Today in History: War, Politics, Scandal, Disasters, Assassination, Terror
On this date:
POLITICS
On Dec. 8, 1987, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty at the White House calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
WAR!
In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.
In 1863, President Lincoln announced his plan for the reconstruction of the South.
In 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks.
RELIGION
In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Catholic 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.
TERRORISM
In 1982, a man demanding an end to nuclear weapons held the Washington Monument hostage, threatening to blow it up with explosives he claimed were inside a van. After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer was shot dead by police; it turned out there were no explosives.
In 2006, a gunman went on a rampage inside a downtown Chicago law firm, killing three people before being shot dead himself by police.
LABOR
In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, Ohio.
ASSASSINATION
In 1980, rock star John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by Mark David Chapman.
DISASTERS
Ten years ago: Federal hearings opened in Baltimore into the TWA Flight 800 disaster which had claimed 230 lives.
SCANDAL
In 2006, the House ethics committee concluded that Republican lawmakers and aides failed for a decade to protect male pages from sexual overtures by former Rep. Mark Foley, but that they broke no rules and should not be punished.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor-director Maximilian Schell is 77. Actor David Carradine is 71. Actor James MacArthur is 70. Flutist James Galway is 68. Singer Jerry Butler is 68. Pop musician Bobby Elliott (The Hollies) is 65. Actor John Rubinstein is 61. Rock singer-musician Gregg Allman is 60. Reggae singer Toots Hibbert (Toots and the Maytals) is 59. Actress Kim Basinger is 54. Rock musician Warren Cuccurullo is 51. Rock musician Phil Collen (Def Leppard) is 50. Country singer Marty Raybon is 48. Rock musician Marty Friedman is 45. Actor Wendell Pierce is 44. Actress Teri Hatcher is 43. Rapper Bushwick Bill (The Geto Boys) is 41. Singer Sinead O’Connor is 41. Actor Matthew Laborteaux is 41. Rock musician Ryan Newell (Sister Hazel) is 35. Actor Dominic Monaghan is 31. Actor Ian Somerhalder is 29. Actress AnnaSophia Robb is 14.
Saturday, Dec. 8, the 342nd day of 2007. There are 23 days left in the year.
Source: AP – Today in History December 8 2007
compiled by Mondoreb
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Originally posted at:
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