Born on this day 8th February
1577 Robert Burton
1612 Samuel Butler
1804 Richard Lemon Lander
1807 Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins
1819 John Ruskin
1828 Jules Verne
1847 Hugh Price Hughes
1888 Dame Edith Evans
1925 Jack Lemmon
1928 Sir Stanley Baker
1936 Clive Swift
1931 James Dean
1932 Lady Howe
1932 John Williams
1944 Roger Lloyd-Pack
1941 Nick Nolte
1955 John Grisham
1964 Trinny Woodall
1976 Abi Titmus
1980 Ralf Little
1980 Stephen Wright
1989 Dani Harmer

Died on this day
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots
1725 Peter the Great
1990 Del Shannon
1998 Enoch Powell
1999 Dame Iris Murdoch

Music

1964 The Beatles debuted on the album charts with ‘Meet The Beatles’.

1974 The Who appeared in Lille at the start of a French tour.

1986 Billy Ocean reached No1 in the UK with ‘When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going’.

Sport

1984 The 14th Winter Olympics began in Sarajevo.

1992 Manchester United drew 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday to move a single point above Leeds United at the top of the first division.

People & Showbiz

1587 Mary, Queen of Scots was executed at suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

1952 Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the UK.

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

1988 The Pet Shop Boys were named Best British Band of the Year in the BPI awards, with George Michael winning Best Male singer and Alison Moyet Best Female singer. Rick Astley won the Best Single with Never Give You Up’ and Sting won Best Album with ‘Nothing Like The Sun’.

1988 Esther Rantzen was named Woman of the Year.

General Events

1622 King James I of England disbands the English Parliament.

1855 The Devil’s Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.

1924 The gas chamber was used for the first time in the US to execute Gee Jon, a member of a Chinese gang, in the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.

1969 The Boeing 747 jumbo jet, the world’s biggest commercial passenger plane, made its maiden flight.

1971 The NASDAQ stock market index debuts.

1974 US astronauts returned from Skylab after 84 days in orbit, recording man’s longest flight in space.

1988 It was reported that baked beans were more likely to reduce the risk of heart disease than any other high fibre vegetable.