This Day in HistoryDecember 8

1775

American forces, led by Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery, begin a siege of Quebec, Canada, an effort that would end in a failed American assault on December 31

1863

President Lincoln issues his plan for the reunification of the U.S. and postwar reconstruction of the South

1940

The Chicago Bears defeat the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the NFL championship game

1941

One day after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States enters World War II by declaring war on Japan

1941

Jeannette Rankin of Montana, an ardent pacifist, casts the only Congressional vote against the U.S. declaration of war on Japan

1949

Chinese Nationalists, after steadily losing ground to Mao Zedong’s communist revolutionary forces, move the capital to the island of Taiwan

1969

President Nixon states that the Vietnam War is coming to a conclusion, a declaration that would prove to be premature, as fighting continued until 1973

1980

John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, is shot and killed outside his apartment building in New York City by an obsessed fan, Mark David Chapman

1993

With three former presidents (Ford, Carter, and Bush) looking on in support, President Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law

2007

Florida Gators sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow wins the 73rd

Heisman Trophy Award, given annually to the nation’s top college football player

2010

With the launch of the SpaceX Dragon, Elon Musk’s SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft

2020

Today is the “safe harbor” deadline for states to resolve any presidential election disputes and certify the election—the Electoral College votes on December 14

2020

In what has been dubbed “V-Day” (“Victory Day”), the UK begins administering the Pfizer-produced COVID-19 vaccine to the public—90-year-old Margaret Keenan was the first recipient

2020

President Trump will hold a summit today at the White House to highlight the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine—the summit is designed to provide an update on the status of the administration’s ambitious vaccination plan

2020

Chuck Yeager, one of the U.S. Air Force’s most decorated test pilots, died yesterday at the age of 97—in 1947, he became the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound

2020

The Washington Football Team shocked the NFL world last night by beating the last undefeated team in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-17—the Steelers are now 11-1 and the Football Team is now 5-7

2020

92% of all ICU bedsand 90% of all in-patient beds arecurrently in use inArizona hospitals—COVID-19 patients occupy 42% of ICU beds and 35% ofnon-ICU beds