8 February

Richard Lander
8 February 1804 – 6 February 1834
English explorer of the Niger River in west Africa. » more

John Ruskin
8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900
English art critic and philanthropist. » more

Maxime Du Camp
8 February 1822 – 9 February 1894
French photographer and journalist, established the ‘Revue de Paris’. » more

Jules Verne
8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905
French author of science fiction – ‘Around the World in 80 days’ and over 50 other Voyages Extraordinaires. » more

Dmitri Mendeleev
8 February 1834 – 2 February 1907
Russian chemist who created the Periodic Table of Elements. » more

Franz Marc
8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916
German Expressionist artist whose paintings can be seen in the Franz Marc Museum, Kochel am See, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart & Städel Museum Frankfurt, Germany; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museum of Modern Art, New York; New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England

Joseph Schumpeter
8 February 1883 – 8 January 1950
American economist, conceived the concept of business cycles. » more

Chester Carlson
8 February 1906 – 19 September 1968
American scientist who invented ‘xerography’, the technical basis for Laser printers and Photocopiers. » more

John Williams
8 February 1932
American conductor and composer. Also composed music for several major films including ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Star Wars’, some Harry Potter movies. » more

Ted Koppel
8 February 1940
American journalist: ABC News Nightline and subsequently Discovery Channel chief editor. » more

Today’s Quote
If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.
 … Anna Quindlen

Today’s No. 1 Hit
1973 – Crocodile Rock by Elton John.

Today’s events
8 February 1969 – A large meteorite falls near Allende, in Mexico – it is estimated to be about 4·5 billion years old.
8 February 1971 – Opening of the American NASDAQ stock exchange market in New York.
8 February 1996 – The world-wide ’24 Hours in Cyberspace’ Internet event goes online to illustrate the ways the Internet is changing people’s lives.