December 8 Historical Events

The following events took place on December 8. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 40 events. Showing 1 - 30.

• 395
  Later Yan is defeated by its former vassal Northern Wei at the Battle of Canhe Slope.
• 757
  Du Fu returns to Chang'an as a member of Emperor Xuanzong’s court, after having escaped the city during the An Lushan Rebellion.
• 1432
  The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War.
• 1560
  The city of Guarulhos is founded.
• 1596
  Luis de Carabajal the younger, one of the first Jewish authors in the Americas, died in an auto-da-fé during the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico City.
• 1660
  A 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.
• 1813
  Premier of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.
• 1854
  In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin.
• 1907
  King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
• 1912
  Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.
• 1914
  World War I: A squadron of Britain’s Royal Navy defeats an inferior squadron of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
• 1922
  Northern Ireland ceases to be part of the Irish Free State.
• 1927
  The Brookings Institution, one of the United States’ oldest think tanks, is founded through the merger of three organizations that had been created by philanthropist Robert S. Brookings.
• 1941
  World 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.
• 1941
  World 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.)

• 1949
  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is established to provide aid to Palestinian refugees who left their homes during the 1948 Palestinian exodus.
• 1953
  U.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.
• 1962
  Workers at four New York City newspapers (this later increases to nine) go on strike for 114 days.
• 1963
  Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.
• 1966
  The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
• 1969
  An Olympic Airways Douglas DC-6 strikes a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 90—the worst crash of a DC-6.
• 1971
  Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan’s port city of Karachi.
• 1972
  United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. The crash is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.
• 1974
  A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
• 1980
  John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota 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
  Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
• 1987
  The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
• 1987
  An 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, sparking the First Intifada.