| 8 December 1542 | Scotland [births and deaths] | Mary Queen of Scots, Queen of Scotland 1542–67, who was deposed because of her marital affairs and political incompetence and was forced to flee to England, born in Linlithgow Palace, Lothian, Scotland (–1587). |
| 8 December 1644 | Sweden [political events] | Queen Christina, at the age of 18, becomes the active ruler of Sweden. She pursues a policy aimed at peace in Europe rather than territorial expansion and national aggrandisement. |
| 8 December 1863 | Chile [natural disasters] | The Church of La Compañia, in Santiago, Chile, burns down, killing 2,500 people. |
| 8 December 1864 | Rome [Catholicism] | A papal Syllabus Errorum/Syllabus of Errors condemns the errors of the 19th century – nationalism, naturalism, socialism, communism, and freemasonry. |
| 8 December 1864 | Ireland, England [births and deaths] | George Boole, English mathematician who developed Boolean algebra, which is central to computer operations, dies in Ballintemple, Ireland (49). |
| 8 December 1903 | [aircraft] | US astronomer and physicist Samuel Pierpont Langley attempts his manned first flight. His plane, with a wing span of 13 m/40 ft, weighing only 386 kg/850 lb (including pilot), and powered by US aeronautical engineer Charles Manley's engine, snags on takeoff and plunges into the Potomac River just nine days before the Wright brothers make their first successful flight. It is reconstructed several years later and successfully flown by US aviator Glenn Curtiss. |
| 8 December 1907 | Sweden [political events] | Following the death of King Oskar II, Gustavus V succeeds as king of Sweden (–1950). |
| 8 December 1914 | [World War I (1914–18)] | In the Battle of the Falkland Islands, a British naval force under Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Sturdee destroys Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee's German East Asia Squadron. |
| 8 December 1917 | Estonia [political events] | Bolshevik rule is established in Estonia under the communist leader Jaan Anvelt; it lasts only until the German occupation of the country in February 1918. |
| 8 December 1931–1 January 1932 | USA [banking and finance] | Departing from his laissez-faire philosophy, the US president, Herbert Hoover, asks Congress to create the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). Capitalized in January at $2 billion, the RFC will lend money to banks, railroads, insurance companies, and building and loan associations. |
| 8 December 1941 | Poland [Holocaust] | The use of gas in the so-called ‘final solution’ to the Jewish problem begins when 2,300 Polish Jews are gassed at Chelmno, western Poland. |
| 8 December 1941 | USA, UK, Japan [diplomacy] | The USA and Britain declare war on Japan, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the previous day. |
| 8 December 1949 | China [diplomacy] | Chinese Nationalists, driven by communist military forces from the mainland, declare Taipei on the island of Formosa (Taiwan) to be the capital of the Republic of China. |
| 8 December 1991 | USSR [political events] | The leaders of the Soviet republics of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine agree to the formation of a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to replace the USSR. |
