FEBRUARY 8 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots was executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot on the 8th February 1587, to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins the English sculptor was born on the 8th February 1807 (died 1889).

1822 – Maxime Du Camp the French photographer and journalist was born on the 8th February 1822 (died 1894).

1855 – The Devil’s Footprints mysteriously appeared in southern Devon on the 8th February 1855.

1880 – Franz Marc the German painter was born on the 8th February 1880 (died 1916).

1906 – Chester Carlson the American physicist and inventor of the Xerography was born on the 8th February 1906 (died 1968).

1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch the Australian philanthropist was born on the 8th February 1909 (died 2012).

1910 – The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated by William D. Boyce on the 8th February 1910.

1915 – D.W. Griffith‘s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles on the 8th February 1915.

1922 – President Warren G. Harding introduced the 1st radio in the White House on the 8th February 1922.

1925 – Jack Lemmon the  American actor, singer, and director was born on the 8th February 1925 (d. 2001).

1931 – James Dean the American actor was born on the 8th February 1931 (d. 1955).

1941 – Nick Nolte the American actor was born on the 8th February 1941.

1944 – Sebastião Salgado the Brazilian photographer was born on the 8th February 1944.

1946 – The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version was published on the 8th February 1946.

1948 – Ron Tyson the American singer-songwriter from The Temptations was born on the 8th February 1948.

1950 – The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany was established on the 8th February 1950.

1952 – Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen of the United Kingdom on the 8th February 1952.

1960 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council on the 8th February 1960, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.

1960 – The first eight brass star plaques are installed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the 8th February 1960.

1961 – Vince Neil the American singer-songwriter from Mötley Crüe was born on the 8th February 1961.

1963 – The First full Color Television program in the World, publicly advertised, was broadcast in Mexico City by XHGC-TV, Channel 5 on the 8th February 1963, due to technical breakthrough advances made by Mexican Engineer Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena.

1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and exploded on the 8th February 1965, killing everyone aboard.

1969 – Allende meteorite fell near Pueblito de Allende, ChihuahuaMexico on the 8th February 1969.

1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opened for the first time on the 8th February 1971.

1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returned to Earth on the 8th February 1974.

1974 – Seth Green the American actor, screenwriter and producer was born on the 8th February 1974.

1977 – Yucef Merhi the Venezuelan-American poet and graphic designer was born on the 8th February 1977.

1978 – Proceedings of the United States Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time on the 8th February 1978.

1980 – Cameron Muncey the Australian singer and guitarist  from Jet was born on the 8th February 1980.

1983 – The Melbourne dust storm hit on the 8th February 1983, as a result of the worst drought on record, causing a day of severe weather conditions, when a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud enveloped the city, turning day to night.

1985Jeremy Davis the American bassist in rock band Paramore was born on the 8th February 1985.

1990Bethany Hamilton the American professional surfer and survivor of a shark attack was born on the 8th February 1990, in Hawaii. Bethany Hamilton had her left arm bitten off by a 14 to 15 foot tiger shark on the 31st October 2003, at the age of 13, while having a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with best friend Alana Blanchard and her father and brother. Bethany overcame the injury and returned to professional surfing. She wrote about her experience in the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board. In 2011 the feature film Soul Surfer was released, based on the book.

1996 – The massive Internet collaboration 24 Hours in Cyberspace took place on the 8th February 1996.

2010 – A freak storm in the Hindukush mountains of Afghanistan triggered a series of about 36 avalanches on the 8th February 2010, burying over two miles of road, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 travellers.

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