today.nukz.net: Almanac December 8

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer-songwriter and poet, best remembered as the lead singer of Los Angeles rock band The Doors. Following The Doors' explosive rise to fame in 1967, Morrison developed a severe alcohol and drug dependency that culminated in his death at the age of 27 in Paris. He is alleged to have died of a heroin overdose, but as no autopsy was performed, the exact cause of his death is still disputed.

Morrison was well known for often improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Due to his wild personality and performances, he is regarded by critics and fans as one of the most iconic, charismatic and pioneering frontmen in rock music history. Morrison was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and number 22 on Classic Rock Magazine's "50 Greatest Singers In Rock".

Events

1432 – The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kestutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War.
1660 – 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.
1854 – In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Virgin Mary was conceived free of original sin.
1907 – King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne.
1912 – Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out.
1914 – A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats an inferior squadron of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
1927 – The Brookings Institution, one of the United States' oldest think tanks, is founded through the merger of three organizations that had been created by philanthropist Robert S. Brookings.
1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after which the U.S. and the Republic of China declare war against Japan.
1941 – Japanese forces simultaneously invade Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. These happen concurrently with the Attack on Pearl Harbor, which was on December 7 in the United States.
1949 – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is established to provide aid to Palestinian refugees who left their homes during the 1948 Palestinian exodus.
1953 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech, and the U.S. launches its "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment and information to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.
1962 – Workers at four New York City newspapers (this later increases to nine) go on strike for 114 days.
1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, United States, killing all 81 people on board.
1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi.
1972 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45.
1974 – A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
1980 – John Lennon, an English musician (former member of The Beatles), and peace activist, is murdered by Mark David Chapman, a mentally unstable fan, in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City.
1982 – In Suriname, several opponents of the military government are killed.
1987 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed.
1987 – Frank Vitkovic shoots and kills eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death.
1987 – The Alianza Lima air disaster occurs.
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, sparking the First Intifada.
1988 – A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing 5 people and injuring 50 others.
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 is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
1998 – Eighty-one people are killed by armed groups in Algeria.
1998 – The Australian Cricket Board's cover-up of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh's involvement with bookmakers is revealed.
2002 – The Caribbean Community Heads of Government meet with the Government of Cuba and declare the date to be "CARICOM-Cuba Day"—to celebrate diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.
2004 – The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.
2007 – Benazir Bhutto, first and only female former Prime Minister of Pakistan, had her PPP Office stormed by unidentified gunmen. Three supporters are killed.
2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 and injure 448.
2010 – With the second launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 and the first launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first privately held 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.

Births

65 BC– Horace, Roman poet (d. 8 BC)
1542 – Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1587)
1574 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, consort of Ferdinand II (d. 1616)
1626 – Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
1678 – Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d. 1757)
1699 – Queen Maria Josepha of Poland (d. 1757)
1708 – Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1765)
1724 – Claude Balbastre, French composer, organist and harpsichordist (d. 1799)
1730 – Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch physician, physiologist and botanist (d. 1799)
1731 – František Xaver Dušek, Czech composer (d. 1799)
1756 – Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria (d. 1801)
1765 – Eli Whitney, American inventor (d. 1825)
1795 – Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish astronomer (d. 1874)
1815 – Adolph Menzel, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1905)
1816 – August Belmont, Sr., Prussian-born American financier (d. 1890)
1817 – Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish nobleman and politician (d. 1896)
1818 – Charles III, Prince of Monaco, founder of the Monte Carlo casino (d. 1889)
1822 – Jakov Ignjatovic, Serbian novelist and prose writer (d. 1889)
1832 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and Nobel laureate (d. 1910)
1860 – Amanda McKittrick Ros, Irish novelist and poet (d. 1939)
1861 – William C. Durant, American automobile executive (d. 1947)
1861 – Aristide Maillol, French sculptor (d. 1944)
1861 – Georges Méliès, French filmmaker and innovator (d. 1938)
1862 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d. 1921)
1864 – Camille Claudel, French graphic artist and sculptor (d. 1943)
1865 – Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician (d. 1963)
1865 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (d. 1957)
1874 – Ernst Moro, Austrian physician (d. 1951)
1875 – Frederik Buch, Danish actor (d. 1925)
1886 – Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d. 1957)
1890 – Bohuslav Martinu, Czech composer (d. 1959)
1894 – E.C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye) (d. 1938)
1894 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (d. 1961)
1899 – John Qualen, Canadian actor (d. 1987)
1900 – Sun Li-jen, Chinese general (d. 1990)
1902 – Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist (d. 1982)
1908 – John A. Volpe, American politician and 2nd United States Secretary of Transportation (d. 1994)
1909 – Lesslie Newbigin, English theologian and bishop (d. 1998)
1909 – Gratien Gélinas, French-Canadian playwright and producer (d. 1999)
1911 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and lyricist (d. 1992)
1913 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet (d. 1966)
1915 – Ernest Lehman, American screenwriter (d. 2005)
1916 – Richard Fleischer, American film director (d. 2006)
1918 – Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d. 2004)
1919 – Peter Tali Coleman, American politician and 43rd, 51st and 53rd Governor of American Samoa (d. 1997)
1922 – Lucian Freud, English painter (d. 2011)
1922 – Jean Ritchie, American folk singer
1923 – Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-born American chemist
1924 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, curator, and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia
1925 – Sammy Davis Jr., American actor and singer (d. 1990)
1925 – Carmen Martín Gaite, Spanish author (d. 2000)
1925 – Jimmy Smith, American jazz organist (d. 2005)
1925 – Nasir Kazmi, renowned Urdu poet of Pakistan (d. 1972)
1927 – Ferdie Pacheco, American boxing trainer
1927 – Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet cosmonaut
1928 – Bill Hewitt, Canadian sportscaster (d. 1996)
1928 – Ulric Neisser, American cognitive psychologist (d. 2012)
1930 – Julian Critchley, British politician (d. 2000)
1930 – Maximilian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor and film director
1931 – Bob Arum, American boxing promoter
1933 – Flip Wilson, American comedian (d. 1998)
1935 – Dharmendra, Indian actor
1935 – Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Israeli chess player
1936 – David Carradine, American actor (d. 2009)
1936 – Michael Hobson, American publisher
1937 – James MacArthur, American actor (d. 2010)
1937 – Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountaineer and businessman (d. 2004)
1939 – Red Berenson, Canadian ice hockey player
1939 – Jerry "The Iceman" Butler, American soul singer
1939 – Sir James Galway, Northern Irish flautist
1939 – Soko Richardson, American rhythm and blues drummer (d. 2004)
1939 – Dariush Mehrjui, Iranian film director,screenwriter and producer
1940 – Brant Alyea, American baseball player
1941 – Ed Brinkman, American baseball player
1941 – Bob Brown, American football player
1941 – Randall Cunningham, First Navy Vietnam Ace, American politician
1941 – Sir Geoff Hurst, English footballer
1941 – Bobby Elliott, English musician (Drummer for The Hollies)
1943 – Ken Johnson, American professional wrestling manager
1943 – Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)
1943 – Bodo Tümmler, German middle-distance runner
1943 – Mary Woronov, American actress
1944 – George Baker, Dutch singer and songwriter
1944 – Vince MacLean, Canadian politician
1945 – John Banville, Irish novelist and journalist
1946 – John Rubinstein, American actor, composer, director
1946 – Sharmila Tagore, Indian Actress
1947 – Chava Alberstein, Israeli singer, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger
1947 – Gregg Allman, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
1947 – Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel laureate
1947 – Kati-Claudia Fofonoff, Finnish author
1947 – Gérard Blanc, French singer
1948 – Luis Caffarelli, Argentine-born American mathematician
1949 – Mary Gordon, American writer
1949 – Nancy Meyers, American film director, producer and screenwriter
1949 – Ray Shulman, English musician
1949 – Robert Sternberg, American psychologist and psychometrician
1950 – Rick Baker, American film makeup artist
1950 – Tim Foli, American baseball player
1950 – Dan Hartman, American musician (Edgar Winter Group) (d. 1994)
1951 – Bill Bryson, American author
1951 – Richard Desmond, English publisher and businessman, founded Northern & Shell
1951 – Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer and songwriter
1952 – Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore Health Minister
1953 – Kim Basinger, American actress
1953 – Roy Firestone, American sports announcer
1953 – Norman Finkelstein, American professor
1953 – Sam Kinison, American comedian (d. 1992)
1954 – Harold Hongju Koh, American lawyer and Obama Administration advisor
1954 – Frits Pirard, Dutch road bicycle racer
1954 – Gadowar Singh Sahota, Indian professional wrestler
1955 – Milenko Zablacanski, Serbian actor, director, and playwright (d. 2008)
1956 – Warren Cuccurullo, American musician
1956 – Andrew Edge English musician
1957 – Phil Collen, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
1958 – Rob Curling, British television presenter
1958 – Bird McIntyre, Thai pop singer, musician
1958 – Bob Greene, American exercise physiologist
1959 – Stephen Jefferies, South African cricketer
1959 – Mark Steyn, Canadian writer and cultural critic
1960 – Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian statesman
1961 – Ann Coulter, American political commentator
1961 – Mikey Robins, Australian comedian
1962 – Berry van Aerle, Dutch footballer
1962 – Steve Elkington, Australian golfer
1962 – Marty Friedman, American guitarist (Megadeth)
1962 – Nikos Karageorgiou, Greek footballer
1962 – Wendell Pierce, American actor
1963 – Greg Howe, American guitarist
1963 – Toshiaki Kawada, Japanese wrestler
1964 – James Blundell, Australian country singer
1964 – Teri Hatcher, American actress
1964 – Chigusa Nagayo, Japanese wrestler
1964 – Mike Ruiz, Canadian model, photographer, and director
1965 – David Harewood, British actor
1965 – Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress
1965 – Theo Maassen, Dutch comedian and actor
1966 – Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician
1967 – Jeff George, American football player
1967 – Junkie XL, Dutch musician
1967 – Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese voice actress
1967 – Darren Sheridan, English footballer and manager
1967 – Andy Kapp, German curler
1968 – Michael Cole, American professional wrestling commentator
1968 – Mike Mussina, American baseball player
1969 – Steve Van Wormer, American actor
1970 – Me Phi Me, American rapper and author
1972 – Marco Abreu, Angolan footballer
1972 – Édson Ribeiro, Brazilian sprinter
1972 – Frank Shamrock, American mixed martial artist
1973 – Doron Bell Jr., Canadian actor
1973 – Corey Taylor, American singer (Slipknot, Stone Sour)
1974 – Cristian Castro, Mexican singer
1974 – Tony Simmons, American football player
1974 – Nick Zinner, American guitarist (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
1975 – Jerrelle Clark, American wrestler
1975 – Kevin Harvick, American racing driver
1976 – Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter
1976 – Reed Johnson, American baseball player
1976 – Dominic Monaghan, English actor
1976 – Joshua Butler, Celebrity Chef
1976 – Brettina Robinson, singer and songwriter
1977 – Elsa Benítez, Mexican supermodel
1977 – Sébastien Chabal, French rugby union footballer
1977 – Ryan Newman, American racing driver
1978 – John Oster, Welsh footballer
1978 – Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer
1978 – Ian Somerhalder, American actor
1978 – Vernon Wells, American baseball player
1978 – Park Kyung-lim, South Korean entertainer
1978 – Frédéric Piquionne, France footballer
1979 – Daniel Fitzhenry, Australian rugby league footballer
1979 – Johan Forssell, Swedish politician
1979 – Raymond Lam, Hong Kong actor and singer
1979 – Ingrid Michaelson, American indie-pop singer-songwriter
1979 – José Peña, Venezuelan track and field athlete
1979 – Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish footballer
1980 – Lisa Kelly, American reality television personality
1981 – Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player
1981 – Philip Rivers, American football player
1982 – Alfredo Aceves, American baseball player
1982 – Hamit Altintop, Turkish footballer
1982 – Halil Altintop, Turkish footballer
1982 – Nicki Minaj, rapper and singer-songwriter
1982 – Noelle Pikus-Pace, American skeleton racer
1982 – Jimmy Rave, American wrestler
1982 – DeeDee Trotter, American athlete
1983 – Neel Jani, Swiss racing driver
1983 – Liu Song, Chinese snooker player
1984 – Greg Halford, English footballer
1984 – Badr Hari, Dutch kickboxer
1985 – Meagan Duhamel, Canadian figure skater
1985 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player
1985 – Oleksiy Pecherov, Ukrainian basketball player
1986 – Amir Khan, English boxer
1986 – Kate Voegele, American musician
1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian ice hockey player
1989 – Jen Ledger, English drummer "Skillet"
1993 – AnnaSophia Robb, American actress and singer
1993 – Jordan Obita, English footballer
1994 – Raheem Sterling, English footballer
1995 – Jordan Ibe, English footballer
1996 – Teala Dunn, American actress

Deaths

765 – Jafar as-Sadiq 6th Shi'ite Imam (b. 702)
899 – Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia (b. 850)
1626 – John Davies, English poet (b. 1569)
1632 – Philippe van Lansberge, Flemish astronomer (b. 1561)
1638 – Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (b. 1589)
1643 – John Pym, English statesman (b. 1583)
1649 – Noël Chabanel, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1613)
1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
1691 – Richard Baxter, English clergyman (b. 1615)
1695 – Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (b. 1625)
1709 – Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (b. 1625)
1722 – Liselotte von der Pfalz, Duchess of Orléans (b. 1652)
1744 – Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux, mistress of King Louis XV of France (b. 1717)
1745 – Etienne Fourmont, French orientalist (b. 1683)
1746 – Charles Radclyffe, British politician (b. 1693)
1756 – William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, British statesman and diplomat (b. 1690)
1768 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1702)
1779 – Nathan Alcock, English physician (b. 1707)
1793 – Madame du Barry, last royal mistress of France, guillotined (b. 1743)
1811 – Eliza Poe, English-born American actress and the mother of the American author Edgar Allan Poe (b. 1787)
1830 – Benjamin Constant, Swiss writer (b. 1767)
1859 – Thomas De Quincey, English author (b. 1785)
1864 – George Boole, British inventor of Boolean algebra (b. 1815)
1869 – Narcisa de Jesús Martillo, Ecuadorian saint (b. 1832)
1885 – William Henry Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1821)
1894 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (b. 1821)
1903 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (b. 1820)
1907 – Oscar II of Sweden (b. 1829)
1914 – Maximilian von Spee, German naval officer, in the Battle of the Falkland Islands (b. 1861)
1917 – Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian writer (b. 1836)
1936 – Simplicio Godina, Filipino conjoined twin (b. 1908)
1938 – Friedrich Glauser, Swiss writer (b. 1896)
1940 – George Lloyd (bishop of Saskatchewan), Anglican Bishop and theologian (b. 1861)
1952 – Charles Lightoller, English second officer on the Titanic (b. 1874)
1954 – Joseph B. Keenan, American political figure (b. 1888)
1954 – Gladys George, American stage and screen actress
1958 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player (b. 1888)
1963 – Sarit Dhanarajata, Thai politician (b. 1908)
1966 – Ward Morehouse, American theater critic and newspaper columnist (b. 1899)
1967 – John Mills, Sr., American singer (Mills Brothers) (b. 1889)
1971 – Eleni Ourani, Greek writer (b. 1896)
1975 – Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep) (b. 1948)
1978 – Golda Meir, Russian-born Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1898)
1980 – John Lennon, English musician (The Beatles) (b. 1940)
1982 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist (b. 1951)
1982 – Marty Robbins, American singer (b. 1925)
1983 – Slim Pickens, American actor (b. 1919)
1984 – Luther Adler, American actor (b. 1903)
1984 – Robert Jay Mathews, White Nationalist (b. 1953)
1991 – Kimberly Bergalis, claimed to have contracted HIV from her dentist (b. 1968)
1991 – Buck Clayton, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1911)
1992 – William Shawn, American magazine editor (b. 1917)
1993 – Yevgeni Minaev, Soviet (Russian) weightlifter (b. 1933)
1994 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer and arranger (b. 1927)
1996 – Howard Rollins, American actor (b. 1950)
1996 – Kashiwado Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 47th Yokozuna (b. 1938)
1997 – Bob Bell, played Bozo the Clown (b. 1922)
1998 – Michael Craze, British Actor (b.1942)
1999 – Péter Kuczka, Hungarian writer (b. 1923)
2000 – Milic od Macve, Serbian painter and artist (b. 1934)
2001 – Don Tennant, American advertising executive (b. 1922)
2001 – Mirza Delibašic, Bosnian basketball player (b. 1954)
2003 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (Buena Vista Social Club) (b. 1919)
2004 – Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Abbott), American guitarist (Pantera, Damageplan) (b. 1966)
2005 – Georgiy Zhzhonov, Russian actor and author (b. 1915)
2006 – Martha Tilton, American singer (b. 1915)
2006 – José Uribe, Dominican baseball player (b. 1959)
2007 – Gerardo García Pimentel, Mexican journalist (b. 1983)
2008 – Kerryn McCann, Australian athlete (b. 1967)
2008 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer. (b. 1925)
2008 – Robert Prosky, American actor (b. 1930).
2009 – Kenneth Biros, American murderer (b. 1958)
2009 – Luis Días, Dominican Composer (b. 1952).