DECEMBER 8 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

65BC – Horace the Roman poet was born on the 8th December in the year 65 BC (died 8 BC).

1542 – Mary, Queen of Scots was born on the 8th December 1542 (d. 1587).

1560 – The city of Guarulhos was founded on the 8th December 1560.

1574 – Maria Anna of Bavaria the German wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor was born on the 8th December 1574 (died 1616).

1626 – Christina, Queen of Sweden was born on the 8th December 1626 (died 1689).

1699 – Maria Josepha of Austria the Austrian wife of Augustus III of Poland was born on the 8th December 1699 (died 1757).

1724 – Claude Balbastre the French composer and organist was born on the 8th December 1724 (died 1799).

1731 – František Xaver Dušek the Czech composer was born on the 8th December 1731 (died 1799).

1756 – Maximilian Francis of Austria aka Archbishop-Elector of Cologne was born on the 8th December 1756 (died 1801).

1765 – Eli Whitney the American inventor of the cotton gin was born on the 8th December 1765 (died 1825).

1795 – Peter Andreas Hansen the Danish astronomer was born on the 8th December 1795 (died 1874).

1813 – Premier of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony on the 8th December 1813.

1815 – Adolph Menzel the German painter and illustrator was born on the 8th December 1815 (died 1905).

1818 – Charles III, Prince of Monaco was born on the 8th December 1818 (died 1889).

1832 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson the Norwegian author and Nobel Prize laureate was born on the 8th December 1832 (died 1910).

1861 – William C. Durant the American businessman and founder of General Motors and Chevrolet was born on the 8th December 1861 (died 1947).

1861 ~ Georges Méliès the French illusionist and filmmaker was born Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès on the 8th December 1861 (died 1938, aged 77). Georges Méliès was famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema.

1861 – Aristide Maillol the French sculptor and painter was born on the 8th December 1861 (died 1944).

1864 – Camille Claudel the French illustrator and sculptor was born on the 8th December 1864 (died 1943).

1865 – Jean Sibelius the Finnish composer was born on the 8th December 1865 (died 1957 aged 91). Jean Sibelius is featured in Classical Desinations 3 (episode 3) presented by Aled Jones.

1874 – Ernst Moro the Austrian physician was born on the 8th December 1874 (died 1951).

1886 – Diego Rivera the Mexican painter was born on the 8th December 1886 (died 1957).

1890 – Bohuslav Martinů the Czech composer was born on the 8th December 1890 (died 1959).

1894 – E. C. Segar the American cartoonist was born on the 8th December 1894 (d. 1938).

1894 – James Thurber the American author and illustrator was born on the 8th December 1894 (died 1961).

1902 – Wifredo Lam the Cuban painter was born on the 8th December 1902 (died 1982).

1907 – King Gustaf V of Sweden acceded to the Swedish throne on the 8th December 1907.

1915 – Ernest Lehman the American screenwriter was born on the 8th December 1915 (died 2005).

1922 – Lucian Freud the German-English painter was born on the 8th December 1922 (died 2011).

1922 – Jean Ritchie the American singer-songwriter was born on the 8th December 1922.

1924 – Lionel Gilbert the Australian historian and author was born on the 8th December 1924.

1925Sammy Davis Jr. the African-American entertainer was born Samuel George Davis Jr. on the 8th December 1925 (died 16th May 1990 aged 64). YouTube video: Sammy Davis Jnr performing Mr Bojangles in Germany in 1985…

1925 – Jimmy Smith the American organist was born on the 8th December 1925 (died 2005).

1927 – The Brookings Institution, one of the United States’ oldest think tanks, was founded on the 8th December 1927, through the merger of 3 organizations that had been created by philanthropist Robert S. Brookings.

1927 – Vladimir Shatalov the Soviet cosmonaut and general was born on the 8th December 1927.

1928 – Ulric Neisser the German-American psychologist was born on the 8th December 1928 (died 2012).

1930 – Maximilian Schell the Austrian-Swiss actor and director was born on the 8th December 1930.

1933 – Flip Wilson the American comedian and actor was born on the 8th December 1933 (died 1998).

1936 – David Carradine the American actor was born on the 8th December 1936 (died 2009).

1939 – James Galway the Irish flute player was born on the 8th December 1939.

1939 – Jerry Butler the American singer-songwriter from The Impressions was born on the 8th December 1939.

1939 – Soko Richardson the American drummer from Kings of Rhythm and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers was born on the 8th December 1939 (died 2004).

1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared on the 8th December 1941, that December 7 would be a date which will live in infamy, after which the U.S. declared war on Japan.

1941 – World War II: Japanese forces simultaneously invaded MalayaThailandHong Kongthe Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies on the 8th December 1941. (See 7th December for the concurrent attack on Pearl Harbor in the Western Hemisphere).

1941 – Bobby Elliott the English drummer from The Hollies was born on the 8th December 1941.

1943 – Jim Morrison the American singer-songwriter from The Doors was born on the 8th December 1943 (died 1971).

1943 – Mary Woronov the American actress was born on the 8th December 1943.

1943 – Larry Martin the American paleontologist was born on the 8th December 1943 (died 2013).

1947 – Gregg Allman the American singer-songwriter and guitarist from The Allman Brothers Band was born on the 8th December 1947.

1947 – Thomas R. Cech the American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate was born on the 8th December 1947.

1949 – Nancy Meyers the American director, producer, and screenwriter was born on the 8th December 1949.

1949 – Ray Shulman the English violinist and guitarist from Simon Dupree and the Big Sound was born on the 8th December 1949.

1949 – Robert Sternberg the American psychologist was born on the 8th December 1949.

1950 – Dan Hartman the American singer-songwriter and producer of the Edgar Winter Group was born on the 8th December 1950 (d. 1994).

1951 – Bill Bryson the American author was born on the 8th December 1951.

1951 – Richard Desmond the English publisher, businessman and founder of Northern & Shell was born on the 8th December 1951.

1953 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his Atoms for Peace speech on the 8th December 1953, which led to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.

1953 – Kim Basinger the American actress, singer, and producer was born on the 8th December 1953.

1953 – Sam Kinison the American comedian and actor was born on the 8th December 1953 (died 1992).

1954Louis de Bernières the British novelist was born in London on on the 8th December 1954. Louis de Bernières is best known for his 4th novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (1994), and released as a film in 2001. Louis de Bernières is also known for his book Red Dog (2001) which was inspired by a statue of a dog he saw while visiting to the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which was made into a film in 2011. Louis de Bernières official website: www.LouisdeBernieres.co.uk

1955Deborra-Lee Furness the Australian actress, director, producer and wife of Hugh Jackman was born in Sydney on the 8th December 1955, and brought up in Melbourne.

1955 – Kasim Sulton the American bass guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Utopia was born on the 8th December 1955.

1956 – Warren Cuccurullo the American guitarist from Duran Duran and Missing Persons was born on the 8th December 1956.

1956 – Andrew Edge the English drummer from the Thompson Twins was born on the 8th December 1956.

1957 – Phil Collen the English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Def Leppard was born on the 8th December 1957.

1958 – Bob Greene the American physiologist was born on the 8th December 1958.

1958 – Thongchai McIntyre the Thai singer and actor was born on the 8th December 1958.

1961 – Mikey Robins the Australian comedian and television host was born on the 8th December 1961.

1962 – Marty Friedman the American-Japanese guitarist and songwriter from Megadeth was born on the 8th December 1962.

1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, was struck by lightning and crashed near Elkton, Maryland on the 8th December 1963, killing all 81 people on board.

1962 – Steve Elkington the Australian golfer was born on the 8th December 1962.

1964 – James Blundell the Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist was born on the 8th December 1964.

1964 – Teri Hatcher the American actress was born on the 8th December 1964.

1964 – Mike Ruiz the Canadian-American model, photographer, and director was born on the 8th December 1964.

1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sank in a storm in the Aegean Sea on the 8th December 1966, killing over 200 people.

1966 – Sinéad O’Connor the Irish singer-songwriter was born on the 8th December 1966.

1969 – An Olympic Airways Douglas DC-6 struck a mountain outside of KerateaGreece on the 8th December 1969, killing 90 people, making it the worst crash of a DC-6.

1972 – United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashed after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport on the 8th December 1972, killing 45 people. The crash was the first ever loss of a Boeing 737.

1972 – Indrek Allmann the Estonian architect was born on the 8th December 1972.

1973 – Corey Taylor the American singer-songwriter from Slipknot was born on the 8th December 1973.

1980 – John Lennon the English musician, former member of The Beatles, and peace activist, was murdered by Mark David Chapman, a mentally unstable fan, on the 8th December 1980, in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City.

1982 – Nicki Minaj the Trinidadian-American rapper was born on the 8th December 1982.

1987 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed on the 8th December 1987.

1987 – Jana Juričová the Slovak tennis player was born on the 8th December 1987.

1987 – Frank Vitkovic shot and killed 8 people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, then jumped to his death on the 8th December 1987.

1987 – The Alianza Lima air disaster occurred on the 8th December 1987.

1988 – A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashed into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany on the 8th December 1988, killing 5 people and injuring 50.

1991 – The leaders of RussiaBelarus and Ukraine signed an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States on the 8th December 1991.

1993 – AnnaSophia Robb the American actress and singer was born on the 8th December 1993.

2010 – With the 2nd launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 on the 8th December 2010, and the 1st launch of the SpaceX DragonSpaceX became the 1st private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.

2010 – The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passed the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km on the 8th December 2010.

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