December 8 in history: • 1660 – Margaret Hughes (pictured) appeared professionally on the English stage; she is thought to have been the first woman to do so. → go there • 1880 – At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the government and volksraad of the South African Republic. → go there • 1987 – A man shot and killed eight people at the Australia Post building in Melbourne, before jumping to his death. → go there • 2010 – The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar-sail technology. → go there • 2024 – The Syrian civil war ended when Bashar al-Assad's party, the Syrian Ba'ath Party, surrendered to the Syrian opposition. → go there Born 1815: Adolph Menzel Wiki link Born 1862: Georges Feydeau Wiki link Died 2000: Ann T. Bowling Wiki link Died 2010: Robert Austin Markus Wiki link Pictured: Portrait of Margaret Hughes by Peter Lely, 1672.