History of 8th February

421 - Flavius Constantine becomes emperor Constantine III of West Roman emp
421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1526 - Heavy storm strikes Dutch coast, many die
1575 - University Leiden founded, and given the motto "Praesidium Libertatis"
1600 - Vatican convicts scholar Giordano Bruno to death
1601 - Earl Robert Devereux of Essex armies draws into London
1622 - King James I disbands the English parliament
1672 - Isaac Newton reads 1st optics paper before Royal Society in London
1690 - French & Indian troops set Schenectady settlement NY on fire
1690 - Lord Halifax resigns as Lord Privy Seal
1693 - William & Mary college is 2nd college chartered in US
1726 - The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.
1735 - 1st opera in US "Flora," opens in Charleston, SC
1743 - Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 AUs of Earth
1744 - French/Spanish fleet leaves Toulon
1750 - Minor earthquake in London
1775 - Leidse U 400th anniversary dinner
1776 - Wolfgang von Goethes' "Stella," premieres in Hamburg
1802 - Simon Willard patents banjo clock
1807 - Napoleon defeats Russians in battle of Eylau
1809 - Franz I of Austria declares war on France
1837 - 1st VP chosen by Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren admin)
1849 - New Roman Republic established.
1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.
1861 - Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery, Ala
1862 - Battle of Roanoke Island NC, Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound
1862 - Opera "Lily of Killarney," premieres in London
1865 - 1st black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany
1867 - The Ausgleich results in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
1879 - Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
1883 - Louis Waterman begins experiments to invents fountain pen
1887 - Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing, Minn became the 1st US ski club
1887 - Dawes Act passed (indians living apart from tribe granted citizenship)
1887 - The Dawes Act authorized the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
1889 - Flood ravages Dutch coast
1894 - Enforcement Act repealed, making it easier to disenfranchise blacks
1895 - Tchaikovsky/Petipa's "Swan Lake," premieres in Petersburg
1896 - Georges Feydeaus' "Le Dindon," premieres in Paris
1896 - Western Conference forms of Midwestern U, later renamed Big 10 Conf
1898 - John Ames Sherman patents 1st envelope folding & gumming mach (Mass)
1904 - Russo-Japanese War begins
1905 - Cyclone hit Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people
1908 - Wilhelmina '08 soccer team forms in Weert Neth
1909 - France & Germany sign treaty about Morocco
1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
1911 - US helps overthrow Pres Miguel Devila of Honduras
1911 - Victor Herbert's opera "Natoma," premieres in NYC
1912 - 1st eastbound US transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville, Fla
1914 - General Zamon becomes president of Haiti
1915 - "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in LA
1916 - French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374
1916 - NL votes down Charlie Ebbets proposal to limit 25 cent seats
1918 - "Stars & Stripes," weekly US armed forces newspaper, 1st published
1920 - Swiss men vote against women's suffrage
1922 - Radio arrives at the White House
1923 - Coal mine explosion at Dawson, New Mexico kills 120
1923 - German NSDAP Volkischer Beobachter newspaper becomes a daily
1924 - 1st coast-to-coast radio hookup: Gen John Joseph Carty speech in Chic
1925 - Kaufman & Berlin's "cocoanuts," premieres in NYC
1925 - Marcus Garvey enters federal prison in Atlanta
1926 - German Reichstag decides to apply for League of Nations membership
1926 - Sean O'Casey's "Plough & Stars" opens at Abbey Theater Dublin
1926 - Walt Disney Studios forms
1927 - Belgian-Swiss treaty signed
1928 - 1st transatlantic TV image received, Hartsdale, NY
1928 - Scottish inventor J Blaird demonstrates color-TV
1929 - KOY-AM in Phoenix Arizona begins radio transmissions
1930 - "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Benny Mereoff hits #1
1931 - Gas explosion Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000
1933 - -23°F (-31°C), Seminole, Texas (state record)
1933 - 1st flight of all-metal Boeing 247
1934 - Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC
1934 - Gaston Doumergue forms new French govt
1935 - 1st NFL draft; Jay Berwanger of U Chicago is 1st pick (by Eagles) He never plays in NFL
1936 - 1st NFL draft, Eagles select Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger
1936 - 1st ski jumping tournament, Red Wing, Minn
1936 - 1st successful Toronto Maple Leaf penalty shot, Conacher vs Rangers
1936 - Pandit Jawaharlal follows Gandhi as chairman of India Congress Party
1937 - Maxwell Anderson's "Masque of Kings," premieres in NYC
1940 - Lewis & Hamilton's musical "Two for the Show," premieres in NYC
1940 - Lodtz, 1st large ghetto established by Nazis in Poland
1941 - Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore
1941 - NSB'er Max Blokzijl begins nazi propaganda on Dutch radio
1942 - Stravinsky's "Danses Concertantes," premieres in Los Angeles
1942 - Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort
1943 - Red Army recaptures Kursk
1944 - 1st black reporter accredited to White House, Harry McAlpin
1944 - U-762 sunk off Ireland
1945 - Allied air attack on Goch/Kleef/Kalkar/Reichswald
1946 - Béla Bartók's 3rd Concert for piano/orchestra premieres in Philadelphia, PA, US
1946 - Premier Salazar of Portugal forbids opposition parties
1947 - Jan van der Hoorn wins 8th Dutch 11-cities skating race (10:51)
1947 - KSD (now KSDK) TV channel 5 in St Louis, MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1948 - 5th Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1949 - Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty sentenced to life in prison
1952 - "RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day," debuts on NBC TV
1952 - Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the UK.
1953 - Betty Jameson wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
1953 - WLVA (now WSET) TV channel 13 in Lynchburg-Roanoke, VA (ABC) begins
1955 - Malenkov resigns as USSR premier, Bulganin replaces him
1955 - The Government of Sindh abolished Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km²) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
1956 - Mine disaster in Quaregnon Belgium, 8 die
1957 - SF Public Library's bookmobile initiated in front of City Hall
1958 - Edgar Whitehead succeeds Garfield Todd as premier of South Rhodesia
1958 - French planes bomb Sakiet Tunisia, 75 die
1958 - KIRO TV channel 7 in Seattle, WA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1960 - Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)
1960 - Congress opens hearings looking into payola
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".
1962 - KACB TV channel 3 in San Angelo, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - 1st transmission of Clandestine Voice of Iraqi People (Communist)
1963 - AFL's Dallas Texans become KC Chiefs
1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 - Peter Shaffer's "Royal Hunt of the Sun," premieres in London
1964 - Rep Martha Griffiths address gets civil rights protection for women being added to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 - Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic off Jones Beach NJ, kills 84
1965 - Supremes release "Stop In the Name of Love"
1967 - Longest losing streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (10 games)
1967 - Peter (Asher) & Gordon (Waller) discontinue their singing partnership
1967 - Pirate Radio UKGM (England) closes down
1967 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 - Officers kill 3 students demonstrating in SC State (Orangeburg)
1969 - Last edition of Saturday Evening Post
1969 - Meteorite weighing over 1 ton falls in Chihuahua, Mexico
1971 - Pedro Morales beats Ivan Koloff in NY, to become WWF wrestling champ
1971 - South Vietnamese troops invade Laos
1971 - The Nasdaq stock market index debuts.
1972 - Josh Gibson & Buck Leonard selected to Hall of Fame
1973 - Jean Kerrs "Finishing Touches," premieres in NYC
1973 - Mushtaq & Asif Iqbal make 350 stand for 4th wicket v NZ
1973 - Senate names 7 members to investigate Watergate scandal
1974 - "Good Times," debuts on CBS TV
1974 - Ringo releases "You're 16"
1974 - Skylab 4's astronauts land
1974 - Soap opera "Secret Storm" ends a 20 year run
1975 - 1800 Unification church couples' wed in Korea
1975 - Caps only got one shot in a period against Islanders
1976 - Hua Guofeng becomes premier of China PR
1976 - Jan Stephens wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Naples Golf Classic
1976 - Largest crowd at Cleveland Coliseum (Cavs vs Wash-21,130)
1977 - Earthquake in SF, at 5.0, strongest since 1966
1977 - Hustler publisher Larry Flynt sentenced due to
1978 - Crown Prince Sad Abdallah al-Salim Al Sabah becomes PM of Kuwait
1978 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
1979 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 - Denis Sassou-Nguesso became the President of the Republic of the Congo for the first time.
1981 - "5 O'Clock Girl" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 12 perfs
1981 - "Brigadoon" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 133 performances
1981 - Sally Little wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1981 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Elaine Zayak
1981 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
1982 - Dodgers trade Davey Lopes to A's breaking up the longest-playing infield (Cey-Russell-Lopes-Garvey)
1983 - 35th NHL All-Star Game: Campbell beat Wales 9-3 at NY Islander
1983 - Baseball orders Mickey Mantle to sever ties with Claridge Casino
1983 - Eric Peters sets transatlantic sailboat record (E-W)-46 days
1983 - Tina Howe's "Painting Churches," premieres in NYC
1983 - Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
1983 - Champion thoroughbred Shergar kidnapped in Ireland; never found Lloyds of London pays $10.6 million insurance
1984 - 14th Winter Olympic games opens in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1984 - 1st time 8 people in space
1984 - A's take Yankees pitcher Tim Belcher as Type A free agent compensation
1984 - Soyuz T-10 launches with crew of 3 to Salyut 7
1985 - 1st-class cricket debut of Jimmy Adams (age 17), Jamaica v Barbados
1985 - Bruce Morris, Marshall Univ, makes a 92' 5½" basketball shot
1985 - Michael Gross swims world record 800m freestyle (7:38.75)
1985 - Opposition leader Kim Dae Jung returns to South-Korea
1986 - 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta Hawks wins NBA Slam Dunk Competition
1986 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano
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.
1987 - 37th NBA All-Star Game: West beats East 154-149 (OT) at Seattle
1987 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1988 - NASA launches DOD-2
1989 - 5 cm of snow falls in outskirts of Los Angeles
1989 - Jockey Chris Antley begins record of 64 consecutive winning days
1989 - US Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain, 145 die
1990 - David Hares "Racing Demon," premieres in London
1990 - "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine
1991 - Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract
1992 - "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred peaks at #1
1992 - 16th Winter Olympic games opens in Albertville, France
1992 - Ulysses spacecraft passes Jupiter
1993 - Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die
1993 - GM sues NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" program had rigged 2 car-truck crashes to show that 1973-87 GM pickups were prone to fires
1994 - Jack Nicholson uses a golf club to attack a car
1994 - Kapil Dev sets world record for Test Cricket wickets with 432
1994 - Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee charge with possession of loaded firearm
1995 - 6.4 earthquake at Trujillo, Colombia (46+ killed)
1996 - NFL & Cleveland allows Art Modell to move his NFL franchise to Balt but he had to leave the Browns' name behind
1996 - The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
1996 - The massive Internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place.
1998 - 1st female ice hockey game in Olympic history Finland beats Sweden 6-0
1998 - 48th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 135-114 at NYC
1998 - NHL stops season until Feb 24th to accomodate the Olympics
2002 - XIX Winter Olympics opens in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
2005 - Israel and Palestinians agree to cease-fire.
2008 - Nebraska bans electric chair as sole execution method.