February 08
1587
Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded.
1693
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., received its charter, becoming the second institution of higher learning in the United States.
1870
The National Weather Service was established under the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
1904
The Russo-Japanese war began when the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in northeast China.
1915
D. W. Griffith’s controversial epic, The Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles.
1924
The gas chamber was used for the first time as a method of execution in the United States. Gangster Gee Jon was put to death at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.
1960
The payola (pay for broadcast airplay) hearings opened in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dick Clark would testify in April.
1980
President Jimmy Carter revealed his plan to reinstate selective service draft registration.
Birthdays
William Tecumseh Sherman
1820–1891, American General.
Jules Verne
novelist (1828)
Kate Chopin
author (1851)
Martin Buber
philosopher (1878)
Dame Edith Evans
actress (1888)
Elizabeth Bishop
poet (1911)
Lana Turner
actress (1920)
Jack Lemmon
actor (1925)
James Dean
actor (1931)
John Williams
composer, conductor (1932)
Nick Nolte
actor (1940)
John Grisham
novelist (1955)
Gary Coleman
actor (1968)