Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

February 8

1977
Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt is convicted of promoting obscenity and participating in organized crime.

1969
Saturday Evening Post publishes its last issue.

1924
First gas-chamber execution: Convicted murderer Gee Jon is executed in Nevada.

1918
First issue of The Stars and Stripes. This, the first U.S. Army newspaper, was originally published for the troops during World War I.

1915
The Birth of a Nation: D.W. Griffith's landmark film is released.

1912
First airplane flight across the U.S. from East to West: Robert Grant Fowler arrives in Jacksonville, Florida. He had departed Los Angeles, on October 19th.

1910
Boy Scouts of America is founded, by William Boyce in Washington D.C.

1843
First woman in the U.S. to buy life insurance, Isabella Chambers of New York.

1735
First opera performed in America: Colley Cibber's Flora; or Hob in the Well.

1693
College of William and Mary is granted its charter by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second oldest college in U.S.

1968
Gary Coleman, American actor, "What you talkin' 'bout."

1942
Robert Klein, American comedian.

1941
Nick Nolte, American actor. Film: 48 Hours (1982) and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). TV: Rich Man, Poor Man (1976).

1940
Ted Koppel, British-born Emmy-winning journalist.

1932
John T. Williams, American Emmy-Grammy-Oscar-winning movie composer and conductor of the Boston Pops (1979-83). Film: The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Oscar), and Jurassic Park (1993).

1931     d. 1955
James Dean, American actor. He starred in only three films, of which only East of Eden (1955) was released before his death. His other films were Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). His first job in TV (1952) was testing stunts for Beat the Clock.

1925
Jack Lemmon (John Uhler III), American Oscar-winning actor. Film: Mister Roberts (1955, Oscar, Ensign Pulver), The Odd Couple (1968), and Save the Tiger (1974, Oscar).

1924
Audrey Meadows, Chinese-born actress. TV: The Honeymooners (Alice Kramden).

1920     d. 1995
Lana Turner (Julia Turner), American actress. Film: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and Peyton Place (1957).  In 1958, her gangster boyfriend was fatally stabbed by Turner's daughter.

1906     d. 1968
Chester F. Carlson, American physicist, inventor of the Xerox machine (1959).

1828     d. 1905
Jules Verne, French science fiction author. Writings: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).

1820     d. 1891
William Tecumseh Sherman, American Civil War general (Union), known for his destruction of Georgia and his statement "War is hell."

1990     b. 1939
Del Shannon (Charles Westover), American singer. Music: Runaway (1961, #1).

1936     b. 1860
Charles Curtis, 31st U.S. Vice-President (1929-33).

1587     b. 1542
Mary Queen of Scots, Queen of Scotland (1542-67). She was beheaded for her participation in a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth I.

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