TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – DEC 8
1660 The first Shakespearian actress to appear on an English stage (she is believed to be a Ms. Norris) makes her debut as Desdemona.
1776 George Washington’s retreating army crosses Delaware River from New Jersey
1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
1861 CSS Sumter captures the whaler Eben Dodge in the Atlantic. The American Civil War is now affecting the Northern whaling industry.
1863 Abraham Lincoln issues his Amnesty Proclamation and plan for Reconstruction of the South
1920 President Woodrow Wilson declines to send a representative to the League of Nations in Geneva.
1932 Japan tells the League of Nations that it has no control over her designs in China.
1941 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers “Day of Infamy” speech to US Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor
1944 The United States conducts the longest, most effective air raid on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima.
1948 The United Nations approves the recognition of South Korea.
1967 In the biggest battle yet in the Mekong Delta, 365 Viet Cong are killed.
1969 Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in Los Angeles
1980 “Bravo” network premieres on cable TV
1980 John Lennon is shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment building.
1982 The Washington, D.C., police shoot and kill a man threatening to blow up the Washington Monument.
1987 The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed.
1987 An Israeli army tank transporter kills 4 Palestinian refugees and injures 7 others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, leading to the First Intifada.
1991 The international organization was formed by Belarus, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation as a political forum for members of the former Soviet Union.
1993 President Bill Clinton signed The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law.
2010 SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
