On This Day 2026
Hello, … and welcome to day 39 of the year.

Sunday, February 8th

Today is National Kite Flying Day, Autism Sunday, Superbowl Sunday and World Marriage Day. Your star sign is Aquarius and your birthstone is Amethyst.
1984 – British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean produced one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history at the XIV Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean produced one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history at the XIV Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Today’s birthdays

1955 – John Grisham (71), American novelist (The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief), born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States.

1964 – Trinny Woodall (62), English beauty entrepreneur, businesswoman (Trinny London), fashion and makeover expert (What Not to Wear), born in Marylebone, London.
1968 – Tjinder Singh (57), English guitarist and singer with indie rock band Cornershop (“Brimful of Asha”), born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
1974 – Guy-Manuel (52), French musician, record producer and half of the French house music duo Daft Punk (“Around the World”, (“One More Time”), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
1980 – Ralf Little (46), English actor (The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps), presenter and narrator, born in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
1989 – Dani Harmer (37), English actress (The Story of Tracy Beaker) and television personality, born in Bracknell, Berkshire.
Famous deaths
1998 – Enoch Powell (b. 1912), British politician, scholar and writer (Conservative 1947–1974), (Ulster Unionist 1974–1987).
2007 – Anna Nicole Smith (b. 1967), American model, actress and television personality. Playboy magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 Playmate of the Year.
2017 – Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (b. 1971), English socialite, television personality and charity patron.
The day today
1926 – Walt Disney Studios was formed after previously being known as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.
1952 – Princess Elizabeth formally proclaimed herself Queen and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith. Lords of the Council, numbering 150, representatives from the Commonwealth and officials from the City of London, including the Lord Mayor and other dignitaries witnessed the accession of the deceased king’s eldest daughter.
1965 – Health Minister Kenneth Robinson announced that cigarette advertisements were to be banned from British television.
1967 – English Pirate Radio UKGM closed down as part of a wider crackdown on offshore radio stations operating outside UK jurisdiction. This closure occurred shortly before the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force on August 14, 1967, which forced most major pirate stations, such as Radio London and Radio 355, to cease operations.
1969 – The Allende meteorite, a rare CV3 carbonaceous chondrite, fell near Pueblito de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico, with a total estimated pre-atmospheric mass exceeding 30 tonnes. Over 2 tonnes of material were recovered, featuring particles ranging from 1g to a 110 kg specimen. It is the most studied meteorite in history.
1971 – At the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, a British plastics firm making educational toys was shown a board game which had been rejected by established companies. Invented by an Israeli telecommunications expert, Mordecai Meirowitz, the game, renamed ‘Mastermind’ by Invicta Plastics, sold over 55 million sets in some 80 countries, making it the most successful new game of the 70s.
1972 – The Albert Hall management cancelled a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert because of the ‘obscene lyrics’ of one of their songs. Fans demonstrated outside the hall.
1983 – Shergar, the legendary Thoroughbred racehorse, was stolen by gunmen. After a very successful season in 1981 he was retired to the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland. In 1983 he was stolen from the stud, and a ransom of £2 million was demanded; it was not paid, and negotiations were soon broken off by the thieves. Shergar was never seen again.
1984 – The XIV Winter Olympic Games officially opened in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, marking the first time the Winter Olympics were held in a communist country. Running until February 19, the Games featured 49 nations and 1,273 athletes with British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean producing one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history at these Games when they performed their free dance to Maurice Ravel’s Boléro.
1992 – The XVI Winter Olympic Games officially opened in Albertville, France with the ceremony held at the Théâtre des Cérémonies. The Games, which ran until February 23, featured 64 nations and 1,802 athletes. This was the last time the Winter and Summer Olympics (Barcelona) were held in the same calendar year.
1998 – The death of the controversial politician, Enoch Powell, aged 85. He warned, in 1968, of the perils of high immigration with his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
1999 – Mario Party was released in North America (March 9 in the UK) for the Nintendo 64. It was the first installment in the Mario Party series and was followed by Mario Party 2 on January 24, 2000.
2012 – The death, aged 74, of John Fairfax, British ocean rower and adventurer who, in 1969, became the first person to row solo (in 180 days) across the Atlantic Ocean. He subsequently went on to become the first to row the Pacific Ocean (with Sylvia Cook) in 1971/2 with a row time of 361 days.
Today in music
1964 – On their first full day in New York, The Beatles (minus George who had a sore throat), went for a photo-opportunity walk around Central Park. Over 400 girl fans followed The Beatles and extra police were called in to control them. Later in the day The Ronettes interviewed The Beatles for radio.

1964 – With ‘Louie Louie’ by The Kingsmen under FBI investigation for containing obscene lyrics, the song’s publishers offered $1,000 to anyone who could definitively distinguish the dirty words.

1983 – Winners at the second annual Brit Awards held in London included Paul McCartney who won Best British Male Solo Artist, Kim Wilde won Best British Female Solo Artist, Dire Straits won British Group, British Breakthrough Act went to Yazoo, International Act was Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Best Selling Single Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Come On Eileen” and the Life Achievement Award went to Pete Townshend.

1986 – Billy Ocean started a four week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going’, as featured in the film ‘The Jewel Of The Nile.’ The video was banned in the UK because it featured non-musician union members. Boyzone took the song to No.1 in 1999.
1990 – Suffering from depression American singer songwriter Del Shannon died of self inflicted gunshot wounds. He scored the 1961 UK and US No.1 single ‘Runaway’, plus nine US and 12 other UK Top 40 singles. In 1963, he became the first American to record a cover version of a song by the Beatles: his version of ‘From Me to You’ charted in the US before The Beatles’ version.
1992 – Right Said Fred hit number one on the US Hot 100 Charts (a No.2 hit in the UK.) with “I’m too Sexy.”
1994 – Oasis were forced to cancel their first foreign tour after they were deported from Holland. The band were involved in a drunken brawl on a cross-channel ferry resulting in members of the band being arrested and locked in the brig on the ferry.
2005 – Kylie Minogue was voted the world’s sexiest woman in her 30s by UK magazine Good Housekeeping. Sade was voted No.4 in the over 40s with Madonna coming in at No.7 and Jerry Hall at No.8. And Sharon Osbourne was voted into 3rd place in the over 50s section.
2009 – Singer Rihanna cancels her performance at the Grammys after being assaulted by boyfriend Chris Brown.
2015 – British soul singer Sam Smith won four Grammy Awards in the US, including the prestigious prizes for record and song of the year for ‘Stay With Me’ and best new artist. Album of the year went to Beck for Morning Phase.
Today in history
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle aged 44 after being convicted of plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I in the Babington Plot.
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, unsuccessfully rebels (known as the Essex’s Rebellion) against Queen Elizabeth I. The main tensions that led to the rebellion began in 1599, when Essex was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was sent to Ireland with the mission of subduing the revolts led by Tyrone, leading one of the largest expeditionary forces ever sent to the country.
1622 – English parliament was dissolved by King James I of England after a disagreement about his son Charles marrying Princess Maria of Spain.
1672 – Isaac Newton presented his groundbreaking first optics paper, “New Theory about Light and Colors,” to the Royal Society in London. Having been elected a fellow just weeks prior, the 29-year-old Newton demonstrated that white light is composed of a spectrum of colors, overturning contemporary theories.
1855 – The ‘Devil’s Footprints’ mysteriously appeared in southern Devon when trails of hoof-like marks appeared overnight in the snow. Estimates of the total distance covered by the prints ranged from 40 to 100 miles. Houses, rivers, haystacks and other obstacles were allegedly travelled straight over, and the footprints appeared on the tops of snow-covered roofs and high walls, as well as leading up to and exiting various drain pipes with a diameter as small as 4 inches.
1882 – Birth of French novelist Jules Verne (A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days), poet, and playwright.