December 8Birthdays & History

On this day: December 8 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 395Later Yan is defeated by its former vassal Northern Wei at the Battle of Canhe Slope.Asia
2. 757The poet Du Fu returns to Chang'an as a member of Emperor Xuanzong's court, after having escaped the city during the An Lushan Rebellion.Asia
3. 877Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald) is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom at Compiègne.Europe
4. 1504Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah writes his Oran fatwa, arguing for the relaxation of Islamic law requirements for the forcibly converted Muslims in Spain.Europe
5. 1660A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.Europe
6. 1851Conservative Santiago-based government troops defeat rebels at the Battle of Loncomilla, signaling the end of the 1851 Chilean Revolution.Latin America
7. 1854In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin.Europe
8. 1863Between two and three thousand churchgoers die in the Church of the Company Fire, possibly the largest single building fire by number of victims in modern history.Latin America
9. 1864Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas.Europe
10. 1907King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.Europe
11. 1912Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.Europe
12. 1914World War I: A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.EuropeAsiaLatin America
13. 1922Two days after coming into existence, the Irish Free State executes four leaders of the Irish Republican Army: Dick Barrett, Joe McKelvey, Liam Mellows and Rory O'Connor.Europe
14. 1933Anarchist insurrection breaks out in Zaragoza, Spain.Europe
15. 1941World War II: Japanese forces simultaneously invade Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. (See December 7 for the concurrent attack on Pearl Harbor in the Western Hemisphere.)AsiaAsiaEurope
16. 1941World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after which the U.S. declares war on Japan.North AmericaAsia
17. 1943World War II: The German 117th Jäger Division destroys the monastery of Mega Spilaio in Greece and executes 22 monks and visitors as part of reprisals that culminated a few days later with the Massacre of Kalavryta.Europe
18. 1953U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech, which leads to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.North America
19. 1955The Flag of Europe is adopted by Council of Europe.Europe
20. 1962Workers at four New York City newspapers (this later increases to nine) go on strike for 114 days.North America
21. 1963Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.North America
22. 1966The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.Europe
23. 1969Olympic Airways Flight 954 strikes a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 90 people in the worst crash of a Douglas DC-6 in history.Europe
24. 1971Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi.Asia
25. 1972United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.North America
26. 1974A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.Europe
27. 1980John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.North America
28. 1985The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia, is established.Asia
29. 1987An Israeli army tank transporter kills four Palestinian refugees and injures seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, which has been cited as one of the events which sparked the First Intifada.Middle East
30. 1987Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House.North AmericaEurope
31. 1988A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing five people and injuring 50 others.North AmericaEurope
32. 1991The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.Europe
33. 1998Eighty-one people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.Africa
34. 2001A raid conducted by the Internal Security Department (ISD) of Singapore foils a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to bomb foreign embassies in Singapore.Asia
35. 2004The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.Latin AmericaNorth America
36. 2004Columbus nightclub shooting: Nathan Gale opens fire at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, killing former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others before being shot dead by a police officer.North America
37. 2009Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 people and injure 448 others.Middle East
38. 2010The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km (50,200 mi).Asia
39. 2010With the second launch of the Falcon 9, and the first launch of the Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.World
40. 2013Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first musical act to perform on all seven continents.World
41. 2013Riots break out in Singapore, after a fatal accident in Little India.Asia
42. 2019First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.Asia
43. 2024Damascus falls to rebels after Syrian troops withdraw and president Bashar al-Assad leaves the country as his government collapses. Israel as a result invaded into the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.Middle East
44. 2025Singapore, under the government's approval, published its now-declassified Albatross file, comprising information relating to the Proclamation of Singapore dating back six decades ago.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "December 8" / CC BY-SA 4.0