Sunday 8th of February 1587

Queen of Scots Mary Stuart is executed by beheading at the age of 45 in Fotheringhay Castle, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom.

Mary was not beheaded with a single strike. The first blow missed her neck and struck the back of her head. The second blow severed the neck except for a small bit of sinew which the executioner cut through using the axe. Afterward he held her head aloft and declared "God save the Queen." At that moment the auburn tresses in his hand turned out to be a wig and the head fell to the ground, revealing that Mary had very short, grey hair.

Thursday 8th of February 1725

Ruler of the Tsardom of Russia Peter the Great dies of gangrene of the bladder at the age of 53 in St. Petersburg, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.

Monday 8th of February 1808

Murderer Edward Donnelly is executed by hanging in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States.

Friday 8th of February 1828

Writer Jules Gabriel Verne known for his novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is born in 4 Rue Olivier-de-Clisson, Nantes, Île Feydeau, Pays de la Loire, France.

Saturday 8th of February 1834

Chemist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev known for formulating the Periodic table of chemical elements is born in Verkhnie Aremzyani, Tobolsk Governorate, Russia.

Thursday 8th of February 1872

Philosopher Theodor Lessing is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Thursday 8th of February 1894

Film director King Wallis Vidor is born in Galveston, Texas, United States.

Saturday 8th of February 1902

Founder of the Protestant Truth Society John Kensit dies of pneumonia and blood poisoning at the age of 49 in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.

Kensit died due to the result of a wound he received in September that year when he was struck by a chisel thrown by a protester as he arrived at a meeting in Birkenhead.

Tuesday 8th of February 1921

Actress Lana Turner is born as Julia Jean Turner in Wallace, Idaho, United States.

She was the only daughter of teenaged parents 18-year-old John Virgil Turner and 16-year-old Mildred Frances Cowan.

Tuesday 8th of February 1921

Activist, revolutionary, scientist, geographer and philosopher Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin aka The Anarchist Prince dies of pneumonia at the age of 79 in Dmitrov, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

Thursday 8th of February 1923

123 die in Stag Canyon Mine No. 1 dust explosion in Dawson, New Mexico, United States.

A mine car derailed, knocking down timbers and the electric trolley cable causing sparks, igniting coal dust in the mine.

Friday 8th of February 1924

Murderer Jon Gee is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 29 in Nevada State Prison, 3301 E. 5th Street, Carson City, Nevada, United States.

Gee was the first man ever to be executed by cyanide gas. Officials first attempted to pump poison gas directly into Gee's cell while he was sleeping without success because the gas leaked from the cell. Later a makeshift gas chamber was set up at the butcher shop of the prison. At least one cat was used to test the lethal effectiveness of the chamber.

Friday 8th of February 1924

16-year-old Hermann Speichert is killed and his meat sold by serial killer Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf in Das Mordhaus, Rote Reihe 4, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Sunday 8th of February 1925

Actor Jack John Uhler Lemmon is born in Newton-Wellesley Hospital, 2014 Washington Street, Newton, Massachusetts, United States.

Lemmon was born in an elevator at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

Wednesday 8th of February 1928

Kidnapper and murderer Burton Wilbur 'Bud' Abbott is born in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Friday 8th of February 1929

8-year-old Rosa Ohliger is stabbed to death by serial killer Peter Kürten aka The Vampire of Düsseldorf in Vinzenzkirche, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Ohliger's body was doused with petrol and set on fire.

Friday 8th of February 1929

Cop killer Günther Fritz Erwin Podola aka Mike Colato is born in Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Sunday 8th of February 1931

Actor James Byron Dean known from Rebel Without a Cause is born in Seven Gables Apartment House, Corner of 4th Street and McClure Street, Marion, Indiana, United States.

Saturday 8th of February 1941

Victim of Richard Chase aka The Vampire of Sacramento Evelyn Elizabeth Ferreira Miroth is born in Paauilo, Hawaii, United States.

Sunday 8th of February 1942

Musician and record producer Terry Melcher known for his brief association with Charles Manson is born as Terrence Paul Jorden in New York City, New York, United States.

Melcher was born to actress Doris Day. In 1968 Beach Boy Dennis Wilson introduced Melcher to ex-con and aspiring musician Charles Manson.

Sunday 8th of February 1942

SA-Obergruppenführer and Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition Fritz Todt known for Bautruppe Organisation Todt dies in a plane crash after take-off at the age of 51 in Flughafen Rastenburg, Kętrzyn, Województwo Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Poland.

Sunday 8th of February 1948

Cop killer Lynda Cheryle Lyon Block is born in Orlando, Florida, United States.

Friday 8th of February 1952

Victim of Edmund Kemper aka The Co-ed Killer Alice Helen Allison Liu is born in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Tuesday 8th of February 1955

19-year-old Irmgard Strehl is sexually assaulted and stabbed to death by serial killer Joachim Kroll aka Jockel aka Der Ruhrkannibale in Bundesbahn 63, Herrenstein, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Tuesday 8th of February 1983

38-year-old Serial killer Dennis Andrew Nilsen aka Killing For Company is arrested after neighbours complained about a blocked drain in 23 Cranley Gardens, London, Muswell Hill, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Upon arrival home from work Nilsen queried why the police would be interested in his drains, so the officer told him they were filled with human remains. "Good grief, how awful!" exclaimed Nilsen.

Wednesday 8th of February 1989

144 die in Independent Air Flight 1851 Boeing 707-331B crash into a mountain in Pico Alto, Santa Maria Island, Azores, Portugal.

Thursday 8th of February 1990

Singer-songwriter and musician Del Shannon commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 56 in 15519 Saddleback Road, Santa Clarita, California, United States.

Shannon was suffering from depression for which he was taking Prozac.

Saturday 8th of February 1997

24-year-old Mass murderer Stephen Lawrence Andersen goes on a drug-induced shooting spree in Raurimu, North Island, New Zealand.

Anderson shot and killed his 60-year-old father Robin, 52-year-old Andrea Joy Brander, 38-year-old Stephen Mark Hanson, 28-year-old John Frederick Matthews, 63-year-old Anthony Gordon McCarty and 51-year-old Henk Van de Wetering with a sawn-off shotgun at the breakfast table, five more people were wounded. Anderson was arrested naked and unarmed by police who tracked him through the rugged forest with the help of planes and helicopters.

Monday 8th of February 1999

Writer Iris Jean Murdoch dies of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 80 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Thursday 8th of February 2001

Murderer Adolph Gil Hernandez is executed by lethal injection at the age of 51 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Sunday 8th of February 2004

A journey into the Kampong suburbs in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia.

Wednesday 8th of February 2006

Murderer Robert Neville is executed by lethal injection at the age of 32 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 8th of February 2023

Singer-songwriter and composer Burt Freeman Bacharach dies of natural causes at the age of 95 in Los Angeles, California, United States.