Search examples: Microsoft | 2015 | 2014/10 | 4.12 | 04/20 | 05/26/1980 | Galileo Galilei

History on the 8th of December

History
Date Text
08 Dec 1912 WW2 The Kaiser called a meeting of his military and naval leaders, telling them that if Russia came to the aid of Serbia then Germany must be prepared to fight. He assumed that Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and Turkey would all side with the Triple Alliance leaving Austria-Hungary free to concentrate against the Russians. Tirpitz (Head of the German Naval Office) declared that the Navy was not yet ready for war. Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, who was anxious to maintain détente with the British, was not invited to the meeting thus leaving the political viewpoint out of the discussions. 
0
08 Dec 1914 WW1 Begin of Battle of the Falkland Islands
0
08 Dec 1917 WW2 Wanda Gertz was arrested in Poland for participating in a pro-Polish demonstration; she would remain in jail for six months. 
0
08 Dec 1917 WW1 Begin of Fall of Jerusalem
0
08 Dec 1923 WW2 Joseph Rochefort's request to the United States Navy Mine Force was denied. 
0
08 Dec 1932 WW2 Cruiser Köln departed German for her first international voyage that would last one year; she would visit the Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria (Egypt), Suez Channel, India, Indonesia, Australia, Pacific, Japan, Qingdao (China), Indonesia, Ceylon, Suez Channel, Greece, Italy, and Spain. 
0
08 Dec 1932 WW2 Unable to prevent the growing importance of Hitler within the National Revolution he had wanted for Germany, Gregor Strasser abruptly resigned and withdrew almost entirely from politics. 
0
08 Dec 1937 WW2 Japan established the puppet nation of Mengjiang in the Inner Mongolia region of China. 
0
08 Dec 1937 WW2 Prince Yasuhiko arrived outside of Nanjing, China. 
0
08 Dec 1937 WW2 Chinese Air Force squadrons departed Nanjing, China for airfields to the west, leaving the capital city without fighter defense and with little modern communications equipment. 
0
08 Dec 1938 WW2 A decree on "Combating the Gypsy Plague" was published by Heinrich Himmler as Chief of the Reich Police. Under the decree German Gypsies would now be considered as an alien race and therefore be liable for deportation or forced Labour. 
0
08 Dec 1938 WW2 Graf Zeppelin was launched. 
0
08 Dec 1939 WW2 Belgian ship Louis Scheid ran aground and broke up in front of the Thurlestone Golf Club, Warren Point, Devon, England, United Kingdom before dawn. During the day, German submarine U-48 sank the ship Brandon of Allied convoy OB-48 at 1155 hours. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 British light cruiser Diomede intercepted German freighter Idarwald while American destroyer Sturtevant stood by without any interference. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 Franco determined Spain was not ready to enter the war. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 Battleship Bismarck exited the Kiel Canal. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 The British launched Operation Compass from Egypt, aiming to push back Italian troops into Libya. The forces moved through the gap between Italian camps Nibeiwa and Sofafi without being detected. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 German armed merchant cruiser Orion sank the ships Triadic (1 killed, 11 captured) and Triaster (64 captured) off Nauru. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 German submarine U-103 sank British liner Calabria 295 miles west of Ireland at 2058 hours. 360 were killed, 230 of whom were Indian sailors who were being ferried to Britain to crew other ships; 21 survived. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 German submarine U-140 sank Finnish sail ship Penang 75 west of Ireland at 1226 hours, killing the entire crew of 18. At 2025 hours, U-140 struck again, sinking British ship Ashcrest, killing the entire crew of 37. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 British destroyer HMS Windsor hit and mine off Aldeburgh, Surrey, England, United Kingdom; she would be towed to Harwich, England by HMS Garth. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 German armed merchant cruiser Komet sank Komata off Nauru, killing 2 and capturing 33. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 Greek troops captured Gjirokastra and Delvinë in Albania. 
0
08 Dec 1940 WW2 Inigo Campioni was relieved of command with the Italian Navy 1st Naval Squadron. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 The rebuilding of the interior of Japanese luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru began. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 I-68 traveled to the entrance of Pearl Harbor to rescue any surviving midget submarine crews. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 RAF Hudson aircraft bombed Japanese invasion shipping off Kota Bharu, British Malaya, setting cargo ship Awajisan Maru afire. The Japanese 143rd Infantry Regiment of 55th Division (under command of 25th Army) landed on four beaches in southern Thailand; local Thai forces, unaware of their government's agreement to allow free passage to the Burma border, put up a fierce resistance and killed 79 Japanese soldiers. Japanese aircraft began arriving at Songkla in southern Thailand to prepare for air raids against targets in British Malaya. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Soviet offensive broke through German Armeegruppe Mitte near Moscow, Russia, cutting the Klin-Kalinin road. German units began making hasty withdrawals to prevent encirclement, abandoning large numbers of immobilized equipment in the process. Adolf Hitler issued Führer Directive 39 which called for German troops to hold their ground. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese submarine I-123 mined Balabac Strait in Philippine waters while I-124 mined the entrance to Manila Bay. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Striking Force of the US Navy Asiatic Fleet departed from Iloilo, Philippine Islands for Makassar Strait. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese naval aircraft from carrier Ryujo attacked seaplane tender USS William B. Preston in Davao Gulf; the ship escaped in tact, but two of the PBY Catalina flying boats she was tending were destroyed. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese forces invaded the British colony of Hong Kong. British and Canadian garrison at Hong Kong was hopelessly outnumbered and beyond reach of any Allied help. Within less than two days the defenders would be forced to retreat to Hong Kong island itself. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese invasion fleet for Wake Island departed from Kwajalein while aircraft of the Japanese Navy 24th Air Flotilla (based at Roi-Namur, Kwajalein) attacked Camp One, Camp Two, and the airstrip on Wake; Japanese aircraft destroyed seven of the Eight F4F-3 fighters were destroyed as well as a 25,000-gallon capacity aviation gas tank. Meanwhile, Pan American Airways aircraft evacuated Caucasians from Wake Island, leaving airline staff of Chamorro ethnicity behind. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 In the Mariana Islands, Japanese land-based aircraft from Saipan attacked Guam, damaging various facilities and sinking minesweeper USS Penguin in Apra Harbor (1 killed, 60 wounded). 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Destroyer Yuzuki conducted anti-submarine operations in the Mariana Islands area. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue gave the order to the Japanese Navy Fourth Fleet at Truk, Caroline Islands to began executing the plans to capture Wake, Guam (Mariana Islands), Makin (Gilbert Islands), Tarawa (Gilbert Islands), and other islands and atolls in the Pacific Ocean. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Adolf Hitler ordered the German Navy to begin attacking American shipping. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Galeazzo Ciano called Joachim von Ribbentrop to discuss the American entry into the war; Ciano later noted that Ribbentrop was happy with this latest development. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 German bombers sank British minesweeping trawlers HMT Milford Earl (5 killed) and HMT Phineas Beard off the east coast of Scotland, United Kingdom. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Light carrier Hosho passed through the Bungo Strait between Kyushu and Shikoku, Japan. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Costa Rica, Dominica, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua declared war on Japan. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 The fourth Australian Hudson medium bomber arrived at Rabaul, Bismarck Islands. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Canada declared war on Japan. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 In China, Colonel William W. Ashurst surrendered the US Marine Corps detachments in Tianjin, Beiping, Qinhuangdao (Camp Holcomb), and the American embassy to the Japanese. In Shanghai, Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops captured US Navy river gunboat Wake before the gunboat's crew could scuttle her. US passenger liner President Harrison, en route to northern China to evacuate US Marines, was captured by the Japanese at Sha Wai Shan, China; she was later refloated and pressed into service as Kakko Maru and later Kachidoki Maru. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 China, having already been engaged in war with Japan since Jul 1937, formally declared war on Japan and Germany. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 While at Tarakan, Borneo, Dutch East Indies, USS Marblehead received the alert that Japan had started hostilities. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese ambassador in Germany Hiroshi Oshima sent a note to Joachim von Ribbentrop, requesting Germany to declare war on the United States. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 USS Helena entered dry dock at Honolulu, US Territory of Hawaii. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Allied convoy PQ-6 departed Hvalfjörður, Iceland. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Hans-Joachim Marseille shot down a P-40 fighter, his 30th kill, over El Adem, Libya at 0845 hours. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Tenryu departed Roi-Namur, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Japanese Navy 11th Air Fleet land-based aircraft from Taiwan attacked US Army airfields on Luzon island, Philippine Islands as well as shipping in Manila Bay; at the latter location, American freighter Capillo was abandoned after receiving heavy damage. Japanese Army aircraft joined in on the attack on this date also, striking Baguio and Tuguegarao at 0930 hours. North of Luzon, a Japanese force landed on Batan Island and established an air base. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Saburo Sakai of Japanese Navy Tainan Air Group, flying an A6M Zero fighter, attacked Clark Field in the Philippine Islands; he shot down one P-40 Warhawk fighter. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Chelmno Concentration Camp near Lodz, Poland began gassings; it was the first large camp established for the purpose of mass exterminations. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 United Kingdom declared war on Japan. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 The French government-in-exile in Britain declared war on Japan. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 The Dutch government-in-exile in Britain declared war on Japan. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 United States Congress declared war on Japan after Franklin Roosevelt's "a date which will live in infamy" speech. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 USS Saratoga departed San Diego, California for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 The keel of submarine Runner was laid down at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States. 
0
08 Dec 1941 WW2 Edward Murrow and his wife Janet had dinner at the White House in Washington DC, United States with Eleanor Roosevelt. The dinner was arranged prior to the Japanese attack, and Murrow had expected the invitation to be canceled, but surprisingly Franklin Roosevelt insisted that the plans be kept; although Roosevelt was too busy to join them at the meal, he would make sure to meet with Murrow for some time late in the evening. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 The planned Allied invasion of Burma was called off due to lack of supplies; British and Chinese troops fell back from their forward positions. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 USS Gar fired her deck gun at a Japanese cargo ship, causing damage. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 Nikolai Voznesensky became the Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Soviet Union. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 Maksim Saburov stepped down as the Chairman of State Planning Committee of the Soviet Union. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 The 3rd Infantry Regiment and the 132nd Regimental Combat Team, both of the US Army, arrived in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 USS Flying Fish attacked a Japanese destroyer in the Pacific Ocean, hitting her with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired and claimed a sinking. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 Repair ship Akashi completed the repair work for light cruiser Isuzu at Truk, Caroline Islands. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 Liberty ship David J. Brewer became the first ship to dock at Port Chicago, California, United States at about 1200 hours. Upon learning that the stevedores were all African-American, the ship's Caucasian captain refused to let dock workers board his ship. 
0
08 Dec 1942 WW2 Light cruiser Miami was launched in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sponsored by Mrs. C. H. Reeder, wife of the mayor of Miami, Florida, United States. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 US Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz was appointed Chief of US Strategic Air Forces in Europe. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 Mussolini's Repubblica Sociale Italiana in Northern Italy established the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 HMS Rysa was mined and sunk off La Maddalena, Italy. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 Joseph Stilwell departed Cairo, Egypt. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 The still under construction Torokina Airfield at Bougainville, Solomon Islands saw its second unscheduled landing, three F4U aircraft of US Marine Corps squadron VMF-214 which were running low on fuel. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 U-537 arrived at Lorient, France, ending her first war patrol. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 Barbers Point Naval Air Station: Four officers and 99 men of GROPAC-4 departed. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 Franklin Roosevelt arrived in Sicily, Italy. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 In Sicily, Italy, George Patton was told by US President Franklin Roosevelt in person that Patton was to hold army-level command in the upcoming invasion of France. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 Canadian 1st Infantry Division gained a bridgehead along the Moro River near San Leonardo, Italy; after sundown, troops of Royal Canadian Engineers built a bridge over the river for tanks to move north to reinforce the bridgehead. To the west, US troops attacked Monte Sambúcaro and the Mignano Gap, Italy. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 USS S-35 reached Kurile Islands waters. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 USS Alabama bombarded Nauru, expending 535 410-millimeter rounds. During the bombardment, destroyer USS Boyd received a hit from a Japanese coastal gun; the medical staff aboard USS Alabama treated three wounded sailors from USS Boyd. 
0
08 Dec 1943 WW2 A transport of 55 Berlin Jews arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. After the selection, 14 were registered and 31 were gassed. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 Germans troops withdrew from Jülich, Germany. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 The first unpowered prototype of the J8M Shusui/Ki-200 aircraft took flight. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 U-869 departed Norway for the Atlantic Ocean for her first and only war patrol. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Astoria arrived at Ulithi, Caroline Islands. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 Japanese troops captured Tushan, Jiangsu Province, China. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 USS Ray arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her sixth war patrol. 
0
08 Dec 1944 WW2 In Hungary, Soviet SMERSH operatives attached to 2nd Ukrainian Front arrested Dutch operative Gerrit van der Waals of British SOE, who had naively turned himself in to the approaching Soviet forces thinking the Soviets would help him return to Britain. His fellow Hungarian operative also under the employment of SOE Karoly Schandl was similarly detained. 
0
08 Dec 1945 WW2 USS Tautog was decommissioned from service. 
0
08 Dec 1945 WW2 The prototype Bell Model 47 (NC1H) helicopter made its maiden flight. In 1946 the type would receive the first commercial helicopter certification. 
0
08 Dec 1945 WW2 Captain Harold Baker was named the commanding officer of USS Saint Paul while at Shanghai, China. 
0
08 Dec 1945 WW2 An assassination attempt on Mikhail Likhachev failed in Nürnberg, Germany. His driver Buben died when the Horch 951 limousine was shot up while Likhachev was not in the vehicle. 
0
08 Dec 1949 WW2 Dong Zhao retired from the Chinese Army at Chongqing, China. 
0
7th December 9th December
© 2016 OnThisDay.net All rights reserved.
Loaded in 0.0264s.