Today in History - History - December 8th

1961Wilt Chamberlain scores the 2nd highest total in the NBA - 78

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

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

1987Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st goalie to actually score a goal

1914Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins to the White Sox

1955Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella wins his 3rd MVP Award

1849Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Luisa Miller" premieres in Naples

1915John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" appears anonymously in "Punch" magazine

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

1994Darryl Strawberry indicted on tax evasion charges

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1950NBA player Bob Cousy (22) weds his college sweetheart Missie Ritterbusch

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

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

1942Albert Kahn, architect of Detroit, dies at 73