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421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

1555 - Laurence Saunders is led barefoot to his execution and burned at the stake.

1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots is executed.

1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed.

1622 - King James I of England disbands the English Parliament.

1692 - A doctor in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony declares that three teenage girls are under domination of Satan, leading to the Salem witch trials.

1693 - The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.

1726 - The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.

1807 - Battle of Eylau - Napoleon defeats Russians under General Benigssen.

1817 - Las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.

1837 - Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.

1849 - New Roman Republic established.

1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.

1867 - The Ausgleich results in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.

1879 - Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.

1887 - The Dawes Act authorized the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.

1900 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.

1904 - Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.

1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.

1915 - D.W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.

1918 - The Stars and Stripes newspaper publishes for the first time.

1922 - President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.

1924 - Death penalty: The first state execution using gas in the United States takes place in Nevada.

1936 - Jay Berwanger becomes the first person to be selected by a National Football League draft, by the Philadelphia Eagles.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Army encircles the troops of Paulus. The Germans surrender.

1943 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal - United States forces defeat Japanese troops.

1949 - Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary sentenced for treason.

1955 - The Government of Sindh abolished Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km²) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.

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".

1963 - Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.

1968 - American civil rights movement: A civil rights protest staged at a white-only bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina is broken-up by highway patrolmen leading to the deaths of three college students.

1969 - The last weekly issue of the Saturday Evening Post hits magazine stands.

1971 - The Nasdaq stock market index debuts.

1974 - After 84 days in space, the crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to Earth.

1974 - Military coup in Upper Volta.

1978 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.

1979 - Denis Sassou-Nguesso became the President of the Republic of the Congo for the first time.

1986 - 1984 Summer Olympics head of the LAPD bomb squad, Arleigh Mccree, and his partner Officer Ronald Ball of the Firearms and explosives unit were killed while trying to dismantle two pipe bombs when they responded to a call. McCree was recognized as one of the top explosive experts in the world.

1989 - An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain in Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal, killing 144.

1991 - Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract.

1993 - General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.

1996 - The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.

1996 - The massive Internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place.

1998 - First female ice hockey game in Olympic history: Finland beats Sweden 6-0.

2005 - Israel and Palestinians agree to cease-fire.

2006 - Palestinians attack Temporary International Presence in Hebron offices in Hebron; International observers end decade-long presence

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412 - Proclus, Greek philosopher (d. 487)

1191 - Yaroslav II of Russia (d. 1246)

1291 - King Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)

1487 - Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)

1552 - Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)

1577 - Robert Burton, English cleric and writer (d. 1640)

1586 - Jacob Praetorius, German composer (d. 1651)

1649 - Gabriel Daniel, French Jesuit historian (d. 1728)

1677 - Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (d. 1756)

1685 - Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian (d. 1770)

1700 - Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (d. 1782)

1720 - Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)

1804 - Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer (d. 1834)

1807 - Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist (d. 1889)

1819 - John Ruskin, English author (d. 1900)

1820 - William Tecumseh Sherman, American Union general (d. 1891)

1822 - Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist

1828 - Jules Verne, French author (d. 1905)

1834 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (d. 1907)

1847 - Hugh Price Hughes, English social reformer (d. 1902)

1851 - Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)

1878 - Martin Buber, German philosopher (d. 1965)

1880 - Franz Marc, German painter (d. 1916)

1883 - Joseph Alois Schumpeter, Austrian economist (d. 1950)

1886 - Charles Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)

1888 - Dame Edith Evans, British actress (d. 1976)

1890 - Claro M. Recto, Filipino nationalist (d. 1960)

1893 - Ba Maw, Burmese politician (d. 1977)

1894 - Ludwig Marcuse, German author and philosopher (d. 1971)

1895 - King Vidor, American film director (d. 1982)

1902 - Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (d. 1966)

1903 - Greta Keller, Austrian-born cabaret singer and actress (d. 1977)

1906 - Chester Carlson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1968)

1911 - Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (d. 1979)

1911 - Big Joe Turner, American singer (d. 1985)

1918 - Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)

1920 - Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)

1925 - Jack Lemmon, American actor and film director (d. 2001)

1926 - Neal Cassady, American writer (d. 1968)

1926 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (d. 1996)

1930 - Alejandro Rey, Argentine actor (d. 1987)

1931 - James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)

1932 - John Williams, American composer and conductor

1933 - Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano

1933 - Jack Larson, American actor

1937 - Manfred Krug, German actor

1940 - Ted Koppel, American journalist

1941 - Nick Nolte, American actor

1941 - Tom Rush, American singer and songwriter

1942 - Robert Klein, American comedian

1942 - Terry Melcher, American musician and record producer (d. 2004)

1943 - Pirzada Qasim, Pakistani poet and VC of Karachi University

1948 - John Ford Coley, American singer

1948 - Lynda Lyon Block, convicted murderer (d. 2002)

1949 - Brooke Adams, American actress

1950 - Dan Seals, American singer

1950 - Cristina Ferrare, American former supermodel and actress

1951 - Z'EV, American Text/Sound artist (born Stefan Weisser)

1953 - Mary Steenburgen, American actress

1953 - Roger Clavet, Quebecois politician

1955 - John Grisham, American writer

1960 - Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian hockey player

1961 - Vince Neil, American musician

1966 - Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer

1966 - Kirk Muller, Canadian hockey player

1968 - Gary Coleman, American actor

1968 - Claudette Pace, Maltese singer

1970 - Alonzo Mourning, NBA basketball player

1971 - Gas, H.I.M drum player

1971 - Andrus Veerpalu, Estonian cross-country skier

1971 - Paul Wight, American professional wrestler

1973 - Keith McDonald, baseball player

1974 - Seth Green, American actor

1974 - Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, French disc jockey (Daft Punk)

1974 - Ulises de la Cruz, Ecuadorian footballer

1974 - Jamey Carroll, Baseball player

1977 - Bridgette Kerkove, American actress

1977 - Dave Farrell, American musician (Linkin Park)

1977 - Yucef Merhi, Venezuelan artist

1979 - Aaron Cook, Baseball player

1982 - Eric Alexander, American football player

1983 - Jim Verraros, American singer

1988 - Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer

1995 - Jordan Todosey, Canadian actress

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1204 - Alexius IV Angelus, deposed Eastern Roman Emperor (b. circa 1182)

1250 - Robert I of Artois, French crusader (b. 1216).

1250 - William II Longespee

1265 - Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)

1296 - King Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)

1529 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer and diplomat (b. 1478)

1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)

1599 - Robert Rollock, Scottish educator

1623 - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (b. 1546)

1696 - Tsar Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)

1709 - Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (b. 1658)

1725 - Tsar Peter I of Russia (b. 1672)

1749 - Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)

1750 - Aaron Hill, English writer (b. 1685)

1768 - George Dance the Elder, English architect (b. 1695)

1772 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (b. 1719)

1849 - France Prešeren, Slovenian poet (b. 1800)

1849 - François Antoine Habeneck, French violinist (b. 1781)

1856 - Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist (b. 1773)

1907 - Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist (b. 1854)

1910 - Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist (b. 1854)

1921 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (b. 1842)

1929 - Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain (b. 1858)

1956 - Connie Mack, baseball manager and executive (b. 1862)

1957 - Walther Bothe, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)

1957 - John von Neumann, Hungarian-born mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)

1960 - Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect (b. 1880)

1963 - George Dolenz, American actor; father of Mickey Dolenz (b. 1908)

1964 - Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist (b. 1888)

1973 - Max Yasgur, American Woodstock Festival host (b. 1919)

1975 - Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)

1977 - Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist (b. 1901)

1982 - John Hay Whitney, American financier (b. 1904)

1984 - Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (b. 1903)

1985 - William Lyons, British automobile manufacturer (b. 1901)

1987 - Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (b. 1905)

1990 - Del Shannon, American entertainer (suicide) (b. 1934)

1992 - Denny Wright, British jazz guitarist (b. 1924)

1993 - N. Shanmugathasan, Sri Lankan communist leader

1994 - Raymond Scott, American composer (b. 1908)

1996 - Del Ennis, baseball player (b. 1925)

1998 - Halldór Laxness, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)

1998 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (b. 1932)

1999 - Iris Murdoch, Irish author (b. 1919)

2000 - Sid Abel, Canadian hockey player (b. 1918)

2000 - Derrick Thomas, American football player (b. 1967)

2001 - Ivo Caprino, Norwegian animated film director (b. 1920)

2002 - Joachim Hoffmann, German historian (b. 1930)

2002 - Ong Teng Cheong, President of Singapore (b. 1936)

2004 - Julius Schwartz, American comic book and science fiction editor (b. 1915)

2005 - Jimmy Smith, American jazz musician

2006 - Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (b. 1914)

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Slovenia - Prešeren Day, the Slovenian cultural holiday.

Nirvana Day - an annual Buddhist festival.

Boy Scouts of America - Scout Sunday; The Sunday preceding February 8 is designated as Scout Sunday and the following Saturday is designated as Scout Sabbath.

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Liturgical Feasts

Saint Jerome Emiliani.
Saint Juventius
Saint Mengold of Huy
Saint Jacoba (d.1239)