TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2018. There are 326 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History:
On Feb. 8, 1968, three college students were killed in a confrontation between demonstrators and highway patrolmen at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg in the wake of protests over a whites-only bowling alley. The science-fiction film “Planet of the Apes,” starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York (it went into general release the following April.)
On this date:
In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1693, a charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the Virginia Colony.
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, ended in victory for Union forces led by Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside.
In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.
In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.
In 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces began invading Singapore, which fell a week later.
In 1952, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed her accession to the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI.
In 1978, the deliberations of the Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time as members opened debate on the Panama Canal treaties.
In 1989, 144 people were killed when an American chartered Boeing 707 filled with Italian tourists slammed into a fog-covered mountain in the Azores.
In 1993, General Motors sued NBC, alleging that “Dateline NBC” had rigged two car-truck crashes to show that 1973-to-87 GM pickups were prone to fires in side impact crashes. (NBC settled the lawsuit the following day and apologized for its “unscientific demonstration.”)
Today’s Birthdays:
Composer-conductor John Williams is 86. Newscaster Ted Koppel is 78. Actor Nick Nolte is 77. Basketball Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning is 48.
Thought for Today :“Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of theyear.”—FranklinP.Adams, American journalist (18811960).