8th February anniversaries

• Birth
  • 1834
  • Russian Federation
  • "Birth of Dmitri Mendeleyev, Russian chemist who developed the periodic table of the elements and predicted elements undiscovered at that time"
  • 1883
  • Austria
  • "Birth of Joseph Alois Schumpeter, Austrian economist ."
  • 1883
  • United States
  • "Birth of Patrick J. Hurley, American Secretary of War ."
• event
  • 1883
  • United States
  • The Northern Pacific Railroad across the USA was completed .
  • 1969
  • United States
  • The last issue of the Saturday Evening Post was published in the USA
  • 1983
  • Ireland
  • Champion racehorse Shergar was kidnapped in Ireland and a £2m ransom demanded
  • 1983
  • Israel
  • Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon was removed from office following a tribunal into the 1982 massacre of hundreds of people in two refugee.
  • 1998
  • Women’s ice hockey was included in the Olympics for the first time. In the first game Finland beat Sweden 6–0.
• Death
  • 1587
  • Great Britain
  • "Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle, near Peterborough "
  • 1957
  • "Death of Mabel Constanduros who created the Buggins family for radio (1925-48), initially playing all six roles herself."
  • 1990
  • Switzerland
  • "Death of George de Mestral, inventor of Velcro" more
  • 1998
  • Iceland
  • "Death of Halldór Laxness, Icelandic writer and Nobel Prize winner ."
  • 1999
  • Great Britain
  • "Death of Iris Murdoch, Irish-born British writer and philosopher"