December 8
1776 - George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War.
1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception.
1863 - President Abraham Lincoln announced this plan for the Reconstruction of the South.
1886 - The American Federation of Labor was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio.
1941 - Congress declared war on Japan and the United States entered World War II, one day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
1949 - Communist attacks forced the Chinese Nationalist Government to flee to the island of Formosa (Taiwan).
1972 - A United Airlines Boeing 737 crashed while attempting to land at Chicago-Midway Airport, killing 43 of the 61 people on board, as well as two people on the ground; among the dead were Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt, U.S. Rep. George W. Collins, D-Ill., and CBS News correspondent Michele Clark.
1978 - Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir died.
1980 - Former Beatles member John Lennon, age 40, was shot and killed by a deranged fan, Mark David Chapman in New York City.
1987 - President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers.
1991 - Russia, Belarus and Ukraine declared the Soviet national government dead, forming a new Commonwealth of Independent States.
1991 - Kimberly Bergalis, who had contracted AIDS from her dentist, died in Florida at age 23.
1992 - Americans saw live TV coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope began.
1993 - President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law.
1995 - The Grateful Dead announced they were breaking up, four months following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.
1998 - Struggling to stave off impeachment, President Bill Clinton's defenders forcefully pleaded his case before the House Judiciary Committee.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police cannot search people and their cars after merely ticketing them for routine traffic violations.
2001 - The U.S. Capitol was reopened to tourists following a two-month security shutdown.
2008 - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal he would confess to masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks; four other men also abandoned their defenses.
2014 - The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan, 13 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks sparked their invasion of the country to topple the Taliban-led government.
2016 - John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 95.
2020 - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Republicans' last-grasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania's certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the electoral battleground state; the court refused to call into question the certification process in the state.
Birthdays
25 - Teala Dunn (actress)
28 - AnnaSophia Robb (actress)
30 - Wallis Currie-Wood (actress)
32 - Drew Doughty (hockey player)
35 - Kate Voegele (actress/singer)
35 - Enzo Amore (professional wrestler)
36 - Josh Donaldson (baseball player)
36 - Dwight Howard (basketball player)
37 - Sam Hunt (singer)
39 - Hannah Ware (actress)
39 - Chrisette Michele (singer)
39 - Nicki Minaj (rapper)
40 - Philip Rivers (football player)
42 - Ingrid Michaelson (singer)
43 - Ian Somerhalder (actor)
45 - Dominic Monaghan (actor)
53 - Mike Mussina (baseball player)
53 - Michael Cole (professional wrestling commentator)
55 - Matthew Laborteaux (actor)
55 - Sinead O'Connor (singer)
56 - David Harewood (actor)
57 - Teri Hatcher (actress)
58 - Wendell Pierce (actor)
60 - Ann Coulter (political commentator)
68 - Kim Basinger (actress)
75 - John Rubinstein (actor)
78 - Mary Woronov (actress)
82 - Jerry Butler (singer)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 8
1940 - The Chicago Bears defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0 to win the NFL Championship; it was the most lopsided championship game in league history.
1942 - Georgia running back Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy.
1948 - Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy.
1953 - Notre Dame running back Johnny Lattner wins the Heisman Trophy.
1955 - Ohio State running back Howard Cassady wins the Heisman Trophy.
1961 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 78 points in a 151-147 (3OT) loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
1973 - Penn State running back John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy.
1977 - Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.
1987 - Ron Hextall (Philadelphia Flyers) became the first goalie in NHL history to shoot and score a goal. His empty net goal made him only the second goalie to get credit for a goal in the NHL.
1988 - The New York Knicks set an NBA record with 11 3-point shots in a 113-109 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
2000 - Mario Lemieux announced to the Pittsburgh Penguins that he planned to return to the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player at age 35. He would be the first modern owner-player in U.S. pro sports.
2003 - The Orlando Magic ended their 19-game losing streak by beating the Phoenix Suns 105-98.
2004 - In Michigan, five Indiana Pacers and seven fans were charged for various crimes related to a fight that broke out during a Pacers-Pistons game on November 19.
2007 - Florida quarterback Tim Tebow wins the Heisman Trophy.
2011 - The 161-day NBA lockout ended when owners and players ratified the new collective bargaining agreement.
2018 - Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray wins the Heisman Trophy.
1776 - George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War.
1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception.
1863 - President Abraham Lincoln announced this plan for the Reconstruction of the South.
1886 - The American Federation of Labor was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio.
1941 - Congress declared war on Japan and the United States entered World War II, one day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
1949 - Communist attacks forced the Chinese Nationalist Government to flee to the island of Formosa (Taiwan).
1972 - A United Airlines Boeing 737 crashed while attempting to land at Chicago-Midway Airport, killing 43 of the 61 people on board, as well as two people on the ground; among the dead were Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt, U.S. Rep. George W. Collins, D-Ill., and CBS News correspondent Michele Clark.
1978 - Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir died.
1980 - Former Beatles member John Lennon, age 40, was shot and killed by a deranged fan, Mark David Chapman in New York City.
1987 - President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers.
1991 - Russia, Belarus and Ukraine declared the Soviet national government dead, forming a new Commonwealth of Independent States.
1991 - Kimberly Bergalis, who had contracted AIDS from her dentist, died in Florida at age 23.
1992 - Americans saw live TV coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope began.
1993 - President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law.
1995 - The Grateful Dead announced they were breaking up, four months following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.
1998 - Struggling to stave off impeachment, President Bill Clinton's defenders forcefully pleaded his case before the House Judiciary Committee.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police cannot search people and their cars after merely ticketing them for routine traffic violations.
2001 - The U.S. Capitol was reopened to tourists following a two-month security shutdown.
2008 - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal he would confess to masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks; four other men also abandoned their defenses.
2014 - The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan, 13 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks sparked their invasion of the country to topple the Taliban-led government.
2016 - John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 95.
2020 - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Republicans' last-grasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania's certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the electoral battleground state; the court refused to call into question the certification process in the state.
Birthdays
25 - Teala Dunn (actress)
28 - AnnaSophia Robb (actress)
30 - Wallis Currie-Wood (actress)
32 - Drew Doughty (hockey player)
35 - Kate Voegele (actress/singer)
35 - Enzo Amore (professional wrestler)
36 - Josh Donaldson (baseball player)
36 - Dwight Howard (basketball player)
37 - Sam Hunt (singer)
39 - Hannah Ware (actress)
39 - Chrisette Michele (singer)
39 - Nicki Minaj (rapper)
40 - Philip Rivers (football player)
42 - Ingrid Michaelson (singer)
43 - Ian Somerhalder (actor)
45 - Dominic Monaghan (actor)
53 - Mike Mussina (baseball player)
53 - Michael Cole (professional wrestling commentator)
55 - Matthew Laborteaux (actor)
55 - Sinead O'Connor (singer)
56 - David Harewood (actor)
57 - Teri Hatcher (actress)
58 - Wendell Pierce (actor)
60 - Ann Coulter (political commentator)
68 - Kim Basinger (actress)
75 - John Rubinstein (actor)
78 - Mary Woronov (actress)
82 - Jerry Butler (singer)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 8
1940 - The Chicago Bears defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0 to win the NFL Championship; it was the most lopsided championship game in league history.
1942 - Georgia running back Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy.
1948 - Southern Methodist running back Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy.
1953 - Notre Dame running back Johnny Lattner wins the Heisman Trophy.
1955 - Ohio State running back Howard Cassady wins the Heisman Trophy.
1961 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 78 points in a 151-147 (3OT) loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
1973 - Penn State running back John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy.
1977 - Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.
1987 - Ron Hextall (Philadelphia Flyers) became the first goalie in NHL history to shoot and score a goal. His empty net goal made him only the second goalie to get credit for a goal in the NHL.
1988 - The New York Knicks set an NBA record with 11 3-point shots in a 113-109 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
2000 - Mario Lemieux announced to the Pittsburgh Penguins that he planned to return to the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player at age 35. He would be the first modern owner-player in U.S. pro sports.
2003 - The Orlando Magic ended their 19-game losing streak by beating the Phoenix Suns 105-98.
2004 - In Michigan, five Indiana Pacers and seven fans were charged for various crimes related to a fight that broke out during a Pacers-Pistons game on November 19.
2007 - Florida quarterback Tim Tebow wins the Heisman Trophy.
2011 - The 161-day NBA lockout ended when owners and players ratified the new collective bargaining agreement.
2018 - Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray wins the Heisman Trophy.
