December 2008 calendar

December 2008
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Learn the most interesting events and historical facts that happened in December 2008.
The US president was George W. Bush (Republican), the UK Prime Minister was Gordon Brown (Labour), Pope Benedict XVI was leading the Catholic Church.

But much more happened on December 2008: find out below

Historical Events

Which were the important events of December 2008?

Events

01 Dec 2008 A barrel of light crude oil costs between US$5.15 and US$49.28.
02 Dec 2008 Barack Obama, the US President-elect, names Hillary Clinton, a New York Senator as his secretary of state nominee and asks Robert Gates, U.S. Defense Secretary to stay in office.
03 Dec 2008 Ref name=cluster/
04 Dec 2008 The Iraq Presidency Council approved a security agreement with the United States. It requires that U.S. troops withdraw from Iraqi cities by mid-2009 and leave by the end 2011.
05 Dec 2008 The US White House and the congressional democrats have agreed to a plan to provide an emergency loan of US$15 billion to the country's automakers.
06 Dec 2008 After 28 years in a vegetative state, Martha "Sunny" von Bulow, a US heiress, dies in New York at the age of 76.
07 Dec 2008 Jamie Whincup won the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship series by Ford and Triple 8 Racing.
08 Dec 2008 The Tribune Company in the USA files for bankruptcy.
09 Dec 2008 Federal officials have arrested Rod Blagojevich (the Governor of Illinois) for various alleged offenses, including trying to sell the United States Senate seat that President-elect Barack Obama had vacated.
10 Dec 2008 In dispute over verification, talks on North Korea's nuke program are stalled.
11 Dec 2008 Bernard Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud in connection to a Ponzi scheme worth $50 billion.
12 Dec 2008 Bernard Madoff, former chairman of Nasdaq Stock Exchange, is being charged with running a Ponzi scheme worth $50 billion. This case is one of the most serious fraud cases in history.
13 Dec 2008 Leaders from China and South Korea meet on Kyushu for a discussion about the financial crisis.
14 Dec 2008 President George W. Bush is on his fourth and final trip to Iraq. He almost gets stomped by the two shoes that Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist, throws at him during a news conference held in Baghdad.
15 Dec 2008 Montenegro submits its official application to the European Union to Nicolas Sarkozy (current EU Council President), hoping to be granted candidate status in 2009.
16 Dec 2008 The U.S. Federal Reserve reduced the country's Federal Funds Interest Rate to zero to 0.25 percent. This is the lowest rate ever recorded in the United States.
17 Dec 2008 Sammy Baugh, a football player who established numerous passing records with Washington Redskins (1937-1952), has died at the age of 94 in Rotan Texas.
18 Dec 2008 Mark Felt, a mysterious source from the "Deep Throat", who helped Bob Woodward (Bob Woodward) and Carl Bernstein crack Watergate, which led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon, has died at 95 years old in Santa Rosa, California.
19 Dec 2008 US President George W. Bush announced US$17.4 Billion in emergency loans to U.S. automakers to stop the collapse of the industry, and to save hundreds of thousands more jobs.
20 Dec 2008 The Swedish Academy, which selects the Nobel Prize in Literature winner, has announced that Horace Engdahl will now be replaced by Peter Englund as its permanent secretary.
21 Dec 2008 Gwadar Port, Pakistan, becomes fully operational.ref name=quotThe_Dawnquot
22 Dec 2008 The American Environmental Protection Agency has published a Clean Water Act General Permit allowing cruise ships to dump unlimited amounts of untreated "graywater", within a mile of U.S. shores.
23 Dec 2008 H.R. Public Law 110-456 has passed 6184, the "America's Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008." This program includes a new series of non-circulating and circulating coins that depict national sites in each state and territory. It began in 2010 and will continue for five years. Each design will be available in five-ounce silver coins.
24 Dec 2008 Lord's Resistance Army is a rebel group from Uganda that launches a series of attacks against Democratic Republic of the Congo. It kills more than 400 people.
25 Dec 2008 Eartha Kitt, American sultry singer ("Santa Baby") and dancer, dies in New York from colon cancer at the age of 81.
26 Dec 2008 China's People's Liberation Army Navy starts escorting three warships, two destroyers and one replenishment oer to the Gulf of Aden in an effort to fight piracy in Somalia.
27 Dec 2008 Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan, acknowledges the existence of non-state actors in Pakistan and promises to eradicate terrorism.
28 Dec 2008 Operation Cast Lead
29 Dec 2008 After two years of political unrest, Bangladesh holds its general election.
30 Dec 2008 Eighteen of the eleven snowmobilers who were killed in avalanches in British Columbia (Canada) are now dead.
31 Dec 2008 U.S. crude oil prices rise 14 percent on the last trading day of 2008. February futures settled up US$5.57 to US$44.60 per barrel.
09 Dec 2008 Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.