About the day » Sunday December 8, 1861Calender converter

• Aleida van Bindsbergen († 1937)
• Anderijntje Smit, Maarsseveen († 1943)
• Albert Visscher, 't Zandt, Groningen, Netherlands († 1933)
• Amatus Mary Detavernier, Wingene
• Adriana Maria Smoorenburg, Wijk Bij Duurstede, Utrecht, Nederland († 1941)
• Albertus Visser, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 1930)
• Aaltje Haaker, Wijdewormer, Noord-Holland, Nederland († 1937)
• Adries Dijkgraaf, Burgh, Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland, Nederland († 1909)
• Albert Visscher, 't Zandt, Zeerijp, Groningen, Nederland († 1933)
• Adriaan van Selst, Oostelbeers († 1878)

• Aaltje Jansd Noordermeer (26), Rockanje, zh.nld
• Adriana Helena van den Ham (51), Nijmegen
• Antje Durks Flapper (0), Nijhuizum, Nederland
• Aaltje (Aartje) Burghout (62), Hilversum
• Adam Bosch (4), Den Helder
• Agatha van Veen (10), Alkemade, Kaag en Braassem, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Adriaan Branderhorst (72), Genderen, Nederland
• Amalie Emilie Elisabeth Lützeler (19), Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland
• Adolf Jacob Hogenbirk (50), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, NL
• Alida van Hattum ook Hattem (1), Soest zie Utrecht-Soest

• 1860 » Amanda McKittrick Ros, Irish author and poet († 1939)
• 1861 » Aristide Maillol, French sculptor and painter († 1944)
• 1861 » Georges Méliès, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter († 1938)
• 1861 » William C. Durant, American businessman, founded General Motors and Chevrolet († 1947)
• 1862 » Georges Feydeau, French playwright († 1921)
• 1863 » Charles Lincoln Edwards, American zoologist († 1937)
• 1864 » Camille Claudel, French illustrator and sculptor († 1943)
• 1865 » Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician and academic († 1963)
• 1865 » Jean Sibelius, Finnish violinist and composer († 1957)
• 1865 » Rüdiger von der Goltz, German general († 1946)

• 1815 » Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, Methodist preacher and philanthropist (b. 1739)
• 1830 » Benjamin Constant, Swiss-French philosopher and author (b. 1767)
• 1856 » Theobald Mathew, Irish social reformer and temperance movement leader (b. 1790)
• 1859 » Thomas De Quincey, English journalist and author (b. 1785)
• 1864 » George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1815)
• 1869 » Narcisa de Jesús, Ecuadorian saint (b. 1832)
• 1885 » William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1821)
• 1886 » Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (b. 1792)
• 1894 » Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1821)
• 1903 » Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (b. 1820)

1. Jan
2. Johannes
3. Cornelis
4. Hendrik
5. Pieter
6. Willem
7. Gerrit
8. Jacob
9. Petrus
10. Jacobus
11. Dirk
12. Adrianus
13. Arie
14. Klaas
15. Hendrikus
16. Albert

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Anna
4. Cornelia
5. Elisabeth
6. Catharina
7. Adriana
8. Hendrika
9. Wilhelmina
10. Aaltje
11. Grietje
12. Trijntje
13. Neeltje
14. Antje
15. Elizabeth
16. Mary

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• From February 23, 1860 till March 14, 1861 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Hall - Van Heemstra with the prime ministers Mr. F.A. baron Van Hall (conservatief-liberaal) and Mr. S. baron Van Heemstra (liberaal).
• From March 14, 1861 till January 31, 1862 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt - Loudon with the prime ministers Mr. J.P.P. baron Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt (conservatief-liberaal) and Mr. J. Loudon (liberaal).
• The Netherlands had about 3.6 million citizens.
• February 13 » Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
• March 10 » El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.
• March 20 » An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
• April 20 » American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
• November 9 » The first documented football match in Canada is played at University College, Toronto.
• December 26 » American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James Murray Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and the United Kingdom.

The temperature on December 8, 1861 was about 10.6 °C. The air pressure was 7 kgf/m² and came mainly from the west-southwest. The airpressure was 75 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 90%.