What happened on December 8 ?

1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.

1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was born free of original sin.

1869 - Timothy Eaton founds T. Eaton Co. Limited in Toronto, Canada.

1886 - The American Federation of Labor is founded by Samuel Gompers in Columbus, Ohio.

1904 - Konservativ Ungdom (Young Conservatives) in Denmark is founded by Carl F. Herman von Rosen. Still existing today, it is the oldest youth political organisation in Denmark and believed to be one of the oldest remaining in the world.

1907 - King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.

1914 - World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands - The Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee is engaged by the Royal Navy.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - China officially declares war against Japan, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - The Netherlands issues a proclamation in which it declares war against Japan, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

1941 - World War II: Pacific War - The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in China issues a proclamation which declared war agasinst Japan and Germany on behalf of Korean people, who were under Japanese occupation since 1910.

1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong - The Japanese invade the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong less than 8 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbour.

1941 - Holocaust: Gas vans are first used as a means of execution, at the Chelmno extermination camp near ?ód? in Poland.

1949 - Chinese Civil War: The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.

1959 - President of the United States, Eisenhower watches Pakistan vs Australia cricket test match at Karachi.

1966 - The Greek ferry Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.

1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco.

1969 - An Olympic Airways DC-6B crashes near Athens during a storm, killing 93 people.

1972 - United Airlines Flight 533 crashes near Chicago Midway Airport, killing 45 people.

1976 - The Eagles release the album Hotel California.

1980 - John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in New York City.

1981 - No. 21 Mine explosion in Whitwell, Tennessee kills 13.

1987 - The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.

1987 - The Queen Street Massacre: Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills 8 people at the offices of Australia Post in Melbourne, Australia before being killed himself.

1991 - The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.

1991 - The Romanian Constitution is adopted in a referendum.

1993 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.

1994 - US President Bill Clinton signs a bill enacting United States participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

1995 - Jean-Dominique Bauby suffers a stroke

1998 - Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.

2004 - The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.

2004 - Guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott is murdered onstage by Nathan Gale at a Damageplan concert in Columbus, Ohio.

2004 - The population of the Australian state of Victoria reaches 5 million for the first time.

2005 - Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 slides off the runway at Chicago Midway Airport, killing a 6-year-old boy and injuring 11 other people.

2005 - Ante Gotovina, Croatian army general accused of war crimes, was captured in the Playa de las Americas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife by the Spanish police