Deaths on December 8

William Shawn, American journalist (b. 1917)

William Shawn (né Chon; August 31, 1907 – December 8, 1992) was an American magazine editor who edited The New Yorker from 1952 until 1987.

1 Feb

Bhopal disaster
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal disaster case.
1 Mar

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
2 Mar

United Nations
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations.
27 Apr

International Monetary Fund
The Russian Federation and 12 other former Soviet republics become members of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
23 Jul

Pope Benedict XVI
A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.