Unix Timestamp: 1139356800
Wednesday, February 8. 2006, 12:00:00 AM UTC


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Sunday, February 8, 2009

Bushfires in Victoria, Australia, have killed at least 108 people and destroyed at least 750 homes. //www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article5685378.ece ("The Times")
The Taliban releases a video of Polish geologist Piotr Stańczak, whom they had abducted a few months earlier, being beheaded. It is the first killing of a Western hostage in Pakistan since American journalist Daniel Pearl was executed in 2002.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Scotland Yard detectives investigating the death of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto say that she died from the effect of a bomb blast not gunfire. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7234147.stm (BBC News)

Sunday, February 8, 2004

The London Iraqi exiles admits that information supplied as a key piece of intelligence might have been false (but provided in good faith). The CX report information was one of the items of intelligence on Saddam Hussein's possible use of WMD.
In a BBC interview, Dr. Hans Blix accuses the U.S. and British governments of dramatising the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in order to strengthen the case for the 2003 invasion.

Saturday, February 8, 2003

Sections of a 'dodgy dossier' issued by the UK government, which purported to present the latest British intelligence about Iraq, and which had been cited by Tony Blair and Colin Powell as evidence for the need for war, were criticized as plagiarisms. They had been copied without permission from a number of sources including "Jane's Intelligence Review" and a 12-year-old doctoral thesis of a Californian student that had been published in the US journal "Middle East Review of International Affairs". Some sentences were copied word-for-word, and spelling mistakes had been reproduced from the original articles. Downing Street responded by saying that the government had never claimed exclusive authorship and that the information was accurate.

Friday, February 8, 2002

The opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, which are held in Salt Lake City.

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Disney California Adventure Park opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

Tuesday, February 8, 2000

Bob Collins' plane collides with that of a student pilot over Zion, Illinois.

Thursday, February 8, 1996

An IRA ceasefire ends with a half-tonne bomb in London's Canary Wharf District, killing 2 and causing over £85 million worth of damage.

Monday, February 8, 1993

General Motors sues NBC, after "Dateline NBC" allegedly rigged 2 crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the following day.
Lien Chan is named by Lee Teng-Hui to succeed Hau Pei-tsun as Premier of the Republic of China.
Mani Pulite scandal: Italian legislator Claudio Martelli resigns, followed by various politicians over the next 2 weeks.

Saturday, February 8, 1992

The opening ceremony for the 1992 Winter Olympics is held in Albertville, France.

Wednesday, February 8, 1984

The 1984 Winter Olympics open in Sarajevo, SFRY.

Sunday, February 8, 1981

20 fans of Olympiacos and 1 fan of AEK Athens die, while 54 are injured, after a stede at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, possibly because gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.

Wednesday, February 8, 1978

Sixteen Unification Church couples wed in New York, New York.
The first computer bulletin board system ("CBBS") is created in Chicago.
The Hillside Strangler, a serial killer prowling Los Angeles, claims a tenth and final victim.
United States Senate proceedings are broadcast on radio for the first time.
Somalia mobilizes its troops, due to an apparent Ethiopian attack.
Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200, crashes in Cranbrook, British Columbia, killing 44 of the 50 people on board.
Rhodesia, one of only two remaining white-ruled African nations, announces that it will accept multiracial democracy within two years.
Serial killer Ted Bundy is captured in Pensacola, Florida.

Friday, February 8, 1974

After a record 84 days in orbit, the crew of "Skylab 4" returns to Earth.

Monday, February 8, 1971

Apollo program: "Apollo 14" returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.
Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame from the Negro League. Jackie Robinson was inducted July 23, 1962.
A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts.
The Sylmar earthquake (6.4 on the Richter Scale) hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.

Saturday, February 8, 1969

The last issue of "The Saturday Evening Post" hits magazine stands.

Thursday, February 8, 1968

Madison Square Garden in New York City opens.
Border clashes take place between Israel and Jordan.
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 3 college students are killed.

Tuesday, February 8, 1966

The National Hockey League expands to twelve teams.

Friday, February 8, 1963

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

Wednesday, February 8, 1950

Payment first made by Diners Club card, in New York, first use of a charge card.

Saturday, February 8, 1947

A dance hall fire in Berlin, Germany, kills over 80 people.

Monday, February 8, 1943

WWII ndash Battle of Guadalcanal: United States forces defeat Japanese troops.

Saturday, February 8, 1941

WWII ndash The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act (260–165).

Monday, February 8, 1937

February 27 ndash Spanish Civil War ndash Battle of Jarama: Nationalist and government troops fight to a stalemate.
Spanish Civil War: Falangist troops take Málaga.

Monday, February 8, 1926

Sean O'Casey's "Plough and Stars" opens at Abbey Theater in Dublin.
Sean O\'Casey's "Plough and Stars" opens at Abbey Theater in Dublin.

Monday, February 8, 1915

The controversial film, "The Birth of a Nation", directed by D.W. Griffith, premieres in Los Angeles, California.

Monday, February 8, 1904

A Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur (Lushun) starts the Russo-Japanese War.

Thursday, February 8, 1900

Second Boer War: British troops are defeated by the Boers at Ladysmith.

Tuesday, February 8, 1887

The Dawes Act, or the General Allotment Act, is enacted.

Friday, February 8, 1878

The British fleet enters Turkish waters and anchors off Istanbul Russia threatens to occupy Istanbul but does not carry out the threat.

Friday, February 8, 1861

American Civil War: The Confederate States of America are formed, comprising the first six break-away States.

Thursday, February 8, 1849

The New Roman Republic is established.

Monday, February 8, 1836

London and Greenwich Railway opens its first section, the first railway in London, England.

Wednesday, February 8, 1826

Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri, an important test within the Swaminarayan faith.
Unitarian Bernardino Rivadavia becomes the first President of Argentina.
University College London is founded, under the name "University of London".

Thursday, February 8, 1816

Estonia emancipates its peasants from serfdom.

Wednesday, February 8, 1809

Franz I of Austria declares war on France.

Sunday, February 8, 1807

Battle of Eylau: Napoleon fights a hard, but inconclusive battle against the Russians under Bennigsen.

Sunday, February 8, 1761

An earthquake in London breaks chimneys in Limehouse and Poplar.

Friday, February 8, 1726

Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia

Thursday, February 8, 1725

Catherine I becomes Empress of Russia on the death of her husband, Peter the Great.

Tuesday, February 8, 1724

Catherine I is officially named czarina by her husband, Peter the Great, in Russia.

Sunday, February 8, 1693

The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a Royal charter from King William III and Queen Mary II of England.

Thursday, February 8, 1601

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, longtime favorite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, rebels against the queen his revolt is quickly crushed.

Saturday, February 8, 1597

Sir Anthony Shirley, England's best-educated pirate, raids Jamaica.

Saturday, February 8, 1592

Sunday, January 29, 1570 (Julianian calendar)

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurs in Concepción, Chile.

Tuesday, January 29, 1555 (Julianian calendar)

Laurence Saunders becomes the second Marian Protestant martyr in England, being led barefoot to his execution by burning at the stake.

Wednesday, January 29, 1550 (Julianian calendar)

Pope Julius III succeeds Pope Paul III as the 221st pope.

Sunday, February 5, 674 (Julianian calendar)

Japanese Buddhist Priest "Gisei" is made the rank of Junior Sōzu.

Monday, February 7, 421 (Julianian calendar)

Constantius III is appointed co-emperor ("Augustus") with his ineffectual brother-in-law, Honorius, and becomes the real ruler of the Western Roman Empire.
Source: Wikipedia