Daily Calendar for Tuesday, December 8, 2026

Daily Calendar

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Eli Whitney (American inventor who patented the cotton gin in 1793; was born in Westborough, Massachusetts Bay Colony) – 1765
Diego Rivera (artist) – 1886
Elzie Crisler Segar (Popeye creator) – 1894
Sammy Davis, Jr. (entertainer) – 1925
Flip Wilson (comedian) – 1933
Jim Morrison (lead singer of The Doors) – 1943
Kim Basinger (actress) – 1953
Dominic Monaghan (actor) – 1976
Ian Somerhalder (actor) – 1978
Utkarsh Ambudkar (actor) – 1983
AnnaSophia Robb (actress) – 1993

Major Robert Lawrence (the first African American astronaut, was killed during training exercises) – 1967
John Lennon (musician, founding member of The Beatles) – 1980
John Glenn (astronaut, first American to orbit Earth) – 2016
Caroll Spinney (puppeteer; best known for Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch) – 2019
Ryan O'Neal (actor) – 2023

American Federation of Labor is organized at Columbus, Ohio, with Samuel Gompers as first president – 1886
American Bird Banding Association formed, first such society in U.S. – 1909
The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert – 1911
John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields poem was published – 1915
U.S. declared war on Japan (WW II) – 1941
The United States declared war on Japan, officially entering into World War II. – 1941
Nine N.Y.C. newspapers shut down when International Typographical Union workers strike – 1962
Musician and former Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed in New York City – 1980
Russian leaders announced the dissolution of the Soviet Union – 1991
Element 111, roentgenium, first created – 1994
At three Anheuser-Busch properties (Merrimack, New Hampshire; St. Louis, Missouri; and Fort Collins, Colorado) 896 couples gathered to kiss under the mistletoe, setting a Guinness World Record – 2019