AllTheAnswers : Events of the Day

8 Feb 1587

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Mary, Queen of Scots (b.1542 in Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian), beheaded for treason at Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire.

8 Feb 1693

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Granting of a charter for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

8 Feb 1700

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

[29 January Old Style] Birth of Daniel Bernoulli in Groningen, The Netherlands (d.1782), mathematician, who solved a differential equation now known as Bernoulli's equation.

8 Feb 1725

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

[28 January Old Style] Death of Peter I, the Great (b.1672 in Moscow), Tsar of Russia (1682–1721) and emperor (1721–5).

8 Feb 1819

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of John Ruskin in London (d.1900), art theorist and social critic, who championed Turner's painting in his first critical work, Modern Painters (1843–60).

8 Feb 1828

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Jules Verne in Nantes, France (d.1905), writer, whose works include Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).

8 Feb 1834

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

[27 January Old Style] Birth of Dmitiri Mendeleyev in Tobolsk, Russia (d.1907), chemist, who devised the periodic table of chemical elements (1869).

8 Feb 1888

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Dame Edith (Mary) Evans in London (d.1976), actress, whose roles included Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

8 Feb 1903

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Tunku Abdul Rahman in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaya (d.1990), first prime minister of Malaya (1957–63) and Malaysia (1963–70).

8 Feb 1904

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Beginning of the Russo–Japanese war, when Japan launched a surprise torpedo attack against the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, China.

8 Feb 1910

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Incorporation of the Boy Scouts of America movement under the laws of the District of Columbia.

8 Feb 1924

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

First use of the gas chamber as a method of execution in the USA, when convicted murderer Gee Jon was put to death at the Nevada State Prison, Carson City.

8 Feb 1931

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of James (Byron) Dean in Marion, Indiana (d.1955), actor and teenage icon, whose best known film is Rebel Without a Cause (1955).

8 Feb 1952

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

HRH Princess Elizabeth (b.1926) was formally proclaimed Queen of England, following the death of her father King George VI on 6 February.

8 Feb 1955

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of John Grisham in Jonesboro, Arkansas, novelist, whose first book was the crime thriller A Time To Kill (1989).

8 Feb 1967

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Sir Victor Gollancz (b.1893 in London), publisher, writer, and philanthropist.

8 Feb 1974

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Return to Earth for the crew of the first US space station, Skylab, after a record-breaking 84 days in space.

8 Feb 1983

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Derby-winning racehorse Shergar was kidnapped from his stables in County Kildare, Ireland; held for a ransom of £2 million, he was not seen again.

8 Feb 1984

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Opening of the 14th Olympic Winter Games, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

8 Feb 1992

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Opening of the 16th Olympic Winter Games, in Albertville, France.

8 Feb 1999

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Dame Iris Murdoch (b.1919 in Dublin, Ireland), novelist and philosopher, whose books include The Philosopher's Pupil (1983).

8 Feb 2000

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Some of the largest World Wide Web sites were affected for several hours, following action by a young Canadian hacker known as ‘Mafiaboy’.

8 Feb 2002

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Opening of the 19th Olympic Winter Games, in Salt Lake City, USA.