On this day in History - Feb. 8

• 0412 - Proclus was born (d. 0487). Greek Neoplatonic philosopher.
• 0421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire .
• 1191 - Yaroslav II of Russia was born (d. 1246)
• 1250 - Robert I of Artois dies killed in battle (b. 1216). French crusader.
• 1250 - William II Longespee dies.
• 1265 - Hulagu Khan dies (b. 1217). Mongol ruler.
• 1291 - King Afonso IV of Portugal was born (d. 1357) .
• 1296 - King Przemysł II of Poland dies (b. 1257)
• 1487 - Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg was born (d. 1550).
• 1552 - Agrippa d'Aubigné was born (d. 1630). French poet and soldier.
• 1555 - Laurence Saunders was led barefoot to his execution and burned at the stake.
• 1577 - Robert Burton was born (d. 1640). English cleric and writer.
• 1586 - Jacob Praetorius was born (d. 1651). German composer.
• 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots is executed. After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason at Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire. For her part in a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I.
• 1599 - Robert Rollock dies. Scottish educator
• 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 English Parliament.
• 1623 - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter dies (b. 1546). English politician.
• 1649 - Gabriel Daniel was born (d. 1728). French Jesuit historian.
• 1672 - Isaac Newton lee su trabajo sobre óptica en la Royal Society.
• 1677 - Jacques Cassini was born (d. 18 Apr 1756). French astronomer who made direct measurement of the proper motions of the stars (1738) which disproved the ancient belief in the unchanging sphere of the stars. He also studied the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and the structure of Saturn's rings. ("Elements of Astronomy and Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon, Planets, Fixed Stars, and Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn")
• 1685 - Charles-Jean-François Hénault was born (d. 1770). French historian.
• 1692 - A doctor in 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.
• 1696 - Tsar Ivan V of Russia dies (b. 1666)
• 1700 - Daniel Bernoulli was born in Groningen (d. 17 Mar 1782). The most distinguished of the second generation of the Bernoulli family of Swiss mathematicians. Bernoulli's theorem, which he derived, is named after him. He investigated also other fields fields as medicine, biology, physiology, mechanics, physics, astronomy, and oceanography.
• 1711 - Alvará em que se determina que só integrando uma frota comercial, poderão os navios estrangeiros comerciar com o Brasil.
• 1720 - Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan was born (d. 1750)
• 1725 - Tsar Peter I of Russia dies (b. 1672) .
• 1749 - Jan van Huysum dies (b. 1682). Dutch painter.
• 1750 - Aaron Hill dies (b. 1685). English writer.
• 1768 - George Dance the Elder dies (b. 1695). English architect.
• 1786 - Nicholas Biddle was born. American financier.
• 1804 - Richard Lemon Lander was born (d. 1834). British explorer.
• 1807 - Battle of Eylau - Napoleon defeats Russians under General Benigssen.
• 1807 - Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins was born (d. 1889). English sculptor and naturalist.
• 1810 - Eliphas Lévi was born. French writer and magician.
• 1813 - Carlos Morel was born. Argentinian painter.
• 1814 - Simón Bolívar ordena que sean pasados por las armas 836 prisioneros españoles, la mayoría de ellos neutrales.
• 1818 - João VI é aclamado rei de Portugal e do Brasil.
• 1819 - John Ruskin was born. English author.
• 1820 - William Tecumseh Sherman was born (d. 1891). American Union general.
• 1827 - Batalla naval de Juncal entre argentinos y brasileños, que ganaron los primeros.
• 1828 - Jules Verne was born (d. 1905). French author.
• 1834 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev was born (d. 2 Feb 1907). (Also spelled Mendeleev) Russian chemist who developed the periodic classification of the elements.
• 1837 - Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
• 1849 - Roman Republic established
• 1850 - Kate Chopin was born (d. 1904). American author.
• 1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.
• 1861 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America are formed. Jefferson Davis is selected as first president.
• 1866 - Moses Gomberg, was born (d. 12 Feb 1947). Russian-born American chemist who initiated the study of free radicals in chemistry when in 1900 he prepared the first authentic one, triphenylmethyl.
• 1867 - The Ausgleich results in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary,
• 1868 - Lionel Walter Rothschild, was born (d. 27 Aug 1937). 2nd Baron Rothschild (of Tring), British zoologist who became a great collector and founded the Rothschild Natural History Museum in London. The museum was opened to the public in 1892.
• 1868 - Luis G. Urbina was born. Mexican writer and poet.
• 1878 - Martin Buber was born (d. 1965). German philosopher.
• 1880 - Franz Marc was born (d. 1916). German painter and graphic artist, co-founder of Blauer Reiter.
• 1883 - On this day, Louis Waterman began the series of experiments that led to his invention of the fountain pen.
• 1883 - Joseph Alois Schumpeter was born (d. 1950). Austrian economist/minister of finance
• 1886 - Charles Ruggles was born (d. 1970) . American author.
• 1887 - The Dawes Act authorized the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
• 1888 - Dame Edith Evans was borb (d. 1976). British actress.
• 1890 - Claro M. Recto was born (d. 1960). Filipino / Tagalog Nationalist.
• 1894 - Ludwig Marcuse was born (d. 1971). German author and philosopher.
• 1895 - King Vidor was born (d. 1982). American film director.
• 1898 - Rafael Barrios dies assassinated. President of Guatemala.
• 1900 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.
• 1902 - Demchugdongrub was born (d. 1966). Mongolian politician.
• 1902 - Lyle Talbot was born (d. 1996). Actor.
• 1903 - Greta Keller was born (d. 1977). Austrian-born cabaret singer and actress.
• 1904 - Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.
• 1906 - Chester Carlson was born (d. 19 Sep 1968). American physicist who invented xerography, an electrostatic dry-copying process that found applications ranging from office copying to reproducing out-of-print books.
• 1906 - Tahiti and the Cook Islands were hit by a cyclone. 10,000 were killed by 192 km/h (120mph) winds.
• 1908 - Emil Staiger, was born, cientist of literature (d. 1987) .
• 1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
• 1911 - Joaquín Costa dies. Spanish politician.
• 1911 - Elizabeth Bishop was born (d. 1979). American poet, Pulitzer Prize winner.
• 1911 - Big Joe Turner was born (d. 1985). American singer.
• 1912 - William Piper was born, airplane manufacturer . VER
• 1915 - The controversial film The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith premieres in Los Angeles.
• 1915 - Mário Pederneiras dies in Rio de Janeiro (b. 2 Nov. 1868). Brazilian poet.
• 1918 - Louis Renault, fallecimiento de, jurista francés, premio Nobel de la Paz en 1907.
• 1918 - The Stars and Stripes newspaper publishes for the first time.
• 1918 - Fred Blassie was born (d. 2003). American professional wrestler.
• 1920 - Un referéndum celebrado en Suiza rechaza el derecho al voto de la mujer.
• 1921 - Lana Turner was born (d. 1995). American actress. Sweater Girl of the 1940s, her father was murdered when Lana was eight. Had seven husbands included Lex Barker and Artie Shaw and starred in 15 1950s movies, with one Oscar nomination for Peyton Place in 1957.
• 1921 - Peter Kropotkin dies (b. 21 Dec 1842). Russian geographer and revolutionist, who combined biological and historical fact to arrive at his theory of Mutual Aid .
• 1921 - Francisco de Andrade dies (b. 1856). Portuguese barítone.
• 1922 - 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.
• 1925 - Jack Lemmon was born (d. 2001). Anmerican actor and film director (Days of Wine and Roses, Missing) .
• 1926 - Neal Cassady was born (d. 1968). American writer.
• 1926 - Audrey Meadows was born (d. 1996). American actress.
• 1926 - Guillermo Morón was born. Venezuelan writer.
• 1929 - Maria Christina dies (b. 1858). Queen Regent of Spain.
• 1929 - Eusebio A. Morales dies. Panaminian politician.
• 1930 - Alejandro Rey was born (d. 1987). Argentine actor.
• 1931 - James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana (d. 1955). Actor, he made just three films before he died in a car crash in England.
• 1932 - John Williams was born. American composer and conductor.
• 1933 - Elly Ameling was born. Dutch soprano
• 1933 - Jack Larson was born. American actor.
• 1936 - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru é nomeado presidente do Partido do Congresso indiano.
• 1936 - Jay Berwanger becomes the first person to be selected by a National Football League draft, by the Philadelphia Eagles.
• 1937 - Manfred Krug was born. German actor.
• 1940 - Ted Koppel was born. American journalist, anchor of ABC's Nightline.
• 1941 - Nick Nolte was born. American actor .
• 1942 - Robert Klein was born. American stand-up comedian.
• 1942 - Terry Melcher was born (d. 2004). American musician and record producer.
• 1942 - Óscar Carmona is reelected President of Portuguese Republica
• 1942 - Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford. British theoretical physicist.
• 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.
• 1945 - World War II: United States bombs Dresden, Germany with fire-bombs; 135,000 die.
• 1948 - John Ford Coley was born. American pop singer.
• 1949 - Brooke Adams was born. American actress.
• 1949 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary sentenced for treason.
• 1950 - Dan Seals was born. American singer.
• 1953 - Mary Steenburgen was born. American actress .
• 1953 - Roger Clavet was born. Quebecois politician.
• 1955 - The Government of Sindh abolished Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
• 1955 - John Grisham was born. American novelist .
• 1955 - Georgi Malenkov é forçado a renunciar ao cargo de primeiro ministro soviético e é substituído por Nikolai Bulganin.
• 1956 - Connie Mack dies (b. 1862). Baseball executive, manager (b. 1862) .
• 1957 - Cindy Wilson was born. Singer of The B-52's.
• 1957 - John von Neumann dies (b. 1903). Mathematician, quantum physicist.
• 1957 - Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe dies (b. 8 Jan 1891). German physicist who shared(with Max Born) the Nobel Prize for 1954.
• 1960 - Sir Giles Gilbert Scott dies (b. 1880). English architect.
• 1960 - John L. Austin was born. Philosopher.
• 1960 - 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".
• 1961 - Vince Neil was born. American musician
• 1963 - Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
• 1963 - O presidente do Iraque, Abdel-Karim Kassem é deposto e morto em um golpe militar.
• 1964 - Ernst Kretschmer dies (b. 1888). German psychiatrist.
• 1965 - Augusto Frederico Schmidt dies in Rio de Janeiro (b. 18 Apr 1906). Brazilian poet .
• 1966 - Hristo Stoichkov was born. Bulgarian soccer player
• 1968 - Gary Coleman was born. American actor.
• 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 deaths of three college students.
• 1968 - Claudette Pace was born. Maltese singer.
• 1969 - The last weekly issue of the Saturday Evening Post hits magazine stands.
• 1969 - A meteorite weighing over one ton was recovered in Chihuahua, Mexico.
• 1971 - A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts.
• 1972 - Paul Wight was born. American professional wrestler .
• 1973 - Max Yasgur dies. American Woodstock Festival host
• 1974 - Seth Green was born. American actor .
• 1974 - After 84 days in space, the crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to Earth.
• 1974 - Military coup in Upper Volta.
• 1975 - Bolivia restablece sus relaciones con Chile, rotas trece años antes.
• 1975 - Sir Robert Robinson dies (b. 13 Sep 1886). British chemist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1947 for his research on a wide range of organic compounds, notably alkaloids (complex, naturally occurring, nitrogen-containing organic compounds that can have profound effects on living things).
• 1977 - Eivind Groven dies (b. 1901). Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist
• 1977 - Yucef Merhi was born. Venezuelan artist .
• 1977 - Bridgette Kerkove was born. American pornographic actress.
• 1977 - Dave Farrell was born. American musician (Linkin Park)
• 1978 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time.
• 1979 - Portugal establish diplomatic relashionship with Republic Popular of China.
• 1979 - Dennis Gabor dies (b. 5 Jun 1900) Hungarian-born British electrical engineer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1971 for his invention of holography, a system of lensless, three-dimensional photography that has many applications.
• 1979 - Denis Sassou-Nguesso became the President of the 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.
• 1983 - Jim Verraros was born. American Idol singer.
• 1984 - 1984 Winter Olympics open in Sarajevo.
• 1984 - Karel Miljon dies (b. 1903). Dutch boxer.
• 1985 - After 6-1/2 years, the television series The Dukes of Hazzard goes off the air.
• 1985 - Sir William Lyons dies. British automobile manufacturer, founder of Jaguar Motors
• 1985 - José Gomes Ferreira dies in Lisbon (b. in Porto, 9 Jul 1900). Portuguese poet and ficcionist/Morre, em Lisboa, o escritor José Gomes Ferreira (b. 9 Jul 1900), antigo cônsul de Portugal na Noruega, entre 1925 e 1930, dedicou-se ao jornalismo, à tradução de filmes e à literatura.
• 1985 - After 6-1/2 years, the television series The Dukes of Hazzard goes off the air.
• 1986 - 1984 Summer Olympics head of the LAPD bomb squad, Arleigh Mccree, and his partner Officer Ronald Ball of the Firearms and explosives unit were killed while trying to dismantle two pipe bombs when they responded to a call. McCree was recognized as one of the top explosive experts in the world.
• 1989 - An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain in Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal killing 144.
• 1990 - The first recorded use of the chatspeak term "troll", found in the Google Usenet archive.
• 1990 - Del Shannon dies (suicide) (b. 1934). American entertainer.
• 1991 - Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract.
• 1991 - Assinatura do acordo de exploração do petróleo no Mar de Timor, conhecido por Timor Gap, pelos governos Australiano e Indonésio.
• 1993 - General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigged two crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settled the lawsuit the next day.
• 1993 - As repúblicas Tcheca e Eslováquia, recém divididas, começam a utilizar moedas distintas.
• 1993 - N. Shanmugathasan dies. Sri Lankan communist leader
• 1996 - The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
• 1998 - First female ice hockey game in Olympic history: Finland beats Sweden 6-0.
• 1998 - Halldór Laxness dies (b. 1902). Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1998 - Julian Simon dies (b. 1932). American economist, author.
• 1999 - Iris Murdoch dies (b. 1919). Irish author.
• 1999 - O rei Hussein da Jordânia é sepultado após um funeral de quatro horas em Amã. Seu enterro foi marcado pela presença de personalidades de todo o mundo, incluindo os ex-presidentes Clinton, Bush, Carter e Ford.
• 2000 - Sid Abel dies. Canadian hockey player and coach.
• 2000 - Derrick Thomas dies. American football player.
• 2001 - Disney's California Adventure Park, the Disneyland Resort's second park in its 46-year history, opens.
• 2001 - Ivo Caprino dies. Norwegian animated film director .
• 2002 - Joachim Hoffmann dies. German historian
• 2002 - Opening ceremony of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games.
• 2002 - España: el Consejo de Ministros del Gobierno aprueba el Proyecto de la Ley de Servicios de la Sociedad de la Información y Comercio Electrónico (LSSI).
• 2004 - Julius Schwartz dies. American comic book and science fiction editor
• 2005 - Israel and Palestinians agree to cease-fire.