📜 This Day in History

February 8

• 421Honorius declared Constantius III to be his co-emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 1587Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed at Fotheringhay Castle for her involvement in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Elizabeth I of England.
• 1879Angered by a controversial umpiring decision, cricket spectators rioted and attacked the England team during a match in Sydney, Australia.
• 1948The closing ceremony of the first Olympics held after World War II was held in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
• 1968Law enforcement officers in Orangeburg, South Carolina, fired into a crowd of college students who were protesting segregation, killing three and injuring twenty-seven others.
• 1983The Irish-bred race horse Shergar was stolen by gunmen, who demanded a £2 million ransom.

Born on this day

• 120Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (died ~175)
• 1819John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (died 1900)
• 1828Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (died 1905)
• 1834Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (died 1907)