Summary of the Day ✨ 8 December (08/12)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled as Damascus fell to rebels, prompting Israeli forces to advance into the buffer zone near the Golan Heights, while China reported its first COVID-19 case and Singapore experienced riots following a fatal accident in Little India. Meanwhile, Metallica made history by becoming the first band to perform on all seven continents with an Antarctic show, and SpaceX achieved a milestone as the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Damascus falls to rebels after Syrian troops withdraw and president Bashar al-Assad leaves the country as his government collapses. Israel as a result invaded into the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
- 2019: First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.
- 2013: Riots break out in Singapore, after a fatal accident in Little India.
- 2013: Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first musical act to perform on all seven continents.
- 2010: With the second launch of the Falcon 9, and the first launch of the Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
- 2010: The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km (50,200 mi).
- 2009: Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 people and injure 448 others.
- 2004: The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
- 2004: Columbus nightclub shooting: Nathan Gale opens fire at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, killing former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others before being shot dead by a police officer.
- 2001: A raid conducted by the Internal Security Department (ISD) of Singapore foils a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to bomb foreign embassies in Singapore.
- 1998: Eighty-one people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
- 1991: The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States.
- 1988: A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing five people and injuring 50 others.
- 1987: 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.
- 1987: 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.
Famous Births 👶
- 2004: Billie Starkz, American professional wrestler
- 2002: Sunghoon, South Korean singer
- 2001: Josh Christopher, American basketball player
- 2000: DeMario Douglas, American football player
- 2000: Bayron Matos, Dominican American football player
- 2000: Andy Pages, Cuban baseball player
- 1999: Reece James, English footballer
- 1999: Tyrus Wheat, American football player
- 1998: Josh Dunne, American ice hockey player
- 1998: Owen Teague, American actor
- 1997: Hakeem Adeniji, American football player
- 1997: Sam Hauser, American basketball player
- 1996: Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer
- 1995: Thatcher Demko, American ice hockey player
- 1994: Cyriel Dessers, Belgian-Nigerian footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Jill Jacobson, American actress (born 1954)
- 2024: Clarke Reed, American businessman and politician (born 1928)
- 2023: Ryan O’Neal, American actor (born 1941)
- 2021: Robbie Shakespeare, Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer (born 1953)
- 2019: René Auberjonois, American actor (born 1940)
- 2019: Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (born 1998)
- 2019: Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer and actor (born 1933)
- 2018: David Weatherall, English physician, geneticist, and academic (born 1933)
- 2016: John Glenn, American astronaut and senator, first American to go into orbit (born 1921)
- 2015: Mattiwilda Dobbs, American soprano and actress (born 1925)
- 2015: Alan Hodgkinson, English footballer and coach (born 1936)
- 2015: Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (born 1943)
- 2015: John Trudell, American author, poet, and actor (born 1946)
- 2015: Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (born 1913)
- 2014: Tom Gosnell, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1951)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Battle Day (Falkland Islands)
- Bodhi Day (Japan)
- CARICOM–Cuba Day (Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba)
- Christian feast day:
Budoc (Beuzec) of Dol - Christian feast day:
Clement of Ohrid (Julian Calendar), and its related observances:
Student’s Day (Bulgaria) - Christian feast day:
Eucharius - Christian feast day:
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances:
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Communion), lesser commemoration - Christian feast day:
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances:
Festa da Conceição da Praia, celebrating Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean in Umbanda (Salvador, Bahia) - Christian feast day:
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances:
Festival of Lights (Lyon) - Christian feast day:
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances:
Mother’s Day (Panama) - Christian feast day:
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances:
Lady of Camarin Day (Guam) - Christian feast day:
Patapios of Thebes - Christian feast day:
Pope Eutychian - Christian feast day:
Richard Baxter (US Episcopal Church) - Christian feast day:
Romaric