February 8

Events

421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire

1555 - Laurence Saunders is led barefoot to his Execution (legal)|execution and Execution by burning|burned at the stake.

1587 - Mary I of Scotland|Mary, Queen of Scots is executed.

1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed

1622 - King James I of England disbands the British Parliament|English Parliament

1692 - A doctor in Danvers, Massachusetts|Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony declares that three teenaged girls are under domination of Satan, leading to the Salem witch trials.

1693 - The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a charter.

1807 - Battle of Eylau - Napoleon I of France|Napoleon defeats Russians under General Benigssen.

1837 - Richard Mentor Johnson|Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.

1849 - Roman Republic (19th century)|Roman Republic established

1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.

1867 - The ''Ausgleich'' results in the establishment of the Monarchy|Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary,

1887 - The Dawes Act authorized the President of the United States to survey Native Americans in the United States|Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.'''''

1900 - United Kingdom|British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa|Ladysmith, South Africa.

1904 - Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Lushun|Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.

1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.

1915 - D.W. Griffith's controversial film ''The Birth of a Nation'' premieres in Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles.

1918 - The ''Stars and Stripes'' newspaper publishes for the first time.

1922 - President of the United States|President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.

1924 - Death penalty: The first state execution using gas in the United States takes place in Nevada.

1936 - Jay Berwanger becomes the first person to be selected by a National Football League draft, by the Philadelphia Eagles.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Kursk - the Russian army captures the city

1943 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - United States forces defeat Japanese troops.

1949 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary sentenced for treason.

1960 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".

1963 - Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.

1968 - American civil rights movement: A civil rights protest staged at a white-only bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina is broken-up by highway patrolmen leading to the Orangeburg Massacre|deaths of three college students.

1969 - The last weekly issue of the ''Saturday Evening Post'' hits magazine stands.

1971 - The Nasdaq stock market index debuts.

1974 - After 84 days in outer space|space, the crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to Earth.

1974 - Military coup in Burkina Faso|Upper Volta.

1978 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.

1979 - Denis Sassou-Nguesso became the Heads of State of the Republic of the Congo|President of the Republic of the Congo|People's Republic of the Congo for the first time.

1983 - Racehorse Shergar is kidnapped in County Kildare, Ireland. The fate of the horse is still unknown.

1984 - 1984 Winter Olympics open in Sarajevo.

1985 - After 6-1/2 years, the television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' goes off the air.

1989 - An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain in Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal, killing 144.

1993 - General Motors sues NBC after ''Dateline NBC'' allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.

1996 - The Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.

2001 - Disney's California Adventure, the Disneyland Resort's second park in its 46-year history, opens.

2002 - Opening ceremony of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games|Winter Olympic Games.

2005 - Israel and Palestinian|Palestinians agree to cease-fire.

Births

412 - Proclus, Greek philosopher (d. 487)

1191 - Yaroslav II of Russia (d. 1246)

1291 - King Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)

1487 - Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)

1552 - Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)

1577 - Robert Burton (scholar)|Robert Burton, English cleric and writer (d. 1640)

1586 - Jacob Praetorius, German composer (d. 1651)

1649 - Gabriel Daniel, French Jesuit historian (d. 1728)

1677 - Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (d. 1756)

1685 - Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian (d. 1770)

1720 - Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)

1804 - Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer (d. 1834)

1807 - Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist (d. 1889)

1819 - John Ruskin, English author

1820 - William Tecumseh Sherman, American Union general (d. 1891)

1828 - Jules Verne, French author (d. 1905)

1834 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (d. 1907)

1851 - Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)

1878 - Martin Buber, German philosopher (d. 1965)

1880 - Franz Marc, German painter (d. 1916)

1886 - Charles Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)

1888 - Dame Edith Evans, British actress (d. 1976)

1894 - Ludwig Marcuse, German author and philosopher (d. 1971)

1895 - King Vidor, American film director (d. 1982)

1902 - Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (d. 1966)

1903 - Greta Keller, Austrian-born cabaret singer and actress (d. 1977)

1906 - Chester Carlson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1968)

1911 - Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (d. 1979)

1911 - Big Joe Turner, American singer (d. 1985)

1918 - Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)

1920 - Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)

1925 - Jack Lemmon, American actor and film director (d. 2001)

1926 - Neal Cassady, American writer (d. 1968)

1926 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (d. 1996)

1930 - Alejandro Rey, Argentine actor (d. 1987)

1931 - James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)

1932 - John Williams (composer)|John Williams, American composer and conductor

1933 - Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano

1933 - Jack Larson, American actor

1937 - Manfred Krug, German actor

1940 - Ted Koppel, American journalist

1941 - Nick Nolte, American actor

1942 - Robert Klein, American comedian

1942 - Terry Melcher, American musician and record producer (d. 2004)

1948 - John Ford Coley, American pop singer

1949 - Brooke Adams, American actress

1950 - Dan Seals, American singer

1953 - Mary Steenburgen, American actress

1955 - John Grisham, American novelist

1961 - Vince Neil, American musician

1968 - Gary Coleman, American actor

1972 - Paul Wight, American professional wrestler

1974 - Seth Green, American actor

1977 - Dave Farrell, American musician (Linkin Park)

1977 - Yucef Merhi, Venezuelan artist

1983 - Jim Verraros, American singer

1987 - Jessica Huang, Saudi Arabian born Asian-American actress

Deaths

1250 - Robert I of Artois, French crusader (killed in battle) (b. 1216)

1250 - William II Longespee

1265 - Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)

1296 - King Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)

1587 - Mary I of Scotland|Mary, Queen of Scots (executed) (b. 1542)

1599 - Robert Rollock, Scottish educator

1623 - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (b. 1546)

1696 - Tsar Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)

1709 - Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (b. 1658)

1725 - Tsar Peter I of Russia (b. 1672)

1749 - Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)

1750 - Aaron Hill, English writer (b. 1685)

1768 - George Dance the Elder, English architect (b. 1695)

1772 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (b. 1719)

1849 - France Prešeren, Slovenian poet (b. 1800)

1856 - Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist (b. 1773)

1910 - Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist (b. 1854)

1921 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (b. 1842)

1929 - Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain (b. 1858)

1956 - Connie Mack (baseball)|Connie Mack, baseball commissioner and manager (b. 1862)

1957 - Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)

1957 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)

1960 - Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect (b. 1880)

1964 - Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist (b. 1888)

1973 - Max Yasgur, American Woodstock Festival host

1975 - Robert Robinson (scientist)|Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)

1977 - Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist (b. 1901)

1984 - Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (b. 1903)

1985 - Sir William Lyons, British automobile manufacturer

1990 - Del Shannon, American entertainer (suicide) (b. 1934)

1993 - N. Shanmugathasan, Sri Lankan communist leader

1994 - Raymond Scott, American actor and inventor

1998 - Halldór Laxness, Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)

1998 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (b. 1932)

1999 - Iris Murdoch, Irish author (b. 1919)

2000 - Sid Abel, Canadian hockey player and coach

2000 - Derrick Thomas, American football player

2001 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director

2002 - Joachim Hoffmann, German historian

2004 - Julius Schwartz, American comic book and science fiction editor

Holidays and observances

Feast day of Jerome Emiliani | Saint Jerome Emiliani

Slovenia - Prešeren Day, the Slovenian cultural holiday

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/8

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050208.html ---- February 7 - February 9 - January 8 - March 8 -- historical anniversaries|listing of all days