Today in History - History - February 8th

1983Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period

1915D. W. Griffith's silent film "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in LA - first 12-reel film in America

1926Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio becomes Walt Disney Studios

1895Tchaikovsky/Petipa's "Swan Lake," premieres in Petersburg

1991Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract

1960Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".

200951st Grammy Awards: Please Read The Letter, Adele wins

1942Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort

1986The crime film "A Better Tomorrow", starring Yun Fat Chow, premieres in Hong Kong

1960Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)

1894Billy Bishop [William Bishop], Owen Sound, Ontario, Canadian First World War flying ace

1931James Dean, Marion IN, stage/film actor (Giant, Rebel Without a Cause)

1820William Tecumseh Sherman, Major General (Union Army), died in 1891

1960Dino Ciccarelli, Sarnia Ontario, NHL right wing (Minnesota North Stars, Washington Capitals)

1955John Grisham, writer (Client, Firm, Pelican Brief)

1920Lana Turner, Wallace Idaho, actress (Survivors, Falcon Crest)

1985Director Martin Scorsese (42) weds producer Barbara De Fina (35)

2001MLB outfielder David Justice (34) weds model Rebecca Villalobos

1932[Vincent] Mad Dog Coll, mobster, killed by Dutch Schultz gang at 23

1956Connie Mack, baseball manager (Phila A's, 1901-50), dies at 93

1985William Lyons, British automobile manufacturer, dies at 84

1725Peter the Great [Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov], Tsar of Russia (1682-1725) dies of uremia at 52