On this day...

1587 Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded
1672 Isaac Newton reads first optics paper before Royal Society in London
1807 Napoleon defeats Russians in battle of Eylau
1837 First VP chosen by the Senate, Richard Johnson
1861 Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery, Ala
1862 Battle of Roanoke Island. Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound
1865 First black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany
1883 Louis Waterman begins experiments to invent the fountain pen
1887 Congress passes the Dawes Act, a homestead act for Indians
1904 Outbreak of hostilities in Russo-Japanese war
1910 Boy Scouts of America incorporated
1912 First eastbound US transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville, Florida
1915 "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in LA
1922 Radio arrives in the White House
1923 Coal mine explosion at Dawson, New Mexico, kills 120
1926 Walt Disney Studios formed
1928 First transatlantic TV image received, Hartsdale, NY
1934 Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC
1935 First NFL draft; Jay Berwanger of U Chicago is first pick (by
Eagles). He never plays in the league
1936 First ski jumping tournament, Red Wing, Minnesota
1944 first black reporter accredited to the White House, Harry McAlpin
1955 Malenkov resigns as USSR premier, Bulganin replaces him
1963 Dallas Texans become Kansas City Chiefs
1965 Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic off Jones Beach NJ, kills 84
1965 Supremes release "Stop In the Name of Love"
1968 Officers kill 3 students demonstrating in SC State (Orangeburg)
1969 Meteorite weighing over 1 ton falls in Chihuahua, Mexico
1974 Soap opera "The Secret Storm" ends a 20 year run
1975 1800 Unification church couples wed in Korea
1977 Earthquake in SF, at 5.0, strongest since 1966
1983 Eric Peters sets transatlantic sailboat record (E-W)-46 days
1984 14th Winter Olympic games opens in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1986 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta Hawks wins NBA Slam Dunk Competition
1989 Jockey Chris Antley begins record of 64 consecutive winning days
1991 Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract
1992 16th Olympic Winter games opens in Albertville, France
1992 Ulysses spacecraft passes Jupiter

Birthdays which occurred on February 8th:

412 St. Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople
1577 Robert Burton, writer, Anglican clergyman (Anatomy of Melancholy)
1819 John Ruskin, writer/critic/Gothic Revivalist
1820 William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War general
1828 Jules Verne, France, pioneered science fiction (From the Earth to the Moon)
1886 Charlie Ruggles, LA Calif, actor (The Ruggles, Aesop-Bullwinkle Show)
1890 Claro Mayo Recto, Filipino nationalist, opponent of US colonialism
1895 King Vidor, director (War & Peace, Stella Dallas)
1906 Chester F. Carlson, inventor (xerography (xeroxing))
1919 Buddy Morrow, orchestra leader (Jimmie Rodgers Show)
1920 Lana Turner, Wallace Idaho, actress (Survivors, Falcon Crest)
1924 Audrey Meadows, Wu Chang China, actress (Alice-Honeymooners)
1925 Jack Lemmon, Boston, actor
1930 Alejandro Rey, Buenos Aires, actor (Carlos-Flying Nun)
1931 James Dean, stage/film actor (Giant, Rebel Without a Cause)
1932 John Williams, Flushing, NY, composer/conductor (Boston Pops)
1933 Jack Larson, LA Calif, actor (Jimmy Olsen-Superman)
1939 Barry Mann, singer (Who put the Bump)
1940 Susan Clark, Ontario, actress (Katherine-Webster)
1940 Ted Koppel, Lancashire England, newscaster (ABC Nightline)
1941 Nick Nolte, actor (Under Fire, Teachers, 48 Hrs, North Dallas 40)
1941 Tom Rush, NH, rock guitarist/vocalist (Circle Game, Urge For Going)
1942 Robert Klein, Bronx, comedian/actor (Hooper, Deadly Rivals)
1946 Paul Wheatbread, rocker (Gary Puckett & Union Gap)
1949 Brooke Adams, NYC, actress (Cynthia-OK Crackerby, Body Snatchers)
1949 Scott Allen, USA, skater (Olympic-bronze-1964)
1950 Dan Seals, rocker/country musician (England Dan & John Ford Coley)
1950 Michael Goodroe, bassist (Motels-Only the Lonely)
1958 "Sensational" Sherri Martel, New Orleans, WWF Women's Champ
1961 Vince Neil, rock vocalist (Motley Crue-Girls Girls Girls)
1966 Gary Coleman, Zion IL, actor (Arnold-Diff'rent Strokes)

Deaths which occurred on February 8th:

1924 Gee John, becomes first executed in a gas chamber, in Nevada
1954 Mabel Paige, actress (Lucky Jordan), dies at 73
1963 Abdul Karim Kassem, PM of Iraq, assassinated at Baghdad
1963 George Dolenz, actor (Count of Monte Cristo), dies at 55
1985 Tom Greenway, actor dies of a heart attack at 75
1987 Harriet MacGibbon, actress (Mrs Drysdale-Beverly Hillbillies)
1990 Del Shannon, rock vocalist, commits suicide at 55