Today is Tuesday, December 8, the 342nd day of 2009. There are 23 days left in the year.
1813 _ Ludwig von Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A premieres
1863 _ Abraham Lincoln announces plan for reconstruction of South
1941 _ U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan, U.S. enters WWII
1949 _ Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa
1962 _ 114-day newspaper strike begins in New York, N.Y.
1966 _ U.S. and USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space
1982 _ Demanding an end to nuclear weapons, Norman Mayer, holds the Washington Monument hostage ― After 10 hours, police kill him; he has no explosives
1987 _ Occupied Palestinians start ``intifada" (uprising) against Israel
1991 _ Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine form Commonwealth of Independent States
1992 _ Galileo's nearest approach to Jupiter (303 km)