History for December 8

History for December 8 - On-This-Day.com
Horace 65 B.C., Eli Whitney 1765, James Thurber 1894


Sammy Davis, Jr. 1925, Flip Wilson 1933, Jim Morrison (Doors) 1943


1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The theory holds that Mary, mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment she was conceived.


1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South.


1941 - The United States entered World War II when it declared war against Japan. The act came one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Britain and Canada also declared war on Japan.


1949 - The Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa due to Communists pressure.


1952 - On the show "I Love Lucy," a pregnancy was acknowledged in a TV show for the first time.


1987 - The "intefadeh" (Arabic for uprising) by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories began.


1993 - U.S. President Clinton signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.


1994 - In Los Angeles, 12 alternate jurors were chosen for the O.J. Simpson murder trial.