep, premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Best Picture 1979)
Dec 8 in Music
- 1813 Ludwig van Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premieres in Vienna with Beethoven conducting
Dec 8 in Sport
- 1978 Commencement of the 1st day/night World Series Cricket supertest at VFL Park, Melbourne
Did You Know?
Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations in New York
On December 8, 1953
Mary, Queen of Scots
Eli Whitney
Jim Morrison
Sam Kinison
Sinead O'Connor
Nicki MinajWould You Believe?
Norman Mayer holds Washington Monument hostage, demanding an end to nuclear weapons. Is killed by police after 10 hrs (he had no explosives)
On December 8, 1982
Famous Weddings
- 1872 American religious leader Brigham Young (71) weds his 55th and final wife, American poet Hannah Tapfield (68) in Salt Lake City, Utah
- 1950 NBA player Bob Cousy (22) weds his college sweetheart Missie Ritterbusch
- 1953 Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker (58) weds second wife Olive Palmer (51) at Park Road Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada
Famous Divorces
- 2010 "Heart" rock singer Nancy Wilson (56) divorces "Almost Famous" and "Elizabethtown" director Cameron Crowe (53) due to irreconcilable differences after 24 years of marriage
More Weddings & Divorces
Albert Kahn
Tris Speaker
Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.
Golda Meir
John Lennon
John GlennArticles, Photos and Quiz
Real-life Tragedy for Theatrical Family
On this day a tragedy engulfed one of Britain’s noted theatrical families of the early 20th century.
December 8, 1926
Weekly Quiz for December 2 - 8
What did FDR call Pearl Harbor in a speech to Congress a day after the attack? What was patented in the US in 1909 sparking the birth of the plastics industry?
