In History: Dec. 8
In History: Dec. 8
These are the notable events of Dec. 8 in world, American, and Kansas history.
On Dec. 8…
1609: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the second public library in Europe, opens in Milan.
1776: George Washington’s retreating Continental Army crosses the Delaware River. Eighteen days later, the army would cross back over the Delaware on the famous Christmas Day crossing, which led to the capture of Trenton, N.J.
1792: The first cremation takes place in the United States.
1813: Beethoven’s 7th Symphony in A premiers in Vienna, with Beethoven conducting.
1863: Abraham Lincoln issues the Amnesty Proclamation and provides early plans for reconstruction in the South.
1864: James Clerk Maxwell’s paper on theories of electromagnetic fields becomes the first paper read by the Royal Society in London.
1874: The James-Younger gang, led by famous outlaw Jesse James, robs a train in Muncie, Kan. stealing $30,000 (approximately $800,000 in today’s money).
1886: The American Federation of Labor is formed through the combined efforts of 26 different unions, electing Samuel Gompers as president.
1895: Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II defeats Italian General Baratieri at the Battle of Amba Alagi, forcing the Italian army out of Ethiopia.
1902: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. becomes Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
1912: German Emperor and King of Prussia Wilhelm II calls a German war council.
1914: British Royal Navy defeats a German battle squadron at the Battle of Falkland Island.
1915: The poem “In Flanders Fields” is anonymously published in Punch magazine.
1930: Broadway Theater opens in New York City.
1936: NAACP sues for equal salaries between black and white teachers.
1940: In the first NFL championship game broadcast over the radio, the Chicago Bears beat the now Washington Commanders, 73-0, which is still the most lopsided victory in the league’s history.
1941: FDR gives his famous “a day that will live in infamy” speech one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan. United States and Dutch government-in-exile declare war on Japan.
1946: First rocket-powered plane takes flight.
1949: Chinese Nationalist government moves to Formosa.
1952: First television portrayal of a pregnancy appears in I Love Lucy.
1957: CBS broadcasts “The Sound of Jazz” live from New York City.
1961: Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scores 74 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, the second-highest individual scoring total in NBA history.
1963: Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped.
1966: USSR and U.S. sign a treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons in space.
1980: John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in New York City.
1987: USSR and U.S. agree to eliminate medium-range nuclear missiles.
2010: SpaceX becomes the first private company to launch and recover a spacecraft.
2020: UK begins distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
2022: U.S. exchanges “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer, for WNBA player and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, who had been arrested in Russia on accusations of smuggling charges for having a prescribed substance that is legal in the U.S. but illegal in Russia.