# On this day: December 8

December 8 is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years), with 23 days left until the end of the year.

## December 8 in one line

Headline entries for December 8, from Wikipedia: in 1980, English musician John Lennon was murdered at the entrance of the Dakota, where he resided in New York City; born 65 BC: Horace, Roman poet (died 8 BC); died 1980: John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1940). In 2026 it is a Tuesday, in 2027 a Wednesday.

## Events on December 8

- 877 Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald) is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom at Compiègne. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_the_Stammerer)
- 1504 Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah wrote his Oran fatwa, arguing for the relaxation of Islamic law for forcibly converted Muslims in Spain. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oran_fatwa)
- 1660 Margaret Hughes appeared professionally on the English stage; she is thought to have been the first woman to do so. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hughes)
- 1777 American Revolutionary War: British commander-in-chief Sir William Howe withdrew his troops from the Battle of White Marsh to Philadelphia. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howe%2C_5th_Viscount_Howe)
- 1854 Pope Pius IX promulgated the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, proclaiming the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ineffabilis_Deus)
- 1864 Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanta_cura)
- 1880 At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the government and volksraad of the South African Republic. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kruger)
- 1914 World War I: A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia_Squadron)
- 1941 The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill Jews, began operations. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che%C5%82mno_extermination_camp)
- 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.) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_campaign)
- 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. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Infamy_speech)
- 1955 The Flag of Europe is adopted by Council of Europe. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe)
- 1963 After being struck by lightning while in a holding pattern, Pan Am Flight 214 crashed near Elkton, Maryland, U.S., killing all 81 people on board. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_214)
- 1980 English musician John Lennon was murdered at the entrance of the Dakota, where he resided in New York City. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_John_Lennon)
- 1985 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia, is established. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for_Regional_Cooperation)
- 1987 Arab–Israeli conflict: An Israeli army tank transporter killed four Palestinian refugees and injured seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, sparking the First Intifada. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intifada)
- 1987 A man shot and killed eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Street_massacre)
- 1987 Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate-Range_Nuclear_Forces_Treaty)
- 1991 Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian leaders signed the Belovezh Accords, agreeing to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States)
- 1998 The Australian Cricket Board's cover-up of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh's involvement with bookmakers was revealed. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_bookmaker_controversy)
- 2009 Bombings in Baghdad carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq killed at least 127 people and injured at least 448 others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2009_Baghdad_bombings)
- 2010 The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar-sail technology. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS)
- 2013 After a fatal bus accident in the Little India subzone of Singapore, angry mobs of workers attacked the bus involved and emergency vehicles, the first riot in the country in over 40 years. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Little_India_riot)
- 2013 Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first musical act to perform on all seven continents. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica)
- 2019 First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19)
- 2024 The Syrian civil war ended when Bashar al-Assad's party, the Syrian Ba'ath Party, surrendered to the Syrian opposition. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war)

## Born on December 8

- 65 BC Horace, Roman poet (died 8 BC) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace)
- 1542 Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise (died 1587) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary%2C_Queen_of_Scots)
- 1708 Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1765) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
- 1832 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian-French author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1910) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B8rnstjerne_Bj%C3%B8rnson)
- 1861 Georges Méliès, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1938) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s)
- 1865 Jean Sibelius, Finnish violinist and composer (died 1957) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Sibelius)
- 1886 Diego Rivera, Mexican painter and educator (died 1957) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Rivera)
- 1930 Maximilian Schell, Austrian-Swiss actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2014) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Schell)
- 1935 Dharmendra, Indian actor, producer, and politician (died 2025) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmendra)
- 1936 David Carradine, American actor, director, and producer (died 2009) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carradine)
- 1943 Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter and poet (died 1971) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Morrison)
- 1947 Thomas Cech, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cech)
- 1953 Kim Basinger, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Basinger)
- 1956 Andrius Kubilius, Lithuanian academic and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Lithuania [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrius_Kubilius)
- 1964 Teri Hatcher, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teri_Hatcher)
- 1966 Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter (died 2023) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin%C3%A9ad_O'Connor)
- 1976 Dominic Monaghan, German-British actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Monaghan)
- 1978 Ian Somerhalder, American actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Somerhalder)
- 1982 Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper and actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicki_Minaj)
- 1993 AnnaSophia Robb, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AnnaSophia_Robb)
- 1994 Raheem Sterling, English footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raheem_Sterling)
- 1999 Reece James, English footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reece_James)

## Died on December 8

- 899 Arnulf of Carinthia (born 850) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnulf_of_Carinthia)
- 1830 Benjamin Constant, Swiss-French philosopher and author (born 1767) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Constant)
- 1859 Thomas De Quincey, English journalist and author (born 1785) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_De_Quincey)
- 1864 George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (born 1815) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boole)
- 1894 Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and theorist (born 1821) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pafnuty_Chebyshev)
- 1903 Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (born 1820) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Spencer)
- 1907 King Oscar II of Sweden (born 1829) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_II)
- 1978 Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (born 1898) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golda_Meir)
- 1980 John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1940) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon)
- 1994 Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1927) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B4nio_Carlos_Jobim)
- 2013 John Cornforth, Australian-English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cornforth)
- 2016 John Glenn, American astronaut and senator, first American to go into orbit (born 1921) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Glenn)
- 2019 Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (born 1998) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_Wrld)
- 2023 Ryan O'Neal, American actor (born 1941) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_O'Neal)

## Holidays and observances

- Battle Day (Falkland Islands) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Falkland_Islands)
- Bodhi Day (Japan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Day)
- CARICOM–Cuba Day (Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Cuba)
- Christian feast day: Budoc (Beuzec) of Dol [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budoc)
- Christian feast day: Clement of Ohrid (Julian Calendar), and its related observances: Student's Day (Bulgaria) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Bulgaria)
- Christian feast day: Eucharius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharius)
- Christian feast day: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Communion), lesser commemoration [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_of_saints_(Church_of_England))
- Christian feast day: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Festa da Conceição da Praia, celebrating Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean in Umbanda (Salvador, Bahia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbanda)
- Christian feast day: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Festival of Lights (Lyon) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_Lights_(Lyon))
- Christian feast day: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Mother's Day (Panama) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day)
- Christian feast day: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Lady of Camarin Day (Guam) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holidays_with_paid_time_off_in_the_United_States)
- Christian feast day: Patapios of Thebes [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patapios)
- Christian feast day: Pope Eutychian [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Eutychian)
- Christian feast day: Richard Baxter (US Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Baxter)
- Christian feast day: Romaric [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaric)
- Christian feast day: Theobald of Marly [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobald_of_Marly)
- Christian feast day: December 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_8_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Constitution Day (Romania) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Romania)
- Constitution Day (Uzbekistan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Uzbekistan)
- Liberation Day (Syria) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Day_(Syria))
- Day of Finnish Music (Finland) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Sibelius)
- Earliest day on which National Tree Planting Day can fall, while December 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in December. (Malawi) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbor_Day)
- Hari-Kuyō (Kansai region, Japan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari-Kuy%C5%8D)
- National Youth Day (Albania) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Albania)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “December 8”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_8) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/December 8”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/December_8) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“December 8”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_8) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_8?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for December 8 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## December 8 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Tuesday | 2026-W50 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2027 | Wednesday | 2027-W49 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2028 | Friday | 2028-W49 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2029 | Saturday | 2029-W49 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2030 | Sunday | 2030-W49 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on December 8

- [🇵🇭 Philippines](https://whathappen.today/holidays/philippines/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇮🇹 Italy](https://whathappen.today/holidays/italy/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇪🇸 Spain](https://whathappen.today/holidays/spain/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇦🇷 Argentina](https://whathappen.today/holidays/argentina/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇨🇴 Colombia](https://whathappen.today/holidays/colombia/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇨🇱 Chile](https://whathappen.today/holidays/chile/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇵🇪 Peru](https://whathappen.today/holidays/peru/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇵🇹 Portugal](https://whathappen.today/holidays/portugal/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)
- [🇦🇹 Austria](https://whathappen.today/holidays/austria/): Immaculate Conception (2026 and 2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← December 7](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/december-7/) · [December 9 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/december-9/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/december-8/