On This Day: December 8th

Damascus falls to rebels after Syrian troops withdraw and president Bashar al-Assad leaves the country as his government collapses. Israel as a result invaded into the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.

Riots break out in Singapore, after a fatal accident in Little India.

Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first musical act to perform on all seven continents.

With the second launch of the Falcon 9, and the first launch of the Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.

The Japanese solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS passes the planet Venus at a distance of about 80,800 km (50,200 mi).

Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 people and injure 448 others.

The Cusco Declaration is signed in Cusco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations.

Columbus nightclub shooting: Nathan Gale opens fire at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, killing former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others before being shot dead by a police officer.

A raid conducted by the Internal Security Department (ISD) of Singapore foils a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to bomb foreign embassies in Singapore.