Today is Monday, Dec. 8, 2025 — the 342nd day of the year. There are 23 days left in 2025.
Today in history:
On Dec. 8, 2022, Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner in a high-profile prisoner exchange with the United States that released Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner had been detained for nearly 10 months.
Also on this date:
– 1941: The United States entered World War II as Congress declared war on Imperial Japan, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
– 1980: Former Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment building by Mark David Chapman.
– 1987: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty at the White House calling for the destruction of intermediate-range missiles.
– 2012: Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
– 2014: The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan, 13 years after the Sept. 11 attacks led to the invasion aimed at toppling the Taliban-led government.
– 2016: John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 and later a longtime U.S. senator, died in Columbus, Ohio, at 95.
– 2017: Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani announced he would sign with the Los Angeles Angels.
– 2024: Insurgents completed their occupation of Damascus as decades of Assad family rule rapidly unraveled; Russian state media reported that President Bashar Assad was in Moscow after fleeing the rebel advance.
Today’s birthdays:
Flutist James Galway is 86. Author Bill Bryson is 74. Actor Kim Basinger is 72. Commentator and columnist Ann Coulter is 64. Actor Wendell Pierce is 63. Actor Teri Hatcher is 61. Basketball Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon is 60. Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Mussina is 57. Actor Dominic Monaghan is 49. NASCAR driver Ryan Newman is 48. Singer Nicki Minaj is 43. Country singer Sam Hunt is 41. Actor AnnaSophia Robb is 32.
