February 8: On This Day

Events, births, deaths, holidays and observances for February 8.

Events 41

421 – Constantius III becomes co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, unsuccessfully rebels against Queen Elizabeth I.
1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the second-oldest institution of higher education in the Thirteen Colonies, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
1807 – Napoleon defeats the coalition forces of Russian General Bennigsen and Prussian General L'Estocq at the Battle of Eylau.
1817 – An army led by Grand Marshal Las Heras crosses the Andes to join San Martín in the liberation of Chile from Spain.
1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first and only Vice President of the United States chosen by the Senate.
1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, delaying the criminalization of slavery until the amendment's national adoption on December 6, 1865. The amendment is ultimately ratified by Delaware on February 12, 1901, the 92nd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.
1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes the adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
1879 – England's cricket team, led by Lord Harris, is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
1885 – The first Japanese immigrants arrive in Hawaii.
1887 – The Dawes Act is enacted, authorizing the U.S. President to divide Native American tribal land into individual allotments.
1904 – Japanese forces launch a surprise attack against Russian-controlled Port Arthur, marking the start of the Russo-Japanese war.
1904 – The Dutch Colonial Army's Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch a military campaign in the Dutch East Indies' Northern Sumatra region, leading to the deaths of thousands of civilians.
1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
1924 – The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Republican forces establish the Interprovincial Council of Santander, Palencia and Burgos in Cantabria.
1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
1945 – World War II: British and Canadian forces commence Operation Veritable to occupy land between the Maas and Rhine rivers.
1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet POWs from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde, Usedom.
1946 – The People's Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North and replaced by the communist-controlled Provisional People's Committee of North Korea.
1950 – The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
1960 – Queen Elizabeth II issues an Order-in-Council, proclaiming the House of Windsor and declaring that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
1962 – Nine protestors are killed at Charonne station, Paris, by French police under the command of ex-Vichy official and Parisian Prefect of Police Maurice Papon.
1963 – The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba'ath Party.
1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing all 84 people on board.
1968 – American civil rights movement: An attack on Black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation leaves three dead and 28 injured in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
1971 – South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration into the country.
1974 – The crew of Skylab 4, the last mission to visit the American space station Skylab, returns to Earth after 84 days in space.
1983 – A dust storm hits Melbourne, resulting in the worst drought on record and severe weather conditions in the city.
1986 – Twenty-three people are killed when a VIA Rail passenger train collides with a Canadian National freight train near the town of Hinton, Alberta, making it one of the worst rail accidents in Canada.
1989 – Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport in the Azores, killing all 144 passengers on board.
1993 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 and an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 collide mid-air near Qods, Iran, killing all 133 people on board both aircraft.
2010 – Over 2 miles (3.2 km) of road are buried after a storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of avalanches, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 others.
2013 – A blizzard kills at least 18 and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia, kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured.
2020 – A soldier opens fire in a military camp and a shopping center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, killing 29 people and injuring 58 others before being shot dead by police the next day. It is considered the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history.
2023 – Two children are killed and six others are injured when a bus crashes into a daycare centre in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The driver is arrested and charged with homicide and dangerous driving.

Births 171

120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (died ~175)
412 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (died ~485)
882 – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt (died 946)
1191 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (died 1246)
1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal, Portuguese king (died 1357)
1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (died 1453)
1487 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, German duke (died 1550)
1514 – Daniele Barbaro, Venetian churchman, diplomat and scholar (died 1570)
1552 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (died 1630)
1577 – Robert Burton, English priest, physician, and scholar (died 1640)
1591 – Guercino, Italian painter (died 1666)
1685 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian and author (died 1770)
1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (died 1782)
1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi, Japanese emperor (died 1750)
1741 – André Grétry, Belgian-French organist and composer (died 1813)
1762 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (died 1820)
1764 – Joseph Leopold Eybler, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1846)
1792 – Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, German princess (died 1873)
1798 – Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia, Russian grand duke (died 1849)
1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and zoologist (died 1889)
1817 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (died 1872)
1819 – John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (died 1900)
1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (died 1891)
1822 – Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (died 1894)
1825 – Henry Walter Bates, English geographer, biologist, and explorer (died 1892)
1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (died 1905)
1829 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (died 1902)
1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (died 1907)
1850 – Kate Chopin, American author (died 1904)
1860 – Adella Brown Bailey, American politician and suffragist (died 1937)
1866 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (died 1947)
1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (died 1907)
1878 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and academic (died 1965)
1880 – Franz Marc, German soldier and painter (died 1916)
1880 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor and director (died 1931)
1882 – Thomas Selfridge, American lieutenant and pilot (died 1908)
1883 – Isak Penttala, Finnish politician (died 1955)
1883 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and political scientist (died 1950)
1884 – Snowy Baker, Australian boxer, rugby player, and actor (died 1953)
1886 – Charlie Ruggles, American actor (died 1970)
1888 – Edith Evans, English actress (died 1976)
1890 – Claro M. Recto, Filipino lawyer, jurist, and politician (died 1960)
1893 – Ba Maw, Burmese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Burma (died 1977)
1894 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1982)
1895 – Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Prime Minister of Mongolia (died 1952)
1897 – Zakir Husain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd president of India (died 1969)
1899 – Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1970)
1902 – Demchugdongrub, Mongol prince and politician, head of state of Mengjiang (died 1966)
1903 – Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (died 1977)
1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (died 1990)
1906 – Chester Carlson, American physicist and lawyer, invented Xerography (died 1968)
1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (died 2012)
1911 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and author (died 1979)
1913 – Betty Field, American actress (died 1973)
1913 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (died 2009)
1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (died 1974)
1915 – Georges Guétary, Egyptian-French singer, dancer, and actor (died 1997)
1918 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (died 2003)
1921 – Barney Danson, Canadian colonel and politician, 21st Canadian Minister of National Defence (died 2011)
1921 – Nexhmije Hoxha, Albanian politician (died 2020)
1921 – Balram Singh Rai, Guyanese politician, 1st Minister of Home Affairs (died 2022)
1921 – Lana Turner, American actress (died 1995)
1922 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (died 1996)
1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (died 2001)
1926 – Neal Cassady, American author and poet (died 1968)
1926 – Birgitte Reimer, Danish film actress (died 2021)
1930 – Alejandro Rey, Argentinian-American actor and director (died 1987)
1931 – James Dean, American actor (died 1955)
1931 – Shadia, Egyptian actress and singer (died 2017)
1932 – Cliff Allison, English racing driver and businessman (died 2005)
1932 – John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor
1933 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
1937 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (died 1989)
1937 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (died 2016)
1939 – Jose Maria Sison, Filipino activist and theorist (died 2022)
1940 – Sophie Lihau-Kanza, Congolese politician (died 1999)
1940 – Ted Koppel, English-American journalist
1941 – Nick Nolte, American actor and producer
1941 – Tom Rush, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1941 – Jagjit Singh, Indian singer-songwriter (died 2011)
1942 – Robert Klein, American comedian, actor, and singer
1942 – Terry Melcher, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2004)
1943 – Creed Bratton, American actor and musician
1943 – Valerie Thomas, American scientist and inventor
1944 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (died 2014)
1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian photographer and journalist (died 2025)
1948 – Dan Seals, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2009)
1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Niels Arestrup, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1952 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (died 2014)
1953 – Mary Steenburgen, American actress
1955 – John Grisham, American lawyer and author
1955 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (died 2018)
1956 – Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1957 – Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
1958 – Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager (died 2007)
1958 – Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
1959 – Henry Czerny, Canadian actor
1959 – Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
1959 – Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
1959 – Mauricio Macri, Argentinian businessman and politician, President of Argentina
1960 – Benigno Aquino III, Filipino politician, 15th President of the Philippines (died 2021)
1960 – Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Vince Neil, American singer-songwriter and actor
1963 – Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer and politician
1964 – Arlie Petters, Belizean-American mathematical physicist and academic
1964 – Santosh Sivan, Indian director, cinematographer, producer, and actor
1964 – Trinny Woodall, English fashion designer and author
1966 – Kirk Muller, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
1967 – Adelir Antônio de Carli, Brazilian priest and balloonist
1967 – Michael Ansley, American basketball player
1968 – Gary Coleman, American actor (died 2010)
1969 – Pauly Fuemana, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2010)
1969 – Mary Robinette Kowal, American puppeteer and author
1969 – Mary McCormack, American actress and producer
1970 – Stephanie Courtney, American actress and comedian
1970 – John Filan, Australian footballer and coach
1970 – Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player and executive
1971 – Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
1971 – Mika Karppinen, Swedish-Finnish drummer and songwriter
1971 – Susan Misner, American actress
1972 – Big Show, American wrestler and actor
1973 – Michelle Brogan, Australian basketball player
1974 – Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, French musician, singer, composer, and record producer
1974 – Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer, and director
1974 – Joshua Morrow, American actor
1974 – Kimbo Slice, Bahamian-American mixed martial artist (died 2016)
1976 – Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
1976 – Nicolas Vouilloz, French rally driver and mountain biker
1977 – Dave Farrell, American musician and songwriter
1977 – Roman Kostomarov, Russian ice dancer
1978 – Ranveer Brar, Indian chef, author, restauranteur, and television personality
1978 – Mick de Brenni, Australian politician
1979 – Aaron Cook, American baseball player
1980 – William Jackson Harper, American actor
1981 – Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (died 2015)
1981 – Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
1981 – Jim Parrack, American actor
1983 – Jermaine Anderson, Canadian basketball player
1983 – Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
1984 – Sean Bergenheim, Finnish ice hockey player
1984 – Cecily Strong, American actress
1984 – Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
1985 – Petra Cetkovská, Czech tennis player
1985 – Jeremy Davis, American bass player and songwriter
1985 – Félix Pie, Dominican baseball player
1985 – Brian Randle, American basketball player and coach
1986 – Anderson .Paak, American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer
1987 – Javi García, Spanish footballer
1987 – Carolina Kostner, Italian figure skater
1988 – Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
1989 – Zac Guildford, New Zealand rugby player
1989 – JaJuan Johnson, American basketball player
1989 – Julio Jones, American football player
1989 – Brendan Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
1989 – Courtney Vandersloot, American-Hungarian basketball player
1990 – Bethany Hamilton, American surfer
1990 – Klay Thompson, American basketball player
1991 – Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer
1992 – Bruno Martins Indi, Portuguese-Dutch footballer
1994 – Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
1994 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer-songwriter
1995 – Gabriel Deck, Argentine basketball player
1995 – Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
1996 – Kenedy, Brazilian footballer
1996 – Leighton Vander Esch, American football player
1997 – Kathryn Newton, American actress
1998 – Rui Hachimura, Japanese basketball player
1999 – Alessia Russo, English footballer
2001 – I.N, South Korean singer

Deaths 99

538 – Severus of Antioch, patriarch of Antioch (born 465)
1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, Byzantine emperor (born 1182)
1229 – Ali ibn Hanzala, sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma'ilism
1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois (born 1216)
1250 – William II Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, English martyr (born 1212)
1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (born 1217)
1285 – Theodoric of Landsberg (born 1242)
1296 – Przemysł II of Poland (born 1257)
1314 – Helen of Anjou, Queen of Serbia (born 1236)
1382 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (born 1328)
1537 – Saint Gerolamo Emiliani, Italian humanitarian (born 1481)
1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish theologian and academic (born 1555)
1676 – Alexis of Russia (born 1629)
1696 – Ivan V of Russia (born 1666)
1709 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (born 1658)
1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (born 1672)
1749 – Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (born 1682)
1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (born 1685)
1772 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (born 1719)
1849 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (born 1781)
1849 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (born 1800)
1856 – Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist and academic (born 1773)
1907 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist and academic (born 1854)
1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian philosopher and activist (born 1854)
1915 – François Langelier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (born 1838)
1921 – George Formby Sr, English actor and singer (born 1876)
1921 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian zoologist, geographer, and philologist (born 1842)
1928 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (born 1857)
1932 – Yordan Milanov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (born 1867)
1935 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1864)
1936 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (born 1860)
1938 – Olga Taratuta, Ukrainian Jewish anarchist (born 1876)
1945 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer and coach (born 1866)
1956 – Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (born 1862)
1957 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891)
1957 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (born 1903)
1959 – William J. Donovan, American head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (born 1883)
1960 – J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (born 1911)
1960 – Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect and engineer, designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral (born 1880)
1963 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (born 1908)
1964 – Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist and author (born 1888)
1970 – Cahir Healy, Northern Irish republican and anti partition politician (born 1877)
1971 – Kanaiyalal Munshi, Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist (born 1887)
1972 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (born 1905)
1975 – Robert Robinson, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born1886)
1977 – Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and theorist (born 1901)
1979 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1900)
1980 – Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer-songwriter (born 1936)
1982 – John Hay Whitney, American financier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (born 1904)
1985 – William Lyons, English businessman, co-founded Swallow Sidecar Company (born 1901)
1987 – Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (born 1905)
1990 – Del Shannon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1934)
1990 – Ernest Titterton, British Australian nuclear physicist (born 1916)
1992 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (born 1918)
1994 – Raymond Scott, American pianist and composer (born 1908)
1996 – Del Ennis, American baseball player (born 1925)
1997 – Corey Scott, American motorcycle stunt rider (born 1968)
1998 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)
1998 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (born 1912)
1998 – Julian Simon, American economist and author (born 1932)
1999 – Iris Murdoch, Irish-born British novelist and philosopher (born 1919)
2000 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1918)
2000 – Derrick Thomas, American football player (born 1967)
2001 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (born 1920)
2002 – Ong Teng Cheong, Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (born 1936)
2004 – Julius Schwartz, American journalist and author (born 1915)
2005 – A. Chandranehru, Sri Lankan sailor and politician (born 1944)
2006 – Elton Dean, English saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (born 1945)
2006 – Thierry Fortineau, French actor (born 1953)
2006 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (born 1914)
2007 – Anna Nicole Smith, American model and actress (born 1967)
2007 – Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American psychiatrist and academic (born 1918)
2008 – Ruby Garrard Woodson, American educator and cultural historian (born 1931)
2010 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (born 1932)
2011 – Tony Malinosky, American baseball player and soldier (born 1909)
2012 – Wando, Brazilian singer-songwriter (born 1945)
2012 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter (born 1950)
2013 – Giovanni Cheli, Italian cardinal (born 1918)
2013 – James DePreist, American conductor and educator (born 1936)
2013 – Maureen Dragone, American journalist and author (born 1920)
2013 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (born 1918)
2014 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1932)
2014 – Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (born 1988)
2014 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (born 1938)
2015 – Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde, Finnish physician and parapsychologist (born 1939)
2016 – Amelia Bence, Argentine actress (born 1914)
2016 – Nida Fazli, Indian poet and songwriter (born 1938)
2016 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (born 1938)
2016 – Violette Verdy, French ballerina (born 1933)
2017 – Peter Mansfield, English physicist, Nobel laureate (born 1933)
2017 – Rina Matsuno, Japanese idol singer (born 1998)
2017 – Alan Simpson, English scriptwriter (born 1929)
2020 – Robert Conrad, American actor (born 1935)
2021 – Marty Schottenheimer, American football player and coach (born 1943)
2021 – Mary Wilson, American singer (born 1944)
2023 – Arto Heiskanen, Finnish professional hockey player (born 1963)
2025 – Dick Jauron, American football player and coach (born 1950)
2025 – Sam Nujoma, Namibian politician, 1st President of Namibia (born 1929)
2025 – Gyalo Thondup, Brother of the 14th Dalai Lama (born 1928)

Holidays and observances 14

Christian feast day: Cuthmann of Steyning Elffled of Whitby Elisabetta Martinez Gerolamo Emiliani Josephine Bakhita Juventius of Pavia Mengold of Huy Stephen of Muret February 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Cuthmann of Steyning
Elffled of Whitby
Elisabetta Martinez
Gerolamo Emiliani
Josephine Bakhita
Juventius of Pavia
Mengold of Huy
Stephen of Muret
February 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Parinirvana Day (some Mahayana Buddhism traditions; most celebrate on February 15)
Prešeren Day (Slovenia)
Propose Day (India)
Military Foundation Day (North Korea)