On this day in History - Dec. 08

• 1720 - D. João V fundou a Academia Portuguesa de História.
• 1792 - Começo da construção do Teatro de São Carlos, em Lisboa.
• 1765 - Eli Whitney born Westboro, Mass (d. 1825) American inventor. Inventor of the cotton gin
• 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 his plan for the reconstruction of the South.
• 1865 - Jean Sibelius, born, composer (d. 1957)
• 1886 - The American Federation of Labor was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio.
• 1886 - Diego Rivera, born , Mexican painter and muralist (d. 1957)
• 1894 - Nascimento da poetisa Florbela Espanca (1894-1930). Uma das maiores poetas de língua portuguesa, suicidou-se no dia em que fez 36 anos.
• 1906 -Britain announces intention to intervene in the Congo Free State if Belgian and German atrocities against natives continues
• 1907 - King Gustav V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne
• 1914 - Battle of the Falkland Islands fought.
• 1916 - Richard Fleischer was born , Movie director.
• 1925. Foi posto à venda na Alemanha o livro de Adolf Hitler «Mein Kampf» (A Minha Luta), escrito no pequeno período de tempo em que esteve na prisão
• 1925 - Sammy Davis Jr., actor, singer (d. 1990)
• 1936 - David Carradine was born, actor
• 1941 - Congress declared war on Japan and the U.S. entered World War II one day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
• 1941 - Holocaust: First Nazi use of gas vans on Jews, at the Chelmno camp near Lodz.
• 1942 - Botafogo Futebol Clube funde-se com o Clube de Regatas Botafogo, dando origem ao atual Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas.
• 1943 - Jim Morrison, singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)
• 1946 - John Rubinstein, actor, composer
• 1949 - Communist attacks forced the Chinese Nationalist government to flee to the island of Formosa (Taiwan).
• 1953 - Kim Basinger , was born, actress
• 1961 - Nascimento do humorista americano James Thurber (1894-1961), em Columbus, Ohio. A sua obra mais conhecida é The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• 1966 - Sinead O’Connor was born, singer
• 1974 - A população da Grécia, via um referendo, vota contra a restauração da monarquia no país.
• 1976 - The Eagles release one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, Hotel California
• 1978 - Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir died in Jerusalem at age 80.
• 1980 - John Lennon, former member of the Beatles, was shot and killed in New York City by a deranged fan.
• 1987 -President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nyclear arsenals of the two superpowers.
• 1987 - the "intefadeh" (Arabic for uprising) by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories began.
• 1991- A União Soviética é oficialmente dissolvida, e doze de seus países membros fundam a Comunidade dos Estados Independentes (CEI).
• 1992 - Willy Brandt, morre, político alemão
• 1993 -President Bill Clinton signed The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law.
• 1994 - Bosnian Serbs released dozens of hostage peacekeepers, but continued to detain about 300 others
• 1994 - Antônio Carlos Jobim, morre , músico brasileiro.
• 1995 - O estado báltico da Lituânia faz um pedido oficial para se tornar membro da União Européia.
• 2003 - Rubén González, died, Cuban pianist, member of the Buena Vista Social Club
  
  Holyday : Catholicism -Holy Day of Obligation The Feast of the Immaculate Conception