On Feb. 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.
On this date:
In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1692, a doctor in Massachusetts Bay Colony claims two village girls may be bewitched, a charge that set off the Salem witch trials.
In 1693, a charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the Virginia Colony.
In 1725, Peter the Great, emperor of Russia, died and was succeeded by his wife, Catherine.
In 1837, the Senate selected the vice president of the United States, choosing Richard Mentor Johnson after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.
In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War, a conflict over control of Manchuria and Korea, began as Japanese forces attacked Port Arthur.
In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.
In 1924, the first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Gee Jon, a Chinese immigrant convicted of murder, was put to death.
In 1940, Nazis shot every 10th person in two Polish villages near Warsaw in reprisal for the deaths of two German soldiers.
In 1968, three college students were killed in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C. during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.
In 1974, the last three-man crew of the Skylab space station returned to Earth after spending 84 days in space.
In 1978, the deliberations of the Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time as members opened debate on the Panama Canal treaties.
In 1989, 144 people were killed when an American-chartered Boeing 707 filled with Italian tourists slammed into a fog-covered mountain in the Azores.
In 1993, General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the program "Dateline NBC" had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires. (NBC settled the lawsuit the following day.)
In 1999, the Senate heard closing arguments at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, with House prosecutors challenging senators to "cleanse the office" and the president's attorney dismissing the case as one of partisan retribution. Jordan's King Hussein was laid to rest during a five-hour funeral in Amman attended by dignitaries from all over the world, including President Clinton and former U. S. presidents George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford.
In 2000, Internet vandals continued an unprecedented campaign of electronic assaults against the biggest names in cyberspace, disrupting access for consumers to popular Web sites including eBay, Amazon.com and CNN.com. Republican George W. Bush won the Delaware presidential primary.
In 2004, President George W. Bush denied marching America into war under false pretenses and said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" the US-led invasion was necessary because Saddam Hussein could have developed a nuclear weapon. The National Football Conference won the Pro Bowl, defeating the American Conference 55-52. In the National Hockey League All-Star Game, the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 6-4.
In 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (ah-ree-EL' shah-ROHN') and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (mahk-MOOD' ah-BAHS') announced a cease-fire at a summit in Egypt. An earlier-than-usual Mardi Gras festival opened in New Orleans with sparse crowds. Longtime CBS newsman George Herman died in Washington D.C. at age 85.
In 2006, U.S. agents joined an investigation into a rash of arson incidents that damaged nine rural Alabama churches in five days. Also in 2006, police opened fire on an Afghanistan mob protesting a series of published cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammed, killing four protesters and raising the death toll there to 11. And, an eight-year federal study said a low-fat diet doesn't decrease the risk of heart disease, cancer or stroke.
In 2008, Scotland Yard investigators concluded that Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto died on Dec. 27, 2007, as the result of a bomb blast, not a gunshot. A man at odds with city officials went on a shooting rampage at a Kirkwood, Mo., City Council meeting, killing five people, police said. Officers shot and killed the suspect, identified as Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, an independent contractor. Also in 2008, an explosion rocked the Imperial Sugar Co. facility at Fort Wentworth, Ga., near Savannah. Four people were killed and about 30 others were injured. Latina Williams, a 23-year-old nursing student at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, shot and killed two other students and then herself. Novelist Phyllis A. Whitney died in Charlottesville, Va., at age 104.
In 2009, U.S. spy chiefs are reported to have warned President Barack Obama that British-born Islamic extremists, with usually easier access through a visa waiver program, are the biggest terror threat to the United States. The NFC rallied to a 30-21 victory over the AFC in the Pro Bowl.
Today's Birthdays: Composer-conductor John Williams is 78. Former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel is 70. Actor Nick Nolte is 69. Comedian Robert Klein is 68. Actor-rock musician Creed Bratton is 67. Singer Ron Tyson is 62. Actress Brooke Adams is 61. Actress Mary Steenburgen is 57. Author John Grisham is 55. Actor Henry Czerny is 51. Rock singer Vince Neil (Motley Crue) is 49. Rock singer-musician Sammy Llanas (YAH'-nus) (The BoDeans) is 49. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson is 48. Actor Gary Coleman is 42. Actress Mary McCormack is 41. Rock musician Keith Nelson (Buckcherry) is 41. Retired NBA player Alonzo Mourning is 40. Actor Seth Green is 36. Actor Josh Morrow is 36. Rock musician Phoenix (Linkin Park) is 33. Rock musician Jeremy Davis (Paramore) is 25. Rock musician Max Grahn (Carolina Liar) is 22. Actor Ryan Pinkston is 22. Actress Karle Warren ("Judging Amy") is 18.
Those Born On This Date Include: Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman (1820); pioneer science fiction writer Jules Verne (1828); Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who devised the periodic table, (1834); actress Edith Evans (1888); film director King Vidor (1894); Chester Carlson, inventor of the Xerox copying process, (1906); actors Lana Turner (1920), Audrey Meadows (1922), Jack Lemmon (1925) and James Dean (1931).
Show Biz Lice For 8 February:
In 1915, the motion picture "The Birth of a Nation," directed by D.W. Griffith, premiered in Los Angeles.
In 1960, work began on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.
In 1969, the "supergroup" Blind Faith was formed, featuring Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood.
In 1971, the Bob Dylan film "Eat The Document" was shown at the New York Academy of Music. Dylan had wanted the documentary to appear on TV, but it didn't until ten years later.
In 1973, Carly Simon received a gold record for the single "You're So Vain."
In 1990, singer Del Shannon was found shot to death at his home in Santa Clarita, Calif. Police found a rifle near his body, suggesting he'd committed suicide. His biggest hits were "Runaway" and "Hats Off To Larry." Also in 1990, CBS News suspended "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney for racial remarks he'd allegedly made about blacks in the gay magazine The Advocate. Rooney denied the quotes.
In 2004, at the Grammy Awards, rap funksters OutKast won album of the year for "Speakerboxxx-The Love Below"; Beyonce' took home five trophies, tying the record for female performers held by Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keyes and Norah Jones. (Beyonce broke the record by winning six Grammys in 2010.)
In 2006, Sly and the Family Stone reunited for a performance at the Grammys. Stone had not performed live in 19 years.
In 2007, model, actress and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died in Florida at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.
In 2009, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss won five Grammys, including album of the year, for "Raising Sand." R&B singer Chris Brown was arrested on suspicion of making a criminal threat (he was later sentenced to five years of probation for beating his longtime girlfriend, singer Rihanna).
Thought for Today: "Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of the year." — Franklin P. Adams, American journalist (1881-1960).
No comments:
Post a Comment