December 8 in history — What Happened Today in History

The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing five people and injuring 50 others.

Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House.

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, which has been cited as one of the events which sparked the First Intifada.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia, is established.

John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.

A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.

United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.

Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi.

Olympic Airways Flight 954 strikes a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 90 people in the worst crash of a Douglas DC-6 in history.

The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.

Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.

Workers at four New York City newspapers (this later increases to nine) go on strike for 114 days.

The Flag of Europe is adopted by Council of Europe.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech, which leads to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.

World War II: The German 117th Jäger Division destroys the monastery of Mega Spilaio in Greece and executes 22 monks and visitors as part of reprisals that culminated a few days later with the Massacre of Kalavryta.

World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after which the U.S. declares war on Japan.

World War II: Japanese forces simultaneously invade Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. (See December 7 for the concurrent attack on Pearl Harbor in the Western Hemisphere.)

Anarchist insurrection breaks out in Zaragoza, Spain.

Two days after coming into existence, the Irish Free State executes four leaders of the Irish Republican Army: Dick Barrett, Joe McKelvey, Liam Mellows and Rory O'Connor.

World War I: A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.

King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.

Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas.

Between two and three thousand churchgoers die in the Church of the Company Fire, possibly the largest single building fire by number of victims in modern history.

In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin.

Conservative Santiago-based government troops defeat rebels at the Battle of Loncomilla, signaling the end of the 1851 Chilean Revolution.

A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello.

Sam Hauser, American basketball player

Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer

Thatcher Demko, American ice hockey player

Cyriel Dessers, Belgian-Nigerian footballer

Conseslus Kipruto, Kenyan runner

Raheem Sterling, English footballer

Janari Jõesaar, Estonian basketball player

Cara Mund, American model, Miss America 2018

Jordan Obita, English footballer

AnnaSophia Robb, American actress

Mattias Janmark, Swedish ice hockey player

Yui Yokoyama, Japanese idol, model, and actress

Philip Holm, Swedish ice hockey player

John Trudell, American author, poet, and actor (born 1946)

Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (born 1913)

Tom Gosnell, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1951)

Russ Kemmerer, American baseball player and coach (born 1930)

Knut Nystedt, Norwegian organist and composer (born 1915)

John Cornforth, Australian-English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917)

Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and academic (born 1931)

Richard S. Williamson, American lawyer and diplomat (born 1949)

Jerry Brown, American football player (born 1987)

John Gowans, Scottish-English 16th General of The Salvation Army (born 1934)

Johnny Lira, American boxer (born 1951)

Luis Días, Dominican singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1952)

Oliver Postgate, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1925)