December 8, 1967: Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., U.S. Air Force, is killed at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. He was 32, and left behind a wife, but no children.
Born on October 2, 1935 in Chicago, he graduated from high school at the age of 16, and from Bradley University of Peoria, Illinois at 20. Lawrence became one of the best training pilots in the Air Force, and had a Ph.D. in chemistry from Ohio State University.
NASA and the Air Force hired him to observe the X-15 "rocket-plane," and his notes later contributed heavily to their development of the Space Shuttle fleet. He was selected as an astronaut in June 1967, and, had he lived, he likely would have become the 1st black person to fly in space.
He was the backseat pilot in an F-104, instructing another pilot. The pilot made a mistake, and the plane crashed. The pilot was able to eject, but was badly hurt, and his name has never been publicly revealed. In order to avoid hitting the ejecting pilot, the back seat of the F-104 was designed to eject a full second later. Lawrence's ejection failed.
On September 18, 1980, Colonel Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez of the Cuban Air Force became the 1st black person in space, aboard the Soviet mission Soyuz 38. On September 5, 1983, Colonel Guion "Guy" Bluford, U.S. Air Force, became the 1st black American to fly in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
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December 8, 1967 was a Friday. Future NFL quarterback Jeff George was born.
Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 117-109 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 123-108 at the Boston Garden.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 116-103 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.
* The St. Louis Hawks beat the Cincinnati Royals, 101-95 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.
* The San Diego Rockets beat the San Francisco Warriors, 137-107 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. The Warriors had split their games between the Civic Auditorium (now named for rock music promoter Bill Graham) and the University of San Francisco's Memorial Gym (now the Sobrato Gym). This game in Oakland was an experiment. In 1971, they changed their name to the Golden State Warriors, and moved to Oakland on a seemingly permanent basis. In 2019, they moved back across San Francisco Bay, into the Chase Center in San Francisco.
* And the Chicago Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 115-114 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there were 2 games in the brand-new American Basketball Association. The Pittsburgh Pipers beat the Kentucky Colonels, 93-89 at the Louisville Convention Center (now named the Louisville Gardens). And the Dallas Chaparrals beat the Anaheim Amigos, 123-110 at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium.
There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0. Since their home, The Forum in Inglewood, hadn't opened yet, the game was played at the Long Beach Convention Center.
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