Notable Birthdays for December 8
Eli Whitney (1765-1825) - Inventor of the cotton gin.
Luther Prentice Bradley (1822-1910) - Brigadier General for the Union Army.
Robert Bullock (1828-1905) - Brigadier General for the Confederate Army.
William C. Durant (1861-1947) - Founder of General Motors and Chevrolet.
Charles Lincoln Edwards (1863-1937) - Zoologist who studied and discovered five species of copepods (small crustaceans).
E. C. Segar (1894-1938) - Cartoonist who created Popeye.
Adele Simpson 91903-1995) - Fashion designer.
Floyd Tillman (1914-2003) - Country music artist who helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genre.
Jean Ritchie (1922-2015) - Appalachian singer-songwriter who is referred to as the Mother of Folk.
Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) - Actor, singer, and dancer.
Bob Arum (1931-Still Living) - Boxing promoter and founder of Top Rank.
Flip Wilson (1933-1998) - Comedian and host of The Flip Wilson Show.
David Carradine (1936-2009) - Actor who played who played Kwai Chang Caine in the series Kung Fu.
Larry Martin (1943-2013) - Paleontologist who was known for his studies on dinosaur fossils, including Longisquama, Caudipteryx and Dakotaraptor.
Jim Morrison (1943-1971) - Lead singer of the Doors.
Gregg Allman (1947-2017) - Co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band.
Margaret Geller (1947-Still Living) - Astrophysicist who is known as a pioneer of mapping the universe.
Kim Basinger (1953-Still Living) - Multi-award winning actress.
Norman Finkelstein (1953-Still Living) - Author and activist of the Holocaust.
Bob Greene (1958-Still Living) - Creator of the diet and fitness program, Best Life.
Aaron Allston (1960-2014) - Author of the Star Wars novels.
Ann Coulter (1961-Still Living) - Political commentator.
Teri Hatcher (1964-Still Living) - Actress best known for her role as Lois Lane on the t.v. series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Corey Taylor (1973-Still Living) - Lead singer of the hard rock band Slipknot.
Ryan Newman (1977-Still Living) - Stock car driver.
Cara Mund (1993-Still Living) - Miss America 2018 who was born in North Dakota.
Memorable Events for December 8
1792 - Henry Laurens becomes the first person to be cremated in the U.S.
1863 - Abraham Lincoln issues his plan for Reconstruction of the South (Amnesty Proclamation).
1886 - The American Federation of Labor is formed.
1936 - The NAACP files a lawsuit that allowed black teacher to make as much money as white teachers.
1941 - President Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after declaring war on Japan.
1953 - President Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech, leading to a program that would supply equipment and information on nuclear power to the world.
1961 - The Space Needle in Seattle is finished after only 8 months after beginning work.
1966 - The U.S. and Russia sign a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons space.
2013 - Metallica becomes the first band to perform on all seven continents.
