At A Glance

22 December 2008 at a glance

Day of the week
22 December 2008 was a Monday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke.
Top Film of 2008
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2008 was The Dark Knight.
Star sign
The star sign for 22 December is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 22 December 2008 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 22 December 2008 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 22 December

  • 2001 Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Islamic State of Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
  • 2001 Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
  • 2008 An ash dike ruptures at a solid waste containment area for a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plant in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 4.2 million m3 (1.1 billion US gal) of coal fly ash slurry in the largest industrial spill in U.S. history.
  • 2010 The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.
  • 2016 A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70 and 100% effective, making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.

Famous people born on 22 December

  • Ralph Fiennes, English actor (born 1962)
  • Ted Cruz, Canadian-American lawyer and politician (born 1970)
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter and poet (1960–1988)
  • Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (1887–1920)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 2008 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '2008 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 25 February – The animated children's television series The Mr. Men Show first airs on Five.
  • 27 February – 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake: An earthquake with an epicentre in Lincolnshire is felt across most of Britain, with several buildings suffering substantial damage.
  • 28 March – London Heathrow Terminal 5 opens at Heathrow Airport to British Airways with many problems with the IT system, coupled with insufficient testing and staff training, which causes over 500 flights to be cancelled.

Life in 2008

Prime Minister

Gordon Brown

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

£2.70

Loaf of Bread

£1.15

Average House

£176,190

Weekly Wage

£674.00

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Famous Faces Born in the 2000s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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