This day in history

[December 08, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Dec. 8, the 342nd day of 2010. There are 23 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On this date:

In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.

In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South.

In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1940, the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins, 73-0, in the NFL Championship Game, which was carried on network radio for the first time by the Mutual Broadcasting System (the announcer was Red Barber).

In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks.

In 1960, NBC broadcast a new, color videotape version of the TV special "Peter Pan" starring Mary Martin. (Two previous telecasts, also starring Martin, had been performed live in 1955 and 1956.)

In 1980, rock star John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by an apparently deranged fan.

In 1982, a man demanding an end to nuclear weapons held the Washington Monument hostage, threatening to blow it up with explosives he claimed were inside a van. (After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer was shot dead by police; it turned out there were no explosives.)

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty at the White House calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

Ten years ago: A divided Florida Supreme Court ordered, 4-3, an immediate hand count of about 45,000 disputed ballots and put Democrat Al Gore within 154 votes of Republican George W. Bush.

Five years ago: A Southwest Airlines jet landing at Chicago Midway International Airport during a snowstorm slid off the runway and onto a busy street, killing a boy in a car. In Iraq, a suicide bomber set off explosives inside a packed bus bound for a southern Shiite city, killing 32 people.

One year ago: Ohio executed murderer Kenneth Biros by performing the nation's first lethal injection using a single drug, a supposedly less painful method than previous executions that required three drugs. A wave of coordinated bomb attacks targeting high-profile symbols of Iraqi authority killed at least 127 people.

Today's birthdays: Actor-director Maximilian Schell is 80. Flutist James Galway is 71. Singer Jerry Butler is 71. Pop musician Bobby Elliott (The Hollies) is 69. Actress Mary Woronov is 67. Actor John Rubinstein is 64. Rock singer-musician Gregg Allman is 63. Reggae singer Toots Hibbert (Toots and the Maytals) is 62. Actress Kim Basinger (BAY'-sing-ur) is 57. Rock musician Warren Cuccurullo is 54. Rock musician Phil Collen (Def Leppard) is 53. Country singer Marty Raybon is 51. Rock musician Marty Friedman is 48. Actor Wendell Pierce is 47. Actress Teri Hatcher is 46. Rapper Bushwick Bill (The Geto Boys) is 44. Singer Sinead (shih-NAYD') O'Connor is 44. Actor Matthew Laborteaux is 44. Rock musician Ryan Newell (Sister Hazel) is 38. Actor Dominic Monaghan is 34. Actor Ian Somerhalder is 32. Rock singer Ingrid Michaelson is 31. R&B singer Chrisette Michele is 28. Rock singer-actress Kate Voegele (VOH'-gehl) is 24. Actress AnnaSophia Robb is 17.

Thought for today: "The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, all that. Unknown is what it is. Accept that it's unknown and it's plain sailing." -- John Lennon (1940-1980)

[Associated Press]

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