Timeline December 1908

Events in December 1908 8

• 1908 – 1912 Puyi becomes Emperor of China Two years old Puyi is placed on the throne days after the deaths of the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi within twenty-four hours of each other. He screams through his own enthronement. He abdicates at six in 1912, ending two thousand years of imperial rule, and spends the rest of his life as a restored emperor for eleven days, a Japanese puppet in Manchukuo, a Soviet prisoner, a Chinese war criminal, a re-educated gardener and finally a citizen of the People's Republic.
• 1908 – 1971 Van Heflin (1908-1971) American actor, Oscar winner for Johnny Eager and the homesteader in Shane.
• 1908 Van Heflin born in Walters Van Heflin is born in Walters.
• 1908 – 2002 Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) Died 13 July 2002, aged 93 Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian-Canadian photographer who became the leading portraitist of the mid-20th century. His 1941 portrait of a scowling Winston Churchill, taken just after he plucked away the statesman's cigar, became one of the most reproduced photographs ever. He photographed scores of world figures from his Ottawa studio over five decades.
• 1908 – 1996 Lew Ayres (1908-1996) American actor, star of All Quiet on the Western Front and Dr. Kildare, and a conscientious objector who served as a medic.
• 1908 Lew Ayres born in Minneapolis Lew Ayres is born in Minneapolis.
• 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami Catastrophic quake devastates Sicily and Calabria A massive earthquake and accompanying tsunami struck the Strait of Messina, destroying the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria. Tens of thousands of people died, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in European history. International relief efforts, including from Russia, Britain, and the United States, aided survivors.
• 1908 – 2005 Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005) Died 20 September 2005, aged 96 Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who devoted his life to tracking down Nazi war criminals, died on 20 September 2005. He helped bring more than a thousand perpetrators to justice through the documentation centre he founded in Vienna. Wiesenthal survived several concentration camps during the Second World War.