December 8 is:
National Chocolate Brownie Day
Bodhi Day is a holiday celebrated by Buddhists. It commemorates the day that Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) achieved enlightenment. Traditionally the day is celebrated with meditation, chanting, or performing acts of kindness to others. See How to Celebrate Bodhi Day for suggestions such as “colored lights are strung about the home to recognize the day of enlightenment.”
Beach Day or Blessing of the Water Day in Uruguay.
Sometimes called “Beach Day,” this Uruguayan holiday involves a contest: Religious leaders send a cross into the ocean, and whoever gets to it first is guaranteed a year’s worth of good fortune. Read the full text here: Offbeat Holidays
Take it in the Ear Day A day to listen to others.
Feast day of Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, was the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her mother’s womb, free from original sin.
Birthday of Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765), born in Westboro, MA. Whitney invented the cotton gin and developed the concept of mass-production of interchangeable parts.
Publication of Federalist Paper #19: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union written by Alexander Hamilton and/or James Madison in 1787. In Paper #18 Madison spoke of the failure of ancient Greek confederacies. In this Paper #19 he considers several existing confederacies – German, Polish, and Swiss. He speaks of conflicts between the members or from foreign powers. He is using these examples to demonstrate the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South in 1863.
Even before the war ended, President Lincoln began the task of restoration. Motivated by a desire to build a strong Republican party in the South and to end the bitterness engendered by war, he issued (Dec. 8, 1863) a proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction for those areas of the Confederacy occupied by Union armies. It offered pardon, with certain exceptions, to any Confederate who would swear to support the Constitution and the Union. Once a group in any conquered state equal in number to one tenth of that state’s total vote in the presidential election of 1860 took the prescribed oath and organized a government that abolished slavery, he would grant that government executive recognition.
Read more: Reconstruction: Lincoln’s Plan | Infoplease.com
1886-12-08 – American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president.
1940 – According to History.com, Bears beat Redskins 73-0 in an NFL Championship Game, the largest margin of defeat in NFL history.
The Bears, coached by George Halas, brought a 6-2 record to their regular-season meeting with the Redskins in Washington on November 17, 1940. After Chicago lost 3-7, the Redskins coach, George Preston Marshall, told reporters that Halas and his team were “quitters” and “cry babies.” Halas used Marshall’s words to galvanize his players, and the Bears scored 78 points in their next two games to set up a showdown with the Redskins in the league’s championship game on December 8, also in Washington.
Less than a minute into the game, the Bears’ running back Bill Osmanski ran 68 yards to score the first touchdown. After the Redskins narrowly missed an opportunity to tie the game, the Bears clamped down and began to dominate, leaving the field at halftime with a 28-0 lead. Things only got worse for the Redskins, and by the end of the second half officials were asking Halas not to let his team kick for extra points, as they were running out of footballs after too many had been kicked into the stands.
On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota Apartments in New York City in 1980.
Christmas Music:
Several years ago I worked on a project to celebrate the music in my life. Nothing says Christmas like the carols and songs heard only at this time of year. Here’s today’s sample:
Lyrics can be printed by using the File->Print Preview Commands. They will print in black ink with no images.) No music has been embedded.
Frosty the snowman
Was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal.
Frosty the snowman
Is a fairy tale, they say,
He was made of snow
But the children know
How he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic
In that old silk hat they found.
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around.
O Frosty the snowman
Was alive as he could be,
And the children say
He could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me.
Frosty the snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day,
So he said, “Let’s run
And we’ll have some fun
Now before I melt away.”
Down to the village,
With a broomstick in his hand,
Running here and there
All around the square
Saying, “Catch me if you can!”
He led them down
The streets of town
Right to the traffic cop.
And he only paused a moment when
He heard him holler “Stop!”
For Frosty the snowman
Had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye
Saying,”Don’t you cry,
I’ll be back again some day.”
Thumpetty thump thump,
Thumpety thump thump,
Look at Frosty go.
Thumpetty thump thump,
Thumpety thump thump,
Over the hills of snow.