It's good to be da queen! Elizabeth II ascended the throne on this day in 1952.
Today is Friday, February 8, 2019. 40 days until spring, and a mere 634 days until the next presidential election.
- Sunrise: 7:07am
- Sunset: 5:41pm ...giving us 10 hours and 34 minutes of daylight. 7% of the waxing crescent moon now visible, rising at 9:20am.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 2:01am/1:18pm
- Low: 7:22am/7:36pm
Special celebrations & commemorations today…
- Boy Scout Day - USA
- Culture Day - Slovenia
- Youth Day - Congo (Republic of)
- Laugh and Get Rich Day
- No One Eats Alone Day
- Molasses Bar Day
- Feast of St. Meingold, patron of bakers
On this day in…
1693 - A charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg,VA.
1802 - Simon Willard patented the banjo clock.
1861 - The Confederate States of America was formed.
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.
1896 - The Western Conference was formed by representatives of Midwestern universities. The group changed its name to the Big 10 Conference.
1900 - In South Africa, British troops under Gen. Buller were beaten at Ladysmith. The British fled over the Tugela River.
1904 - The Russo-Japanese War began with Japan attacking Russian forces in Manchuria.
1910 - William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America.
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 - The White House began using radio afterU.S. President Harding had it installed.
1927 - The original version of "Getting Gertie’s Garter" opened at the Hippodrome Theatre in New York City.
1936 - The first National Football League draft was held. Jay Berwanger was the first to be selected. He went to the Philadelphia Eagles.
1952 - Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the British throne. Her father, George VI, had died on February 6.
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. The new team was named the Chiefs.
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 - The Nasdaq stock-market index debuted.
1973 -U.S. Senate leaders named seven members of a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal.
1974 - The three-man crew of the Skylab space station returned to Earth after 84 days.
1978 - TheU.S. Senate deliberations were broadcast on radio for the first time. The subject was the Panama Canal treaties.
1980 -U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced a plan to re-introduce draft registration.
1985 - "The Dukes of Hazzard" ended its 6-1/2 year run on CBS television.
1993 - General Motors sued NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" had rigged two car-truck crashes to show that some GM pickups were prone to fires after certain types of crashes. The suit was settled the following day by NBC.
2002 - The exhibit "Places of Their Own" opened at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The works displayed were by Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo and Emily Carr.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- William Tecumsen Sherman 1820 - Union General during U.S. Civil War
- Jules Verne 1828
- Dame Edith Evans 1888
- Lyle Talbot 1902
- Chester F. Carlson 1906
- Buddy Morrow 1919
- Lana Turner 1921
- Audrey Meadows 1924
- Jack Lemmon 1925
- Jack Larson 1928 - Actor ("Adventures of Superman")
- Alejandro Rey 1930
- James Dean 1931
- John Williams 1932 - Composer, conductor
- Larry Verne 1936
- Ray Sharpe 1938
- Ted Koppel 1940 - Broadcast journalist
- Brian Bennett 1940 - Musician (The Shadows)
- Nick Nolte 1941 - Actor
- Robert Klein 1942 - Comedian
- Creed Bratton 1943 - Actor, musician (The Grass Roots)
- Bunky Henry 1944 - Golfer
- Dan Seals 1948
- Ron Tyson 1948 - Singer (The Temptations)
- Brooke Adams 1949 - Actress
