February 8

Scott Winters February 8, 2024 1 Comment

A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1692 – A doctor in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony suggested that two girls in the family of the village minister may be suffering from bewitchment, leading to the Salem witch trials.

1836 – In Michigan, the “Village of Kent” was recorded in the Kalamazoo Register. On February 6, 1844 it was renamed “Grand Rapids”.

1861 – The Confederate States of America was formed.

1896 – The Western Conference was formed by representatives of Midwestern universities. The group changed its name to the Big 10 Conference.

1910 – The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated by William D. Boyce.

1922 – The White House began using radio after President Warren Harding had it installed.

1936 – The first National Football League draft was held. Jay Berwanger was the first to be selected, by the Philadelphia Eagles.

1960 – The first eight brass star plaques were installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The first star was for director Stanley Kramer.

1963 – The Kennedy administration prohibited travel to Cuba and made financial and commercial transactions with Cuba illegal for U.S. citizens.

1963 – Lamar Hunt, owner of the American Football League franchise in Dallas, TX, moved the operation to Kansas City and names the new team the Chiefs.

1968 – The movie “Planet of the Apes” premiered.

1969 – George Harrison’s tonsils were removed at London’s University College Hospital. The tonsils were destroyed so they could not be sold.

1969 – The last issue of the “Saturday Evening Post” was published. It was revived in 1971 as a quarterly publication and later a 6 times a year publication.

1971 – The Nasdaq stock-market index opened for the first time.

1973 – U.S. Senate leaders named seven members of a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal.

1974 – After 84 days in space, the three-man crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit the American Space Station Skylab, returned to Earth.

1976 – The Martin Scorsese film “Taxi Driver”, starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, & Cybill Shepherd, premiered in theaters. The film was written by Paul Schrader, who was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI.

1978 – Senate deliberations were broadcast on radio for the first time. The subject was the Panama Canal treaties.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter announced a plan to re-introduce draft registration.

1985 – Stroh’s Brewery closed its Detroit, MI, plant.

1985 – The television show “The Dukes of Hazzard” ended its 6-1/2 year run on CBS.

1993 – General Motors sued NBC, alleging that the news program “Dateline NBC” had rigged two car-truck crashes to show that some GM pickups were prone to fires if hit in certain places. NBC settled the suit the following day.

1996 – Congress passed the Communications Decency Act.

1998 – In the first female ice hockey game in Olympic history Finland beat Sweden 6-0.

2001 – Producers of “Baywatch” announced that the show would end in May. The series launched the careers of Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth and Carmen Electra.

2010 – MTV dropped the “Music Television” moniker from its logo.

2012 – Elizabeth Taylor’s collection of artworks by Vincent Van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, and Edgar Degas sold for over $17 million at Christie’s in London.

2016 – Mexico’s president announced the recapture of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

2019 – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos accused “The National Enquirer” and its owner, American Media Inc., of blackmail over private messages detailing an extramarital affair.

BIRTHDAYS:

John Williams – 92 years old (1932) – Composer, conductor (Themes for “Jaws”, “Star Wars”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “Superman”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “E.T.”, “Schindler’s List”)

Ted Koppel – 84 years old (1940) – Broadcast journalist (TV’s “Nightline”)

Nick Nolte – 83 years old (1941) – Actor (“The Prince of Tides”, “Affliction”, “Warrior”, “Gangster Squad”, “Tropic Thunder”, “Cape Fear”, “Down and Out in Beverly Hills”, “48 Hours”, “North Dallas Forty”, “Who’ll Stop the Rain”)

Robert Klein – 82 years old (1942) – Comedian, actor (“Mixed Nuts”, “The Owl and the Pussycat”)

Creed Bratton – 81 years old (1943) – Actor, musician (The Grass Roots, TV’s “The Office”)

Brooke Adams – 75 years old (1949) – Actress (“Days of Heaven”, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, “Cuba”, “The Dead Zone”, “Key Exchange”, “Gas Food Lodging”)

Mary Steenburgen – 71 years old (1953) – Actress (“Melvin and Howard”, “Did You Hear About the Morgans?”, “The Proposal”, “Four Christmases”, “Step Brothers”, “Back to the Future Part III”, “Parenthood”, “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy”, “Ragtime”, TV’s “Justified”, “Joan of Arcadia”)

John Grisham – 69 years old (1955) – Novelist (“The Firm”, “The Pelican Brief”, “The Client”)

Vince Neil – 63 years old (1961) – Singer (Mötley Crüe)

Mary McCormack – 55 years old (1969) – Actress (TV’s “Murder One”, “The West Wing”, “In Plain Sight”, movies “Private Parts”, “Deep Impact”, “True Crime”, “High Heels and Low Lifes”, “K-PAX”, “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star”, “Right at Your Door”, “1408”)

Alonzo Mourning – 54 years old (1970) – Basketball player

Seth Green – 50 years old (1974) – Actor (The “Austin Powers” movies, “Sex Drive”, “The Italian Job”, “My Stepmother Is an Alien”, TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Family Guy”, “Dads”)