February 8

February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 326 days remain until the end of the year (327 in leap years).

Events

Pre-1600

• 421 – Constantius III becomes co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
• 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
• 1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
• 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

1601–1900

• 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, unsuccessfully rebels against Queen Elizabeth I.
• 1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the second-oldest institution of higher education in the Thirteen Colonies, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
• 1807 – Napoleon defeats the coalition forces of Russian General Bennigsen and Prussian General L'Estocq at the Battle of Eylau.
• 1817 – An army led by Grand Marshal Las Heras crosses the Andes to join San Martín in the liberation of Chile from Spain.
• 1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first and only Vice President of the United States chosen by the Senate.
• 1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, delaying the criminalization of slavery until the amendment's national adoption on December 6, 1865. The amendment is ultimately ratified by Delaware on February 12, 1901, the 92nd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.
• 1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes the adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
• 1879 – England's cricket team, led by Lord Harris, is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
• 1885 – The first Japanese immigrants arrive in Hawaii.
• 1887 – The Dawes Act is enacted, authorizing the U.S. President to divide Native American tribal land into individual allotments.

1901–present

• 1904 – Japanese forces launch a surprise attack against Russian-controlled Port Arthur, marking the start of the Russo-Japanese war.
• 1904 – The Dutch Colonial Army's Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch a military campaign in the Dutch East Indies' Northern Sumatra region, leading to the deaths of thousands of civilians.
• 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
• 1915 – D. W. Griffith's controversial landmark film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.
• 1924 – The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Republican forces establish the Interprovincial Council of Santander, Palencia and Burgos in Cantabria.
• 1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
• 1945 – World War II: British and Canadian forces commence Operation Veritable to occupy land between the Maas and Rhine rivers.
• 1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet POWs from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde, Usedom.
• 1946 – The People's Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North and replaced by the communist-controlled Provisional People's Committee of North Korea.
• 1950 – The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
• 1960 – Queen Elizabeth II issues an Order-in-Council, proclaiming the House of Windsor and declaring that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
• 1960 – The Hollywood Walk of Fame is founded.
• 1962 – Nine protestors are killed at Charonne station, Paris, by French police under the command of ex-Vichy official and Parisian Prefect of Police Maurice Papon.
• 1963 – The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba'ath Party.
• 1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing all 84 people onboard.
• 1968 – American civil rights movement: An attack on Black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation leaves three dead and 28 injured in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
• 1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.
• 1971 – South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration into the country.
• 1974 – The crew of Skylab 4, the last mission to visit the American space station Skylab, returns to Earth after 84 days in space.
• 1983 – A dust storm hits Melbourne, resulting in the worst drought on record and severe weather conditions in the city.
• 1983 – Irish race horse Shergar is stolen and allegedly killed by gunmen in a ransom attempt by the PIRA.
• 1986 – Twenty-three people are killed when a VIA Rail passenger train collides with a Canadian National freight train near the town of Hinton, Alberta, making it one of the worst rail accidents in Canada.
• 1989 – Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport in the Azores, killing all 144 passengers on board.
• 1993 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 and an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 collide mid-air near Qods, Iran, killing all 133 people onboard both aircraft.
• 2010 – Over 2 miles (3.2 km) of road are buried after a storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of avalanches, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 others.
• 2013 – A blizzard kills at least 18 and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
• 2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia, kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured.

Births

Pre-1600

• 120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (d. ~175)
• 412 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (d. ~485)
• 882 – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt (d. 946)
• 1191 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (d. 1246)
• 1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal, Portuguese king (d. 1357)
• 1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1453)
• 1487 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, German duke (d. 1550)
• 1514 – Daniele Barbaro, Venetian churchman, diplomat and scholar (d. 1570)
• 1552 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
• 1577 – Robert Burton, English priest, physician, and scholar (d. 1640)
• 1591 – Guercino, Italian painter (d. 1666)

1601–1900

• 1685 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian and author (d. 1770)
• 1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1782)
• 1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi, Japanese emperor (d. 1750)
• 1741 – André Grétry, Belgian-French organist and composer (d. 1813)
• 1762 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1820)
• 1764 – Joseph Leopold Eybler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1846)
• 1792 – Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, German princess (d. 1873)
• 1798 – Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia, Russian grand duke (d. 1849)
• 1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and zoologist (d. 1889)
• 1817 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (d. 1872)
• 1819 – John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1900)
• 1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (d. 1891)
• 1822 – Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (d. 1894)
• 1825 – Henry Walter Bates, English geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1892)
• 1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1905)
• 1829 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1902)
• 1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1907)
• 1850 – Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)
• 1860 – Adella Brown Bailey, American politician and suffragist (d. 1937)
• 1866 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (d. 1947)
• 1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (d. 1907)
• 1878 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and academic (d. 1965)
• 1880 – Franz Marc, German soldier and painter (d. 1916)
• 1880 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor and director (d. 1931)
• 1882 – Thomas Selfridge, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1908)
• 1883 – Isak Penttala, Finnish politician (d. 1955)
• 1883 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and political scientist (d. 1950)
• 1884 – Snowy Baker, Australian boxer, rugby player, and actor (d. 1953)
• 1886 – Charlie Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1888 – Edith Evans, English actress (d. 1976)
• 1890 – Claro M. Recto, Filipino lawyer, jurist, and politician (d. 1960)
• 1893 – Ba Maw, Burmese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1977)
• 1894 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
• 1897 – Zakir Husain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd president of India (d. 1969)
• 1899 – Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)

1901–present

• 1902 – Demchugdongrub, Mongol prince and politician, head of state of Mengjiang (d. 1966)
• 1903 – Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1977)
• 1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
• 1906 – Chester Carlson, American physicist and lawyer, invented Xerography (d. 1968)
• 1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (d. 2012)
• 1911 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and author (d. 1979)
• 1913 – Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
• 1913 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (d. 1974)
• 1915 – Georges Guétary, Egyptian-French singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1997)
• 1918 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Barney Danson, Canadian colonel and politician, 21st Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Nexhmije Hoxha, Albanian politician (d. 2020)
• 1921 – Balram Singh Rai, Guyanese politician, 1st Minister of Home Affairs (d. 2022)
• 1921 – Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1922 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (d. 1996)
• 1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Neal Cassady, American author and poet (d. 1968)
• 1926 – Birgitte Reimer, Danish film actress (d. 2021)
• 1930 – Alejandro Rey, Argentinian-American actor and director (d. 1987)
• 1931 – James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
• 1932 – Cliff Allison, English racing driver and businessman (d. 2005)
• 1932 – John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1933 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
• 1937 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
• 1937 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
• 1939 – Jose Maria Sison, Filipino activist and theorist (d. 2022)
• 1940 – Sophie Lihau-Kanza, Congolese politician (d. 1999)
• 1940 – Ted Koppel, English-American journalist
• 1941 – Nick Nolte, American actor and producer
• 1941 – Tom Rush, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1941 – Jagjit Singh, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Robert Klein, American comedian, actor, and singer
• 1942 – Terry Melcher, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
• 1943 – Creed Bratton, American actor and musician
• 1943 – Valerie Thomas, American scientist and inventor
• 1944 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (d. 2014)
• 1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian photographer and journalist
• 1948 – Dan Seals, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
• 1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1949 – Niels Arestrup, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1952 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Mary Steenburgen, American actress
• 1955 – John Grisham, American lawyer and author
• 1955 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (d. 2018)
• 1956 – Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1957 – Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
• 1958 – Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
• 1958 – Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
• 1959 – Henry Czerny, Canadian actor
• 1959 – Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
• 1959 – Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
• 1959 – Mauricio Macri, Argentinian businessman and politician, President of Argentina
• 1960 – Benigno Aquino III, Filipino politician, 15th President of the Philippines (d. 2021)
• 1960 – Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Vince Neil, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1963 – Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer and politician
• 1964 – Arlie Petters, Belizean-American mathematical physicist and academic
• 1964 – Santosh Sivan, Indian director, cinematographer, producer, and actor
• 1964 – Trinny Woodall, English fashion designer and author
• 1966 – Kirk Muller, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
• 1967 – Michael Ansley, American basketball player
• 1968 – Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1969 – Pauly Fuemana, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1969 – Mary Robinette Kowal, American puppeteer and author
• 1969 – Mary McCormack, American actress and producer
• 1970 – Stephanie Courtney, American actress and comedian
• 1970 – John Filan, Australian footballer and coach
• 1970 – Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player and executive
• 1971 – Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
• 1971 – Mika Karppinen, Swedish-Finnish drummer and songwriter
• 1971 – Susan Misner, American actress
• 1972 – Big Show, American wrestler and actor
• 1973 – Michelle Brogan, Australian basketball player
• 1974 – Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, French musician, singer, composer, and record producer
• 1974 – Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer, and director
• 1974 – Joshua Morrow, American actor
• 1974 – Kimbo Slice, Bahamian-American mixed martial artist (d. 2016)
• 1976 – Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 1976 – Nicolas Vouilloz, French rally driver and mountain biker
• 1977 – Dave Farrell, American musician and songwriter
• 1977 – Roman Kostomarov, Russian ice dancer
• 1978 – Ranveer Brar, Indian chef, author, restauranteur, and television personality
• 1978 – Mick de Brenni, Australian politician
• 1979 – Aaron Cook, American baseball player
• 1980 – William Jackson Harper, American actor
• 1981 – Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (d. 2015)
• 1981 – Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
• 1981 – Jim Parrack, American actor
• 1983 – Jermaine Anderson, Canadian basketball player
• 1983 – Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
• 1984 – Sean Bergenheim, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1984 – Cecily Strong, American actress
• 1984 – Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
• 1985 – Petra Cetkovská, Czech tennis player
• 1985 – Jeremy Davis, American bass player and songwriter
• 1985 – Félix Pie, Dominican baseball player
• 1985 – Brian Randle, American basketball player and coach
• 1986 – Anderson .Paak, American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer
• 1987 – Javi García, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Carolina Kostner, Italian figure skater
• 1988 – Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1989 – Zac Guildford, New Zealand rugby player
• 1989 – JaJuan Johnson, American basketball player
• 1989 – Julio Jones, American football player
• 1989 – Brendan Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Courtney Vandersloot, American-Hungarian basketball player
• 1990 – Bethany Hamilton, American surfer
• 1990 – Klay Thompson, American basketball player
• 1991 – Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer
• 1992 – Bruno Martins Indi, Portuguese-Dutch footballer
• 1994 – Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
• 1994 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1995 – Gabriel Deck, Argentine basketball player
• 1995 – Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
• 1996 – Kenedy, Brazilian footballer
• 1996 – Leighton Vander Esch, American football player
• 1997 – Kathryn Newton, American actress
• 1998 – Rui Hachimura, Japanese basketball player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 538 – Severus of Antioch, patriarch of Antioch (b. 465)
• 1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1182)
• 1229 – Ali ibn Hanzala, sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma'ilism
• 1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois (b. 1216)
• 1250 – William II Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, English martyr (b. 1212)
• 1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
• 1285 – Theodoric of Landsberg (b. 1242)
• 1296 – Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)
• 1314 – Helen of Anjou, queen of Serbia (b. 1236)
• 1382 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (b. 1328)
• 1537 – Saint Gerolamo Emiliani, Italian humanitarian (b. 1481)
• 1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1555)

1601–1900

• 1676 – Alexis of Russia (b. 1629)
• 1696 – Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
• 1709 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1658)
• 1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (b. 1672)
• 1749 – Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)
• 1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (b. 1685)
• 1772 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (b. 1719)
• 1849 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (b. 1781)
• 1849 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (b. 1800)
• 1856 – Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist and academic (b. 1773)

1901–present

• 1907 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1854)
• 1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian philosopher and activist (b. 1854)
• 1915 – François Langelier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1838)
• 1921 – George Formby Sr, English actor and singer (b. 1876)
• 1921 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian zoologist, geographer, and philologist (b. 1842)
• 1928 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (b. 1857)
• 1932 – Yordan Milanov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (b. 1867)
• 1935 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1864)
• 1936 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (b. 1860)
• 1938 – Olga Taratuta, Ukrainian Jewish anarchist (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer and coach (b. 1866)
• 1956 – Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (b. 1862)
• 1957 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• 1957 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
• 1959 – William J. Donovan, American head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (b. 1883)
• 1960 – J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (b. 1911)
• 1960 – Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect and engineer, designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral (b. 1880)
• 1963 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (b. 1908)
• 1964 – Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist and author (b. 1888)
• 1970 – Cahir Healy, Northern Irish republican and politician (b. 1877)
• 1971 – Kanaiyalal Munshi, Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist (b. 1887)
• 1972 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1905)
• 1975 – Robert Robinson, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b.1886)
• 1977 – Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and theorist (b. 1901)
• 1979 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
• 1980 – Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
• 1982 – John Hay Whitney, American financier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1904)
• 1985 – William Lyons, English businessman, co-founded Swallow Sidecar Company (b. 1901)
• 1987 – Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1990 – Del Shannon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
• 1990 – Ernest Titterton, British Australian nuclear physicist (b. 1916)
• 1992 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (b. 1918)
• 1994 – Raymond Scott, American pianist and composer (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Del Ennis, American baseball player (b. 1925)
• 1997 – Corey Scott, American motorcycle stunt rider (b. 1968)
• 1998 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1998 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (b. 1912)
• 1998 – Julian Simon, American economist and author (b. 1932)
• 1999 – Iris Murdoch, Irish-born British novelist and philosopher (b. 1919)
• 2000 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Derrick Thomas, American football player (b. 1967)
• 2001 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Ong Teng Cheong, Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (b. 1936)
• 2004 – Julius Schwartz, American journalist and author (b. 1915)
• 2005 – A. Chandranehru, Sri Lankan sailor and politician (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Elton Dean, English saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1945)
• 2006 – Thierry Fortineau, French actor (b. 1953)
• 2006 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
• 2007 – Anna Nicole Smith, American model and actress (b. 1967)
• 2007 – Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Ruby Garrard Woodson, American educator and cultural historian (b. 1931)
• 2010 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (b. 1932)
• 2011 – Tony Malinosky, American baseball player and soldier (b. 1909)
• 2012 – Wando, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
• 2013 – Giovanni Cheli, Italian cardinal (b. 1918)
• 2013 – James DePreist, American conductor and educator (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Maureen Dragone, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (b. 1988)
• 2014 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde, Finnish physician and parapsychologist (b. 1939)
• 2016 – Amelia Bence, Argentine actress (b. 1914)
• 2016 – Nida Fazli, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2016 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1938)
• 2016 – Violette Verdy, French ballerina (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Peter Mansfield, English physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Rina Matsuno, Japanese idol singer (b. 1998)
• 2017 – Alan Simpson, English scriptwriter (b. 1929)
• 2020 – Robert Conrad, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2021 – Marty Schottenheimer, American football player and coach (b. 1943)
• 2021 – Mary Wilson, American singer (b. 1944)
• 2023 – Arto Heiskanen, Finnish professional hockey player (b. 1963)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Cuthmann of Steyning
  • Elffled of Whitby
  • Gerolamo Emiliani
  • Josephine Bakhita
  • Juventius of Pavia
  • Mengold of Huy
  • Stephen of Muret
  • February 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Parinirvana Day (some Mahayana Buddhism traditions; most celebrate on February 15)
• Prešeren Day (Slovenia)
• Propose Day (India)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on February 8