Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 8
This is a list of selected December 8 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Pope Pius IX -
Pope Pius IX -
Biblioteca Ambrosiana -
John Lennon -
Model of the IKAROS spacecraft
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Constitution Day in Romania (1991); | refimprove |
| 395 – The state of Later Yan was defeated by its former vassal Northern Wei at the Battle of Canhe Slope. | refimprove section |
| 1609 – Milan's Biblioteca Ambrosiana opened its reading room to the public, becoming the second public library in Europe. | refimprove section |
| 1912 – Leaders of the German Empire held an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out. | unreferenced section |
| 1927 – The Brookings Institution, one of the United States' oldest think tanks, was founded through the merger of three separate organizations established by Robert S. Brookings. | refimprove section |
| 1993 – Leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed the final agreements of the North American Free Trade Agreement, forming a regional trade bloc. | multiple issues |
| 2004 – Twelve South American countries signed the Cusco Declaration, announcing the foundation of what is now the Union of South American Nations, an intergovernmental union modelled after the European Union. | refimprove section |
Eligible
- 1941 – The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill the Jews of the Ghetto Litzmannstadt and the Warthegau by poison gas, began operating.
- 1963 – After being hit by a lightning strike while in a holding pattern, Pan Am Flight 214 crashed near Elkton, Maryland, US, killing all 81 people on board.
- 1987 – A man shot and killed eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
- 1987 – Arab–Israeli conflict: An Israeli army tank transporter killed four Palestinian refugees and injured seven others during a traffic accident at the Erez Crossing on the Israel–Gaza Strip border, sparking the First Intifada.
- 1991 – Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine signed the Belavezha Accords, agreeing to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- 2009 – Bombings carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 127 and injured 448.
- 2010 – The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS passed by Venus at about 80,800 km distance, completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar sail technology.
December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic Church); Bodhi Day in Japan
- 1432 – The first battle of the Lithuanian Civil War between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis was fought near the modern town of Ashmyany.
- 1854 – In his apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin.
- 1941 – Second World War: Led by Takashi Sakai, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Hong Kong and quickly achieved air superiority by bombing Kai Tak Airport.
- 1980 – Former Beatle John Lennon (pictured with Yoko Ono) was shot and killed in the entrance of the Dakota apartments in New York City.
- 1998 – The Australian Cricket Board's cover-up of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh's involvement with bookmakers was revealed.