Today in History - History - December 8th

1987US President Reagan & Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles

1886American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president

1980Annie Leibovitz has a photo-shoot with John Lennon, the last person to professionally photograph him before his death

1955Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella wins his 3rd MVP Award

1984Ringo Starr appears on Saturday Night Live

1902Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr became Associate Justice on Supreme Court

1966A terrible Yankee trade, Roger Maris for Card's Charlie Smith

1914Irving Berlin's musical "Watch your Step" premieres in NYC

1963Mickey Wright/Dave Ragan Jr wins LPGA Haig & Haig Scotch Mixed Golf

1776George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from NJ

1943Jim Morrison, American poet, singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)

1765Eli Whitney, Westborough Massachusetts, inventor (Cotton Gin)

1886Diego Rivera, [Lenin of Mexico], Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, painter/wife of Frida Kahlo (En el Arsenal ), (d. 1957)

1962Steve Elkington, Inverell New South Wales, Australian golfer (1995 PGA Championship)

1953Sam Kinison, Yakima, Washington, screaming comedian and actor (Back to School, Charlie Hoover)

1542Mary Stuart, Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, Queen of Scotland (1560-1587), (d. 1587)

65 BCHorace, Venusia, Lucania, Roman Republian poet (Odes), (d. 8 BC)

1982Nicki Minaj, Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer (Super Bass, Starships)

1953Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker (58) weds second wife Olive Palmer (51) at Park Road Baptist Church in Toronto, Canada

1872Religious leader Brigham Young (71) weds his fifty-fifth wife Hannah Tapfield in Salt Lake City, Utah

1980John Lennon, shot and killed in NY by Mark David Chapman at 40

1942Albert Kahn, architect of Detroit, dies at 73