February 8th - This day in history

Small foreword, ive thought about doing posts like this for a while and might do more if people like them.

1587 - Mary Queen Of Scots after fleeing Scotland for England and being imprisoned by her cousin Elizabeth I is implicated in a plot to replace Elizabeth in coordination with Phillip of Spains plans to invade England. She is taken to the courtyard of Fotheringhay castle and executed by beheading.

1622 - King James I and VI of England and Scotland, son of Mary Queen of Scots, dissolves parliament for their refusal to bow to his wishes of union between the two kingdoms, for the remainder of his reign James would maintain the thrones of both countries in personal union. His dissolution of parliament begins a process that would end decades later under his son, James II, in the English civil war.

1672 - Sir Isaac Newton publishes his first paper on optics, begin a process that would revolutionise everything from eye glasses to navigation.

1690 - French and Native American troops attack a Dutch and English settlement in New York province, slaughtering the inhabitants of Schenectady in reprisal for an earlier massacre blamed on anglo dutch settlers.

1735 - The first opera entitled "Flora" to be performed in the North American colonies opens in Charleston, South Carolina.

1807 - The Battle of Eylau comes to its conclusion, the French emperor Napoleon is unable to claim victory for the first time in his career, the Russians, although badly mauled, live to fight again another day.

1809 - Emperor of the Austrians Franz I declares war on France with support of Great Britain, Spain, Portugal and the kingdoms of Sicily and Sardinia. The war of the fifth coalition would end that same year in defeat for the Austrian alliance and in the process expand the borders of the French empire into the Balkans.

1861 - The confederate states of America meets for the first time in Montgomery, Alabama, to begin the process of setting up a new government. The capitol would be relocated to Richmond, Virginia within months but the first cabinet meeting takes place in a moderately priced hotel/bed and breakfast.

1867 - The Ausgleich is reached (compromise) between the Austrian and Hungarian governments who have been unified in personal union under emperor Franz Joseph I, aceding to the emperors wishes and formally establishing the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy. Franz Joseph would remain on his throne until 1916, taking his empire from birth to death in WW1.

1911 - With US assistance Honduran president Miguel Devila is overthrown, marking the first act of overt US action in Central American politics.

1912 - British emissaries arrive in Berlin to discuss a "relaxation" of British opposition to German colonial efforts in Africa in exchange for a halt to Germanies naval expansion. The conference fails as unlike in Britain where the navy has to make its case for new ships each budgetary year, the Germans write theirs into law and thus cannot change directions on a whim. The build up continues, with Britain finally deciding to flex her overwhelming industrial capacity leading to the construction of "The Grand Fleet" by 1914, a force surpassing the next two largest navies combined.

1920 - The Red Army finally succeeds in its months long offensive against the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. The capture of the port marks an end to western military involvement in the Russian revolution/Civil war with evaluations now being the order of the day.

1925 - Marcus Garvey, an African nationalist born in Kingston, Jamaica, begins a prison sentence in Atlanta, Georgia for mail fraud. Whilst in prison he would meet Edward Young Clarke, the imperial wizard of the Klu Klux Klan. The two struck up an unlikely friendship and Garvey would go on to thank the Klan and groups like it for their "honesty", remarking that whether they intend it or not, all white men are economically, politically and socially klansmen in the eyes of blacks.

1926 - The Disney brothers formally announce the end of their joint "Disney cartoon studio" and proceed with rebranding as "Walt Disney Studios".

1933 - The first flight of the all metal passenger transport plane the Boeing 247.

1940 - The first large scale ghetto is established in Nazi occupied Poland at Lodtz.

1942 - Congress and the heads of the armed forces advise president Franklin Delano Roosevelt that for the safety and security of Americas war effort all persons of Japanese descent in the US West Coast should be interred until further notice.

1943 - The Red Army blunts the German offensive at Kursk, bringing an end to Hitlers hopes of conquering Russia.

1958 - French planes fly over Saket in Tunisia dropping a payload of bombs that leaves 75 dead, Frances feeble and childish reaction to growing North African independence efforts only enrages the situation further in both Tunisia and Algeria.

1960 - Queen Elizabeth II officially announces her family name henceforth shall be Mountbatten-Windsor, Acknowledging the role Lord Mountbatten had played in helping her husband Phillip adapt to life in the most scrutinised family on earth of the time.

1964 - US Representative Martha Griffiths gives an address which results in civil rights protections for women to be added to the civil rights act.

1965 - US President Lyndon Baines Johnson deploys the first official US troops to Vietnam, 3500 marines deployed to guard the airbase at Da Nang.

1983 - Israeli Prime minister Ariel Sharon resigns in disgrace after it emerges he participated in the killing of hundreds of civilians 2 years earlier.

2009 - Rhianna cancels her performance at the Grammys after being assaulted by then boyfriend Chris Brown.

Hope you found some of that interesting.

Have a great Sunday everyone.