1849 – New Roman Republic established in Italy
1924 – 1st US coast-to-coast radio hookup: General John Joseph Carty speech in Chicago
1943 – Red Army recaptures Kursk on the eastern front
1953 – WLVA (now WSET) TV channel 13 in Lynchburg-Roanoke, VA (ABC) begins
1960 – Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)
1979 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 – For the 1st time eight people are in space
2009 – Al Gore’s book “An Inconvenient Truth” wins a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
Author: gil7
Today in History for 8th February 2026
Historical Events
1575 – University of Leiden established by William I of Orange, given the motto “Praesidium Libertatis” (oldest university in Netherlands)
1916 – French cruiser “Admiral Charner” torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374
2013 – 29 people are killed and 69 are injured in a series of Iraq bombings
2014 – Ole Einar Bjørndalen equals the Winter Olympics medal record with 12
2014 – Netherlands sweeps the medals in the men’s 5,000m speed skating at the Sochi Winter Olympics; Sven Kramer retains title ahead of teammates Jan Blokhuijsen and Jorrit Bergsma
Famous Birthdays
1813 – Jacob Georg Agarah, Swedish botanist, born in Lund, Sweden (d. 1901)
1828 – Jules Verne, French novelist known as the “Father of Science Fiction” (Around the World in 80 days), born in Nantes, France (d. 1905)
1928 – Jack Larson, American actor (The Adventures of Superman – “Jimmy Olsen”), screenwriter, and librettist (Virgil Thomson’s “Lord Byron”), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
1956 – Dave Meros, American progressive rock bassist (Spock’s Beard), born in Salinas, California
1961 – Sammy Llanas, American rock singer-songwritrer (Bodeans, 1983-2011 – “Closer To Free”), born in Wisconsin
Famous Deaths
1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler, grandson of Genghis Khan (besieged and pillaged Baghdad) (b. 1217)
1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish educator (1st Regent of Edinburgh University), dies
1993 – Franz Schnyder, Swiss director (10th of May), dies at 82
1995 – Wilhelm J. Soukop, Austrian-British sculptor, dies at 88
2012 – Gunther Plaut, German-Canadian rabbi, dies at 99
Famous Deaths for 7th February 2026
999 – Boleslaus II of Bohemia
1593 – Jacques Amyot, French humanist, translator and Abbot of Bellozanne, dies at 79
1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English Gothic novelist (The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Romance of the Forest), dies at 58
1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (The House by the Churchyard), dies at 58
1937 – Elihu Root, American statesman (Nobel Peace Prize, 1912), dies at 91
1940 – Francis Ford, English cricketer (5 Tests for England v Australia 1894-95), dies at 73
1984 – Brooks West, American actor (Richard-My Friend Irma), dies at 67
1996 – [Isian Kehinde] I. K. Dairo, Nigerian Jùjú musician and academic, dies at 65
1999 – José Silva, American parapsychologist, author of the Silva Method and Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)
2015 – Billy Casper, American golfer (US Open 1959, 66; US Masters 1970), dies of a heart attack at 83
Historical Events for 7th February 2026
1668 – Dutch Prince William III dances in premiere of “Ballet of Peace”
1827 – Ballet (Deserter) introduced to US at Bowery Theater (NYC)
1845 – The Portland Vase, thought to date to the 1st century BC is shattered into more than 80 pieces by a drunken visitor to the British Museum
1972 – Dutch Olympic 1,500m and 5,000m speed skating champion Ard Schenk wins his 3rd gold medal at the Sapporo Winter Games when he takes out the 10,000m
1973 – Iggy Pop and The Stooges release their influential 3rd album “Raw Power”
1974 – UK Prime Minister Edward Heath calls for a ‘snap’ general election in the midst of a protracted miners’ strike
1979 – “Supertrain”, TV Anthology, Superbomb of 1979, debuts on NBC
1998 – NHL’s Dallas Stars retire Neal Broten’s #7
Today in History for 7th February 2026
Historical Events
1795 – Dutch Prince William V accepts British occupation of Dutch Indies
1817 – Baltimore becomes the 1st American city lit by gas street lamps with the first turned on at Market and Lemon Streets (currently Baltimore and Holliday Streets)
1857 – French writer Gustave Flaubert is acquitted on a charge of obscenity for his work “Madame Bovary”
1903 – VVV ’03 soccer club is established in the Dutch southeastern city of Venlo
1973 – Iggy Pop and The Stooges release their influential 3rd album “Raw Power”
Famous Birthdays
1809 – Frederik Paludan-Muller, Danish Romantic poet (Danserinden), born in Kerteminde, Denmark (d. 1876)
1877 – Julius Curtius, German Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic (1929-31) and Minister for Economic Affairs (1926-29), born in Duisburg, Prussia (d. 1948)
1895 – Irving Aaronson, American jazz pianist and big band bandleader, born in New York City (d. 1963)
1945 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (In the Name of the Father, Inception), born in Warrington, England (d. 2011)
1959 – Sammy Lee, English footballer (Liverpool), born in Liverpool, England
Famous Deaths
1965 – Nance O’Neil, American actor (Cimarron, Royal Bed, Rogue Song), dies at 90
1970 – Abe Attell, American boxer known as “The Little Hebrew” and World Featherweight Champion (1906-12), dies at 86
1997 – Danil Shafran, Soviet-Russian concert cellist, dies at 74
2020 – Harold Strachan, South African writer, anti-apartheid activist, and explosives expert, dies of liver disease complications at 94
2020 – Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer ‘the Nightingale of Kosovo’ and actress, dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 6th February 2026
1593 – Ōgimachi, 106th Emperor of Japan (1557-86), dies at 75
1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and librettist (Belisario, Servant of Two Masters), dies at 85
1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer, dies from his injuries sustained by a musket ball at 29
1945 – Jan Bos, Dutch resistance fighter, executed in Hoogkarspel in retribution for the unrelated killing of a Dutch Nazi guard, at 27
1958 – Frank Swift, English soccer goalkeeper and journalist (19 caps; Manchester City 376 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 44
1972 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (cultural ecology), dies at 70
1989 – Barbara Tuchman, American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author (Guns of August; Stilwell and the American Experience in China), dies following a stroke at 77
2010 – Ernest van der Eyken, Belgian violist, composer, and conductor .
(Youth and Music Orchestra of Antwerp, 1963-76), dies at 96
2017 – “Professor” Irwin Corey, American comedian (Car Wash: Doc), dies at 102
2022 – Vi Redd, American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist, and educator, dies at 93
Historical Events for 6th February 2026
1819 – Stamford Raffles founds Singapore as a British trading post
1862 – General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry in Tennessee
1941 – British troops conquer Bengazi, Libya
1988 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
2005 – Tony Blair, now the longest-serving Labour PM, marks 2,838 days as British Prime Minister
2009 – President Barack Obama announces the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, with Paul Volcker as Chairman and Austan Goolsbee as Staff Director and Chief Economist
2012 – Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot is presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
2024 – Landslide kills at least 68 with more missing, amid torrential rain, in Maco town, Davao de Oro, southern Philippines
Today in History for 6th February 2026
Historical Events
1947 – Magnum Photos founded in Paris by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour
1953 – Ian Craig makes Test Cricket debut at 17 yrs 239 days, youngest Aussie
1978 – Snowstorm hits New England, parts of Rhode Island (54″ / 137cm)
1990 – Brett Hull becomes 1st son of NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby Hull) to also score 50 goals
2020 – Date of the 1st COVID-19 related death in the US (confirmed by the CDC April 21)
Famous Birthdays
1848 – Luigi Mancinelli, Italian orchestral composer, born in Orvieto, Italy (d. 1921)
1866 – Karl Sapper, German traveller, explorer, and natural historian, born in Germany (d. 1945)
1905 – Władysław Gomułka, Polish communist politician, born in Krosno, Poland (d. 1982)
1982 – Alice Eve, English actress (She’s Out of My League; Star Trek Into Darkness), born in London
1986 – Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwean cricketer, born in Harare, Zimbabwe
Famous Deaths
1899 – Alfred Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, dies at 24 in mysterious circumstances
1923 – Edward Emerson Barnard, American astronomer (5th moon Jupiter), dies at 65
1958 – David Pegg, English soccer outside left (1 cap; Manchester United 127 games), dies in Munich air disaster at 22
1991 – Marten Levendig, Dutch TV correspondent to Moscow, dies
2021 – Ken McCaffery, Australian rugby league centre (12 Tests; North Sydney; Queensland), broadcaster (9 Network) and administrator (North Sydney DRLFC), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 5th February 2026
1758 – Bernhard Christian Weber, German composer, dies at 45
1807 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican freedom fighter, dies at 80
1825 – Pierre Gaveaux, French composer, dies at 64
1924 – Alexis Hollander, German conductor and composer, dies at 83
1958 – H. M. Tomlinson, British writer (Under red ensign), dies at 84
1960 – Louis Stricker, South African cricketer (South African open bat in 13 Tests 1909-12), dies at 75
2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, American politician and 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (1983-1995) (b. 1930)
2013 – Stuart Freeborn, English motion picture make-up artist, dies at 98
2016 – Ray Colcord III, American film and television composer (Boy Meets World; Heartwood), and session keyboardist (Don McLean, Lou Reed), dies of pancreatic cancer at 66
2019 – Guy Webster, American celebrity portrait photographer, album cover artist (The Byrds; The Mamas and the Papas; Taj Mahal; Rolling Stones), and educator, dies of liver cancer and diabetes complications at 79
Historical Events for 5th February 2026
1918 – Separation of church and state begins in USSR
1930 – 5th Aliyah to Israel begins
1953 – Sweet rationing imposed in WWII ends in Britain
1958 – Clifton R Wharton confirmed as 1st US African American foreign minister (to Romania)
1958 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is nominated as the first President of the United Arab Republic
1972 – Two IRA members are killed when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely
1998 – Author Tom Clancy confirms he signed agreement to purchase Minnesota Vikings for slightly more than $200 million, an NFL franchise record
2004 – Twenty-three Chinese people drown when a group of 35 cockle-pickers are trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered.