February 8 February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 326 days remaining, 327 in leap years. Events upto 19th century 421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots is executed. 1622 - King James I of England disbands the English Parliament 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. 1807 - Battle of Eylau - Napoleon defeats Russians under General Benigssen. 1837 - Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate. 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. 20th century 1900-1949 1900 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa. 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: Japanese surprise attack at Port Arthur, Manchuria, starting the war. 1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce. 1915 - The controversial film The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith premieres in Los Angeles. 1918 - The Stars and Stripes newspaper publishes for the first time. 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. 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. 1945 - World War II: United States bombs Dresden, Germany with fire-bombs; 135,000 die. 1949 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary sentenced for treason. 1950-1999 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 deaths of three college students. 1969 - The last weekly issue of the Saturday Evening Post hits magazine stands. 1971 - A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts. 1974 - After 84 days in space, the crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to Earth. 1974 - Military coup in Upper Volta. 1978 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time. 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 rigged two crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settled the lawsuit the next day. 1996 - The United States Congress passes the Communications Decency Act. 21st century 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 Winter Olympic Games. Births upto 19th century 412 - Proclus, Neoplatonic philosopher 1290 - King Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357) 1807 - Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, sculptor and naturalist (d. 1889) 1820 - William Tecumseh Sherman, soldier (d. 1891) 1828 - Jules Verne, author (d. 1905) 1850 - Kate Chopin, author (d. 1904) 1878 - Martin Buber, philosopher (d. 1965) 1880 - Franz Marc, painter and graphic artist, co-founder of Blauer Reiter (d. 1916) 1886 - Charles Ruggles, actor (d. 1970) 1894 - Ludwig Marcuse, author and philosopher (d. 1971) 1895 - King Vidor, director (d. 1982) 20th century 1902 - Lyle Talbot, actor (d. 1996) 1908 - Emil Staiger, scientist of literature (d. 1987) 1911 - Elizabeth Bishop, poet, Pulitzer Prize winner (d. 1979) 1911 - Big Joe Turner, blues singer (d. 1985) 1918 - Fred Blassie, former professional wrestler (d. 2003) 1920 - Lana Turner, actress (d. 1995) 1925 - Jack Lemmon, actor and film director (d. 2001) 1926 - Neal Cassady, writer (d. 1968) 1931 - James Dean, actor (d. 1955) 1932 - John Williams, composer, conductor 1937 - Manfred Krug, actor 1940 - Ted Koppel, journalist 1941 - Nick Nolte, actor 1942 - Robert Klein, stand-up comedian 1953 - Mary Steenburgen, actress 1955 - John Grisham, novelist 1957 - Cindy Wilson, singer, of The B-52's 1968 - Gary Coleman, actor 1972 - Paul Wight, professional wrestler 1974 - Seth Green, actor 1977 - Yucef Merhi, artist 1983 - Jim Verraros, American Idol singer Deaths 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542) 1725 - Tsar Peter I of Russia (b. 1672) 1768 - George Dance the Elder, architect (b. 1695) 1921 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (b. 1842) 1929 - Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain (b. 1858) 1956 - Connie Mack, baseball executive, manager (b. 1862) 1957 - John von Neumann, mathematician, quantum physicist (b. 1903) 1960 - Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, architect (b. 1880) 1977 - Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist (b. 1901) . 1985 - Sir William Lyons, founder of Jaguar Motors 1990 - Del Shannon, entertainer (suicide) (b. 1934) 1998 - Halldór Laxness, author (b. 1902) 1998 - Julian Simon, economist, author (b. 1932) 1999 - Iris Murdoch, author (b. 1919) 2001 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director Holidays and observances Feast day of St Jerome Emiliani February 7 - February 9 - January 8 - March 8 -- listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_8