December 8

Events

• 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 civil war in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
• 1660 – Margaret Hughes becomes the first actress to appear on an English public stage, playing the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.
• 1854 – Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.
• 1907 – King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
• 1941 – The United States and the Republic of China declare war against Japan.
• 1941 – Japanese forces invade Thailand's southern peninsula. They face a heavy resistance, however, Plaek Phibunsongkhram ordered a ceasefire.
• 1949 – The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
• 1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by positive lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, United States, killing all 81 people on board.
• 1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
• 1972 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45.
• 1974 – A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
• 1980 – John Lennon, an English musician and peace activist, is assassinated by Mark David Chapman, a mentally unstable fan, in front of the Dakota apartment building 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 – Croat Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills eight people at the offices of the Australia Post in Melbourne, before being killed himself.
• 1987 – The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
• 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 is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
• 1998 – Eighty-one people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
• 1998 – The Australian Cricket Board's cover-up of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh's involvement with bookmakers is revealed.
• 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.
• 2004 – Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as "Diamond Darrell" "Dimebag Darrell", "Dimebag" or simply "Dime" was murdered onstage during a Damageplan performance at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. He was 38
• 2005 – Ante Gotovina, a Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
• 2008 – Kirsty Williams is elected as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. She becomes the first female leader of a political party in Wales.
• 2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 and injure 448.

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)
• 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 – Lesslie Newbigin, English missionary to India and philosopher/theologian
• 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, First Navy Vietnam Ace, 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
• 1967 – Andy Kapp, German curler
• 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
• 1976 – Joshua Butler, Celebrity Chef
• 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 (d. 2009)
• 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
• 1984 – Nicki Minaj,U.S. female rapper
• 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
• 1987 – Susanne Riesch, German alpine skier
• 1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1993 – AnnaSophia Robb, American actress and singer