December 8th in History
Georges Méliès’ Le Voyage Dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), 1902
Today in History
- The first woman to appear as an actress in a publicly staged English play (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) plays Desdemona in a production of Othello (1660)
- Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony premiers in Vienna with Beethoven conducting (1813)
- FDR declares December 7 to be a “a date which will live in infamy” following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941)
- Japanese forces attack Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies (1941)
- The US Congress declares war on Japan (1941)
- Eisenhower gives his “Atoms for Peace” speech (1953)
- The Greek monarchy is abolished (1974)
- An agreement among the Russian Federation, Belarus, and Ukraine abolishes the Soviet Union in favor of the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991)
Birthdays
- Horace, poet (65 BCE)
- Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 CE)
- Eli Whitney, inventor (1765 CE)
- William C. Durant, founder of GM and Chevrolet (1861)
- Georges Méliès, director (1861)
- Jean Sibelius, composer (1865)
- Diego Rivera, painter (1886)
- E. C. Segar, cartoonist, creator of Popeye (1894)
- James Thurber, author and cartoonist (1894)
- Delmore Schwartz, poet (1913)
- Sammy Davis, Jr., singer, actor, daner (1925)
- Maximilian Schell, actor (1933)
- Flip Wilson, comedian (1933)
- David Carradine, actor (1936)
- James MacArthur, actor (1937)
- Ed Brinkman, baseball player (1941)
- Bob Brown, football player (1941)
- Jim Morrison, singer-songwriter (1943)
- Gregg Allman, singer-songwriter (1947)
- Rick Baker, makeup artist (1950)
- Bill Bryson, author (1951)
- Kim Basinger, actress (1953)
- Sam Kinison, comedian (1953)
- Ann Coulter, conservative pundit (1961)
- Teri Hatcher, actress (1964)
- Sinéad O’Connor, singer-songwriter (1966)
- Mike Mussina, baseball player (1968)
- Dominic Monaghan, actor (1976)
- Vernon Wells, baseball player (1978)
- Nicki Minaj, rapper (1982)
Deaths
- Madame du Barry, royal mistress (1793)
- Thomas De Quincey, author (1859)
- Herbert Spencer, philosopher (1903)
- Golda Meir, Israeli prime minister (1978)
- John Lennon, Beatle (1980)
- Slim Pickens, actor and rodeo performer (1983)
- William Shawn, New Yorker editor (1992)
- Howard Rollins, actor (1996)
- Bob Bell, Bozo the Clown player (1997)
Holidays and Celebration
- Afflux (Discordianism/Erisianism, marking the 50th day of the season of The Aftermath)
- CARICOM-Cuba Day (Caribbean Community and Cuba)
- Constitution Day (Romania, Uzbekistan)
- Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Christianity)
- Festa da Conceição da Praia (celebrating Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean) (Salvador, Bahia)
- Festival of Lights (Lyon, France)
- Lady of Camarin Day (Guam)
- Mother’s Day (Panama)
- National Brownie Day (US food holidays)
- National Youth Day (Albania)
- Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day (International, informal)
- 臘八 (Rōhatsu, or Bodhi Day) (Japanese Mahayana Buddhism, marking the day Siddhartha Gautama experienced enlightenment)
- Student’s Day (Bulgaria)
December 8 is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years). There are 23 days remaining until the end of the year.