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Today is Monday, Dec. 8, the 342nd day of 2014 with 23 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn. Evening stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Sagittarius. They include Mary Queen of Scots in 1542; Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, in 1765; General Motors founder William Durant and French movie pioneer Georges Melies, both in 1861; Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in 1865; Mexican muralist Diego Rivera in 1886; humorist and artist James Thurber in 1894; actor Lee J. Cobb in 1911; entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. in 1925; actor Maximilian Schell in 1930 (age 84); comedian Flip Wilson in 1933; actors David Carradine in 1936 and James MacArthur in 1937; Irish flutist James Galway in 1939 (age 75); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Jim Morrison in 1943 and Gregg Allman in 1947 (age 67); writer Bill Bryson in 1951 (age 63); actors Kim Basinger in 1953 (age 61) and Teri Hatcher in 1964 (age 50); political commentator Ann Coulter in 1961 (age 53); Irish singer/songwriter Sinead O'Connor in 1966 (age 48); actor Dominic Monaghan in 1976 (age 38); and rap artist Nicki Minaj in 1982 (age 32).

On this date in history:

In 1886, delegates from 25 unions founded the American Federation of Labor, forerunner of the modern AFL-CIO, in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1941, the United States, Britain and Australia declared war on Japan.

In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government, defeated by the Communists, retreated from the mainland to the island of Taiwan.

In 1980, former Beatle John Lennon was shot to death outside his apartment building in New York City. He was 40.

In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty between the two superpowers to reduce their massive nuclear arsenals.

In 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist when the republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed an agreement creating the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Read more:
UPI Almanac for Monday, Dec. 8, 2014