February 8 facts for kids

February 8th is a day filled with interesting events throughout history, from ancient empires to modern times. Many famous people were also born or passed away on this date. Let's explore some of the important moments and notable figures connected to February 8th!

Historical Events

Ancient Times and Middle Ages

• 421 – Constantius III became a co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire. This meant he shared power with another emperor.
• 1238 – The powerful Mongols burned the Russian city of Vladimir.
• 1250 – During the Seventh Crusade, Christian soldiers fought against Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
• 1347 – A civil war in the Byzantine Empire ended with a peace agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
• 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots was executed. She was suspected of being involved in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

1600s to 1900s

• 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, tried to rebel against Queen Elizabeth I, but he was unsuccessful.
• 1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the oldest colleges in the Thirteen Colonies, received its official charter from King William III and Queen Mary II.
• 1807 – Napoleon's forces defeated the Russian and Prussian armies at the Battle of Eylau.
• 1817 – An army led by Juan Gregorio de las Heras crossed the Andes mountains to help José de San Martín free Chile from Spanish rule.
• 1837 – Richard Johnson became the first and only Vice President of the United States to be chosen by the Senate.
• 1865 – The state of Delaware refused to approve the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would make slavery illegal. It was later approved by the whole country.
• 1879 – Sandford Fleming first suggested the idea of Universal Standard Time at a meeting in Canada.
• 1879 – England's cricket team was attacked by a crowd during a match in Sydney, Australia.
• 1885 – The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii.
• 1887 – The Dawes Act was passed in the U.S. This law allowed the President to divide Native American tribal land into smaller pieces for individuals.

1900s to Today

• 1904 – Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on Russian-controlled Port Arthur, starting the Russo-Japanese War.
• 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America organization was officially started by William D. Boyce.
• 1915 – The famous film The Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles.
• 1924 – The first state execution in the U.S. using a gas chamber took place in Nevada.
• 1942 – During World War II, Japan invaded Singapore.
• 1945 – In World War II, British and Canadian forces began Operation Veritable to take control of land between the Maas and Rhine rivers.
• 1950 – The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, was created.
• 1960 – Queen Elizabeth II announced that her descendants would use the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
• 1960 – The Hollywood Walk of Fame, where stars honor famous people, was created.
• 1968 – During the American civil rights movement, an attack on Black students protesting racial segregation at South Carolina State University left three people dead and many injured.
• 1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opened for the first time.
• 1974 – The crew of Skylab 4, the last mission to visit the American space station Skylab, returned to Earth after 84 days in space.
• 1983 – A huge dust storm hit Melbourne, Australia, during a severe drought.
• 1986 – A train crash near Hinton, Alberta, Canada, killed 23 people, making it one of Canada's worst rail accidents.
• 2013 – A severe blizzard caused at least 18 deaths and left many without power in the northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
• 2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia, killed 15 pilgrims and injured many others.

Famous Birthdays

Born Before 1900

• 1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal, a Portuguese king.
• 1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor.
• 1591 – Guercino, a famous Italian painter.
• 1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, a Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist known for his work on fluid dynamics.
• 1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi, a Japanese emperor.
• 1741 – André Grétry, a Belgian-French composer.
• 1819 – John Ruskin, an English author and critic.
• 1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, an American general during the Civil War.
• 1828 – Jules Verne, a French author famous for adventure novels like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
• 1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who created the first version of the periodic table of elements.
• 1850 – Kate Chopin, an American author.
• 1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, a German painter.
• 1878 – Martin Buber, an Austrian-Israeli philosopher.
• 1880 – Franz Marc, a German painter.
• 1888 – Edith Evans, an English actress.
• 1897 – Zakir Husain, the third president of India.

Born After 1900

• 1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia.
• 1906 – Chester Carlson, an American physicist who invented Xerography (the process used in photocopiers).
• 1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, an Australian philanthropist.
• 1914 – Bill Finger, an American author and screenwriter who helped create Batman.
• 1921 – Lana Turner, a famous American actress.
• 1922 – Audrey Meadows, an American actress.
• 1925 – Jack Lemmon, a well-known American actor.
• 1931 – James Dean, an iconic American actor.
• 1932 – John Williams, a famous American composer and conductor, known for movie scores like Star Wars and Jurassic Park.
• 1941 – Nick Nolte, an American actor.
• 1943 – Valerie Thomas, an American scientist and inventor.
• 1944 – Sebastião Salgado, a Brazilian photographer.
• 1949 – Brooke Adams, an American actress.
• 1953 – Mary Steenburgen, an American actress.
• 1955 – John Grisham, an American lawyer and author of popular thrillers.
• 1959 – Mauricio Macri, a former President of Argentina.
• 1960 – Benigno Aquino III, a former President of the Philippines.
• 1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, a famous Bulgarian footballer.
• 1968 – Gary Coleman, an American actor.
• 1974 – Seth Green, an American actor and comedian.
• 1977 – Dave Farrell, an American musician (Linkin Park).
• 1985 – Jeremy Davis, an American bass player (Paramore).
• 1986 – Anderson .Paak, an American singer and rapper.
• 1990 – Bethany Hamilton, an American surfer who survived a shark attack.
• 1990 – Klay Thompson, an American basketball player.
• 1994 – Joshua Kimmich, a German footballer.
• 1997 – Kathryn Newton, an American actress.
• 1998 – Rui Hachimura, a Japanese basketball player.

Notable Deaths

Passed Away Before 1900

• 1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, a Byzantine emperor.
• 1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois, a French nobleman.
• 1265 – Hulagu Khan, a Mongol ruler.
• 1599 – Robert Rollock, a Scottish theologian.
• 1676 – Alexis of Russia, a Russian Tsar.
• 1696 – Ivan V of Russia, a Russian Tsar.
• 1725 – Peter the Great, a famous Russian emperor who modernized Russia.
• 1849 – France Prešeren, a Slovenian poet.

Passed Away After 1900

• 1921 – Peter Kropotkin, a Russian zoologist and geographer.
• 1936 – Charles Curtis, a former Vice President of the United States.
• 1956 – Connie Mack, a legendary American baseball player and manager.
• 1957 – Walther Bothe, a German physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1957 – John von Neumann, a Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist who made important contributions to computers.
• 1960 – Giles Gilbert Scott, an English architect who designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral.
• 1975 – Robert Robinson, an English chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1979 – Dennis Gabor, a Hungarian-English physicist and Nobel Prize winner, known for inventing holography.
• 1990 – Del Shannon, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1998 – Halldór Laxness, an Icelandic author and Nobel Prize winner in Literature.
• 1999 – Iris Murdoch, an Irish-born British novelist and philosopher.
• 2000 – Derrick Thomas, an American football player.
• 2002 – Ong Teng Cheong, a former President of Singapore.
• 2007 – Anna Nicole Smith, an American model and actress.
• 2017 – Peter Mansfield, an English physicist and Nobel Prize winner, known for his work on MRI.
• 2020 – Robert Conrad, an American actor.
• 2021 – Mary Wilson, an American singer (The Supremes).

Holidays and Observances

• Christian feast day:

* Cuthmann of Steyning * Gerolamo Emiliani * Josephine Bakhita

• Parinirvana Day (some Mahayana Buddhism traditions; most celebrate on February 15)
• Prešeren Day (Slovenia) – A cultural holiday in Slovenia honoring the poet France Prešeren.
• Propose Day (India) – A day when people propose marriage or express their love.