TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – FEB 8
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded in Fotheringhay Castle for her alleged part in the conspiracy to usurp Elizabeth I.
1861 Delegates from seceded states adopt a provisional Confederate Constitution.
1861 A Cheyenne delegation and some Arapaho leaders accepted a new settlement (Treaty of Fort Wise) with the U.S. Federal government. The deal ceded most of their land but secured a 600-square mile reservation and annuity payments.
1870 The National Weather Service was established under the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
1887 Congress passes the Dawes Act, which gives citizenship to Indians living apart from their tribe.
1904 In a surprise attack at Port Arthur, Korea, the Japanese disable seven Russian warships.
1910 The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated.
1915 “The Birth of a Nation” the first 12-reel film in America, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish and Mae Marsh, opens at Clune’s Auditorium in Los Angeles
1918 During World War I, “The Stars and Stripes” was published under orders from General John J. Pershing for the United States Army forces in France. It was published from February 8, 1918 to June 13, 1919.
1922 President Warren G. Harding has a radio installed in the White House signaling it’s increased use, acceptance in America
1924 The gas chamber is used for the first time to execute a murderer.
1950 it was reported that undercover Russian activity in the U.S. was at an all-time high. Information regarding Russian activity was presented to Congress by Director J. Edgar Hoover.
1952 Elizabeth becomes Queen of England after her father, King George VI, dies.
1962 The U.S. Defense Department reports the creation of the Military Assistance Command in South Vietnam.
1963 The Kennedy administration prohibited travel to Cuba and made financial and commercial transactions with Cuba illegal for U.S. citizens.
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.
1971 South Vietnamese ground forces, backed by American air power, begin Operation Lam Son 719, a 17,000 man incursion into Laos that ends three weeks later in a disaster.
1971 Nasdaq Composite stock market index debuts with 50 companies and a starting value of 100
1973 The US Senate approved the formation of a special committee to investigate the Watergate bugging incident.
1978 The U.S. Senate deliberations were broadcast on radio for the first time. The subject was the Panama Canal treaties.
1980 President Jimmy Carter revealed his plan to reinstate selective service draft registration.
1985 “The Dukes of Hazzard” ended its 6-1/2 year run on CBS television.
1990 CBS television temporarily suspends Andy Rooney for his anti-gay and ant-black remarks in a magazine interview.
2005 Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have declared a truce to end four years of Middle East violence.
2008 Nebraska bans the electric chair, and calls it unconstitutional
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
