December 8 ...

In 1765 inventor of the cotton gin Eli Whitney was born in Westboro, MA. In 1863 President Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South. In 1886 the American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, OH. In 1914 Watch Your Step, the first musical revue to feature a score composed entirely by Irving Berlin, opened in New York. In 1940 the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins in the NFL Championship Game, 73-0. In 1941 the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor; also on this day, the Japanese invaded the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. In 1949 the Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks. In 1978 former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir died in Jerusalem at age 80. In 1980 John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by deranged fan Mark Chapman. In 1987 President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles; also on this day, the intifada (Arabic for uprising) by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories began. In 1993 President Clinton signed into US law the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect at the start of 1994. In 1995 four months after the death of founder Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead announced it was breaking up after 30 years of making music.