What are the important events that happened on December 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
December 8: Facts & Myths About This Day
December 8 is the 342nd day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 23 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is November 25, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 490,320 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectatetracontadigon’ day.
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Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 71 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,735 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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December 8 Historical Events
- 1907 –King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
- 1912 –Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.
- 1914 –A squadron of Britain’s Royal Navy defeats an inferior squadron of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
- 1962 –Workers at four New York City newspapers (this later increases to nine) go on strike for 114 days.
- 1971 –Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan’s port city of Karachi.
- 1982 –In Suriname, several opponents of the military government are killed.
- 1987 –An Israeli army tank transporter kills four Palestinian refugees and injures seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, sparking the First Intifada.
- 1987 –Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
- 1987 –The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
- 2007 –Benazir Bhutto, first and only female former Prime Minister of Pakistan, had her PPP Office stormed by unidentified gunmen. Three supporters are killed.
Who were born on December 8?
- 1765 –Eli Whitney, American inventor (d. 1825)
- 1861 –Georges Méliès, French filmmaker (d. 1938)
- 1935 –Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Israeli chess player
- 1947 –Chava Alberstein, Israeli singer, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger
- 1949 –Nancy Meyers, American film director, producer and screenwriter
- 1953 –Roy Firestone, American sports announcer
- 1954 –Harold Hongju Koh, American lawyer and Obama Administration advisor
- 1975 –Jerrelle Clark, American wrestler
- 1979 –Johan Forssell, Swedish politician
- 1985 –Meagan Duhamel, Canadian figure skater
Who died on December 8?
- 1626 –John Davies, English poet (b. 1569)
- 1649 –Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1613)
- 1695 –Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (b. 1625)
- 1709 –Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (b. 1625)
- 1745 –Etienne Fourmont, French orientalist (b. 1683)
- 1869 –Narcisa de Jesús Martillo, Ecuadorian saint (b. 1832)
- 1938 –Friedrich Glauser, Swiss writer (b. 1896)
- 1967 –John Mills, Sr., American singer (Mills Brothers) (b. 1889)
- 1996 –Howard Rollins, American actor (b. 1950)
- 2006 –José Uribe, Dominican baseball player (b. 1959)
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