February 8

Events
Up to 1900
421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1238 - Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1347 - End of the Byzantine Empire's civil war of 1341 to 1347.
1575 - The University of Leiden in the Netherlands is founded.
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots is executed.
1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex fails in an attempt to take over England from Elizabeth I.
1676 - Tsar Alexis of Russia dies. His son, Feodor III of Russia, becomes Tsar.
1725 - Tsar Peter I of Russia dies.
1807 - Napoleonic Wars: In the Battle of Eylau in present-day Poland, Napoleon Bonaparte's French troops defeat the Russians under General Levin August, Count of Bennigsen.
1817 - Juan Gregorio de las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join Jose de San Martin in liberating Chile from Spain.
1837 - The United States Senate chooses Richard Mentor Johnson to become Vice President of the United States.
1853 - The Oregon Territory is split up, as the northern part becomes the Washington Territory. Oregon becomes a US State in 1859, with Washington doing the same in 1889.
1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in Devon.
1865 - Delaware votes to continue with the practice of slavery, though it bans it in 1901.
1879 - Sandford Fleming proposes the idea of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institution.
1879 - England's national cricket team is attacked in a riot in Sydney, Australia.
1885 - The first Japanese immigrants to be allowed in by the then-Hawaiian government, arrive in Hawaii.
1887 - The Henry L. Dawes Act allows the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land.
1901 1950
1904 - A surprise Japanese torpedo attack at Port Arthur, China, starts the Russo-Japanese War.
1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is founded by William D. Boyce.
1915 - D. W. Griffith's racist silent movie Birth of a Nation is first screened in Los Angeles, California.
1922 - Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.
1924 - The first state execution by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
1937 - The Massacre of Malaga during the Spanish Civil War begins. Over the next few days, an estimated 10,000 people are killed.
1942 - World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
1945 - World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada start Operation Veritable to occupy the west bank of the Rhine.
1946 - The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible is published.
1948 - Official creation of the Korean People's Army in North Korea.
1950 - The Stasi, East Germany's secret police, is founded.
1951 2000
1952 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Queen after the death of her father, King George VI of the United Kingdom, two days earlier.
1960 - Queen Elizabeth II issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants would carry the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
1960 - The first eight brass star plaques are installed at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1962 - Charonne massacre: Nine Trade unionists are killed by French police, which had been allowed by the-then chief of Paris police, Maurice Papon.
1963 - Travel, financial and commercial transactions by US citizens in Cuba are banned by the John F. Kennedy administration.
1963 - The first full-color television programme is broadcast in Mexico City.
1963 - Iraq's Prime Minister, Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Qassem is overthrown by the Ba'ath Party.
1965 - Eastern Airlines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take-off from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, after trying to avoid a mid-air collision. All on board are killed.
1968 - An attack on African American students from South Carolina State University, protesting in Orangeburg, South Carolina, kills 3 or 4.
1969 - The so-called Allende meteorite lands in Chihuahua State, Mexico.
1971 - South Vietnamese ground forces enter Laos.
1971 - The NASDAQ stock market index opens.
1974 - After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4 returns to Earth.
1974 - A military coup occurs in Upper Volta, present-day Burkina Faso.
1978 - United States Senate proceedings are broadcast on radio for the first time.
1979 - Denis Sassou-Nguesso is elected President of the Republic of the Congo.
1981 - 21 football fans are trampled to death in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a match between Olympiakos and AEK Athens.
1983 - After a record-breaking drought, the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia is affected by a dust storm, and a red dust cloud hangs over the city.
1984 - The 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo begin.
1986 - The Hinton train collision in southern Alberta, Canada, kills 23 people.
1989 - An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Pico Alto Mountain on Santa Maria island, Azores.
1992 - The 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, begin.
1993 - A plane crash in Tehran kills 115 people.
1996 - The massive internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place.
From 2001
2002 - The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, begin.
2010 - A freak storm in the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan, causes a series of at least 36 avalanches, killing at least 172 people, and trapping many travelers in the region.
2013 - A strong winter storm affects the northeastern United States.
Births
Up to 1800
120 - Vettius Valens, Greek astrologer (d. 175)
412 - Proclus, Greek philosopher (d. 485)
1191 - Yaroslav II of Russia (d. 1246)
1291 - Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)
1405 - Constantine XI Palaiologus, last Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (d. 1453)
1487 - Ulrich, Duke of Wurttemberg (d. 1550)
1586 - Jacob Praetorius, German composer (d. 1651)
1612 - Samuel Butler, English poet (d. 1680)
1649 - Gabriel Daniel, French historian (d. 1728)
1677 - Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (d. 1756)
1700 - Daniel Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1782)
1708 - Vaclav Jan Kopriva, Bohemian composer and organist (d. 1789)
1720 - Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
1754 - Isaac Tichenor, Governor of Vermont (d. 1838)
1762 - Gia Long, Emperor of Vietnam (d. 1820)
1792 - Carolina Augusta of Bavaria (d. 1873)
1798 - Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (d. 1849)
1801 1900
1804 - Richard Lemon Lander, English explorer (d. 1834)
1807 - Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist (d. 1889)
1818 - Austin Blair, Governor of Michigan (d. 1894)
1819 - John Ruskin, English writer (d. 1900)
1820 - William Tecumseh Sherman, American Union General (d. 1891)
1822 - Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (d. 1894)
1825 - Henry Walter Bates, English scientist (d. 1892)
1828 - Jules Verne, French writer (d. 1905)
1828 - Antonio Canovas del Castillo, Spanish politician (d. 1897)
1830 - Abdulaziz, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1876)
1834 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (d. 1907)
1849 - Arisitide Cavallari, Italian cardinal and archbishop (d. 1914)
1850 - Kate Chopin, American writer (d. 1904)
1861 - Harry Ward Leonard, American engineer and inventor (d. 1915)
1866 - Moses Gomberg, Russian-born American chemist (d. 1947)
1876 - Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (d. 1907)
1878 - Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher (d. 1965)
1880 - Franz Marc, German painter (d. 1916)
1880 - Viktor Schwanneke, German stage director, stage and movie actor (d. 1931)
1882 - Thomas Etholen Selfridge, American military officer and airplane crash victim (d. 1908)
1883 - Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist (d. 1950)
1884 - Reginald Baker, Australian athlete and actor (d. 1953)
1886 - Charles Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)
1888 - Jakob Kaiser, German politician and activist (d. 1961)
1890 - Claro M. Recto, Filipino statesman (d. 1960)
1892 - Ralph Chubb, British poet, artist and printmaker (d. 1960)
1893 - Ba Maw, Burmese politician (d. 1977)
1894 - Ludwig Marcuse, German writer and philosopher (d. 1971)
1894 - King Vidor, American movie director (d. 1982)
1897 - Zakir Hussain, 3rd President of India (d. 1969)
1899 - Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
1900 - Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Russian animator and director (d. 1987)
1901 1950
1902 - Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (d. 1966)
1903 - Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1977)
1903 - Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (d. 1942)
1906 - Chester Carlson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1968)
1909 - Elisabeth Murdoch, mother of Rupert Murdoch (d. 2012)
1911 - Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (d. 1979)
1911 - Big Joe Turner, American singer (d. 1985)
1913 - Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
1914 - Bill Finger, American comic writer (d. 1974)
1920 - Bill Bemer, American computer programmer (d. 2004)
1921 - Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)
1921 - Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of Commonwealth Congregations (d. 1999)
1921 - Eddie Rutherford, Scottish footballer (d. 2007)
1922 - Yuri Averbakh, Russian chess player
1924 - Khamtai Siphandone, former President of Laos
1925 - Jack Lemmon, American actor and movie director (d. 2001)
1926 - Neal Cassidy, American writer (d. 1968)
1928 - Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Russian actor (d. 2009)
1928 - Jack Larson, American actor, screenwriter and producer (d. 2015)
1929 - Claude Rich, French actor (d. 2017)
1930 - Catherine Hardy Lavender, American athlete (d. 2017)
1931 - James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
1932 - Horst Eckel, German footballer
1932 - John Williams, American composer and director
1932 - Cliff Allison, British racing driver (d. 2005)
1933 - Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
1933 - Jack Larson, American actor
1936 - Larry Verne, American singer
1937 - Manfred Krug, German actor (d. 2016)
1937 - Harry Wu, Chinese activist (d. 2016)
1941 - Jagjit Singh, Indian musician (d. 2011)
1941 - Nick Nolte, American actor
1941 - Tom Rush, American singer and songwriter
1944 - Roger Lloyd-Pack, British actor (d. 2014)
1945 - Kinza Clodumar, former President of Nauru
1947 - John Roll, American judge (d. 2011)
1947 - Yi Zhongtian, Chinese writer
1948 - Ron Tyson, American singer
1948 - Lynda Lyon Block, American convicted murderer (d. 2002)
1949 - Brooke Adams, American actress
1951 1975
1951 - Rosario Crocetta, Italian politician, former President of Sicily
1952 - Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer (d. 2014)
1952 - Carolyn Pickles, British actress
1953 - Mary Steenburgen, American actress
1955 - John Grisham, American writer
1955 - Nancy Oliver, American playwright and television writer
1956 - Marques Johnson, American basketball player
1957 - Mehmet Ali Erbil, Turkish comedian, actor and talk show host
1958 - Marina Silva, Brazilian environmental activist and politician
1958 - Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)
1959 - Irina Kalinina, Soviet-Russian diver
1959 - Mauricio Macri, Argentine businessman and politician, President of Argentina
1960 - Benigno Aquino III, former President of the Philippines (d. 2021)
1960 - Alfred Gusenbauer, former Chancellor of Austria
1960 - Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 - Vince Neil, American singer
1961 - Bruce Timm, American character designer, animator and producer
1963 - Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer
1963 - Jon Hjartarson, Icelandic chess player
1964 - Trinny Woodall, British fashion designer, author and television personality
1966 - Bruno Labbadia, German footballer
1966 - Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer
1967 - Lorenzo Minotti, Italian footballer
1968 - Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
1969 - Mary McCormack, American actress
1971 - Andrus Veerpalu, Estonian cross-country skier
1971 - Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
1972 - Big Show, American wrestler and actor
1974 - Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, French disc jockey (Daft Punk)
1974 - Seth Green, American actor
1974 - Kimbo Slice, American mixed martial artist (d. 2016)
1974 - Ulises de la Cruz, Ecuadorean footballer
From 1976
1976 - Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
1976 - Adam Pialt, American baseball player
1976 - Abi Titmuss, English glamour model
1977 - Sverre Andreas Jakobsson, Icelandic handball player
1977 - Mathieu Turcotte, Canadian short-track speed skater
1977 - Dave Farrell, American musician
1979 - Aaron Cook, American baseball player
1979 - Josh Keaton, American actor and singer
1980 - Ralf Little, English actor and comedian
1981 - Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (d. 2015)
1982 - Liam McIntyre, Australian actor
1983 - Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
1983 - Olga Syahputra, Indonesian comedian (d. 2015)
1983 - Jim Verraros, American singer and actor
1984 - Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canadian alpine skier
1984 - Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
1985 - Jeremy Davis, American musician (Paramore)
1987 - Jessica Jerome, American ski jumper
1987 - Carolina Kostner, Italian ice skater
1987 - Francisco Javier Garcia, Spanish footballer
1988 - Nozomi Sasaki, Japanese model
1989 - Dani Harmer, English actress
1990 - Bethany Hamilton, American surfer
1990 - Klay Thompson, American basketball player
1991 - Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer, composer, songwriter and actor
1992 - Carl Jenkinson, English footballer
1994 - Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian jazz and pop singer-songwriter
1995 - Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
1995 - Jordan Todosey, Canadian actress
1996 - Kenedy, Brazilian footballer
1997 - Kathryn Newton, American actress
Deaths
Up to 1900
1204 - Alexius IV Angelus, Eastern Roman Emperor (b. 1182)
1250 - Robert I, Count of Artois (b. 1216)
1265 - Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
1296 - King Przemysl II of Poland (b. 1257)
1572 - Cho Shik, Korean scholar, politician, educator and poet (b. 1501)
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)
1640 - Murad IV, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1612)
1676 - Alexis of Russia (b. 1629)
1696 - Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
1709 - Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (b. 1658)
1725 - Peter I of Russia (b. 1672)
1749 - Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)
1750 - Aaron Hill, English writer (b. 1685)
1768 - George Dance the Elder, English architect (b. 1695)
1772 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (b. 1719)
1849 - France Preseren, Slovenian poet (b. 1800)
1849 - Francois Antoine Habeneck, French violinist (b. 1781)
1856 - Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist (b. 1773)
1887 - Charles Wilkes, American naval officer and polar explorer (b. 1798)
1901 2000
1918 - Louis Renault, French jurist (b. 1843)
1921 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (b. 1842)
1932 - Yordan Milanov, Bulgarian architect (b. 1867)
1935 - Max Liebermann, German painter (b. 1847)
1936 - Charles Curtis, Vice President of the United States (b. 1860)
1956 - Connie Mack, American baseball manager and executive (b. 1862)
1957 - Walther Bothe, German physicist (b. 1891)
1957 - John von Neumann, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
1960 - Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect and designer (b. 1880)
1963 - George Dolenz, American actor (b. 1908)
1965 - Wayne Estes, American basketball player (b. 1943)
1972 - Markos Vamvakaris, Greek musician and songwriter (b. 1905)
1975 - Robert Robinson, British chemist (b. 1886)
1978 - Sam H. Jones, Governor of Louisiana (b. 1897)
1979 - Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist (b. 1900)
1985 - William Lyons, British entrepreneur (b. 1901)
1990 - Del Shannon, American entertainer (b. 1934)
1992 - Stanley Armour Dunham, grandfather of Barack Obama (b. 1918)
1992 - Denny Wright, British jazz guitarist (b. 1924)
1994 - Raymond Scott, American composer (b. 1908)
1994 - Ken G. Hall, Australian movie director and producer (b. 1901)
1998 - Halldor Laxness, Icelandic writer (b. 1902)
1998 - Enoch Powell, British politician (b. 1912)
1998 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and writer (b. 1932)
1999 - Iris Murdoch, Irish writer (b. 1919)
From 2001
2001 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian movie director and writer (b. 1920)
2002 - Ong Teng Cheong Sing, President of Singapore (b. 1936)
2005 - Keith Knudsen, American drummer and singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
2006 - Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
2007 - Anna Nicole Smith, American actress and model (b. 1967)
2009 - Marian Cozma, Romanian handball player (b. 1982)
2010 - John Murtha, American politician (b. 1932)
2011 - Cesare Rubini, Italian water polo player, basketball player and coach (b. 1923)
2013 - Giovanni Cheli, Italian cardinal (b. 1918)
2014 - Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (b. 1988)
2014 - Els Borst, Dutch politician (b. 1932)
2015 - Muzeyyen Senar, Turkish singer (b. 1918)
2015 - Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde, Finnish parapsychologist (b. 1939)
2016 - Amelia Bence, Argentine actress (b. 1914)
2016 - Nida Fazli, Indian poet (b. 1937)
2016 - Charles C. Campbell, American general (b. 1948)
2016 - Johnny Duncan, American actor (b. 1923)
2016 - August P. Mardesich, American politician (b. 1920)
2016 - Viggo Rivad, Danish photographer (b. 1922)
2016 - Violette Verdy, French ballerina (b. 1933)
2017 - Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, English socialite and television personality (b. 1971)
2017 - Peter Mansfield, English physicist (b. 1933)
2017 - Brendan McGahon, Irish politician (b. 1936)
2017 - Alan Simpson, English comedy scriptwriter (b. 1929)
2017 - Steve Sumner, English-New Zealand footballer (b. 1955)
2017 - Mikhail Tolstykh, Ukrainian military commander (b. 1980)
2017 - Mohamud Muse Hersi, Somali politician, President of Puntland (b. 1937)
2017 - Tom Raworth, British poet and visual artist (b. 1938)
2018 - John Martinkovic, American football player (b. 1927)
2018 - Ebony Reigns, Ghanaian singer (b. 1997)
2018 - Lovebug Starski, American rapper and DJ (b. 1960)
Observances
Preseren Day (Slovenia)
February 08