Today
Tuesday December 8 2026
- Day of the year
- 342/ 365
- Week
- 502,026
- Days left
- 2394%
- Moon
- 0%New moon
Today is Tuesday, December 8, 2026. It is day 342 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 23 remain, and 94% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 50.
What's celebrated on this date
No United Nations international day falls on this date.
Coming up
- December 9International Anti-Corruption Day
- December 10Human Rights Day
- December 11International Mountain Day
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- EutychianPope and Bishop of Rome from 275 to 283
- Immaculate Conception of Maryteaching that Mary was conceived free from original sin
- Narcisa de JesúsEcuadoran laywoman and santa (1832-1869)
- Martin RinkartGerman clergyman and hymnist
- EuchariusBishop of Trier
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 07:08
- Sunset
- 16:28
- Length of day
- 9h 21m−1 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 11:48
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Autumn
began on September 22, 2026
Next season
Winter — 13 days, December 21, 2026 (December solstice)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Christmas Day — December 25, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
New moon
Illumination : 0%
Moon age : 29.4 days
- Next full moon
- December 24, 2026
- Next new moon
- December 9, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Sagittarius
until December 22, 2026 — Capricorn
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
1854
In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin. Wikipedia
1864
Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas. Wikipedia
1907
King Gustaf V of Sweden accedes to the Swedish throne. Wikipedia
1914
World War I: A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Wikipedia
1941
World War II: Japanese forces simultaneously invade Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. (See December 7 for the concurrent attack on Pearl Harbor in the Western Hemisphere.) Wikipedia
1980
John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1987
Cold War: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House. Wikipedia
1991
The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States. Wikipedia
2004
The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations. Wikipedia
2024
Damascus falls to rebels after Syrian troops withdraw and president Bashar al-Assad leaves the country as his government collapses. Israel as a result invaded into the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day December 8
- 1542Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise (died 1587)
- 1708Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1765)
- 1765Eli Whitney, American engineer, invented the cotton gin (died 1825)
- 1861Georges Méliès, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1938)
- 1864Camille Claudel, French illustrator and sculptor (died 1943)
- 1865Jean Sibelius, Finnish violinist and composer (died 1957)
- 1886Diego Rivera, Mexican painter and educator (died 1957)
- 1936David Carradine, American actor, director, and producer (died 2009)
Died on this day December 8
- 1830Benjamin Constant, Swiss-French philosopher and author (born 1767)aged 63 years
- 1864George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (born 1815)aged 49 years
- 1894Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and theorist (born 1821)aged 73 years
- 1978Golda Meir, Ukrainian-Israeli educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (born 1898)aged 80 years
- 1980John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1940)aged 40 years
- 1994Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1927)aged 67 years
- 2004Dimebag Darrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1966)aged 38 years
- 2016John Glenn, American astronaut and senator, first American to go into orbit (born 1921)aged 95 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 07:08 and sets at 16:28, giving 9h 21m of daylight — 1 minute less than yesterday. It has been autumn since September 22, 2026; winter opens in 13 days, on December 21, 2026 (December solstice).
The moon is new, 0% illuminated. The next full moon falls on December 24, 2026 and the next new moon on December 9, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches December 8 to Eutychian, Immaculate Conception of Mary and Narcisa de Jesús.
No United Nations international day falls on December 8. The next one on the calendar is International Anti-Corruption Day, on December 9.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin (1854); Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas (1864). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Mary was born on December 8, 1542; Benjamin Constant died on December 8, 1830.
17 days remain until Christmas and 24 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — December 8 falls under the sign of Sagittarius.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 94%
- of the year elapsed
- 17
- until Christmas
- 24
- until New Year
- 448
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26