Today in History - History - February 8th

1945Paul Brown agrees to coach the new American football expansion team in Cleveland, which would later be named the Cleveland Browns after their coach

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

1926Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio becomes Walt Disney Studios

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

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

1987Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic

1976"Taxi Driver", starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, is released

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

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".

1983Baseball orders Mickey Mantle to sever ties with Claridge Casino

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

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

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

1925Jack Lemmon, Boston Mass, actor (Days of Wine & Roses, Missing)

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

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

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

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

1985William Lyons, British automobile manufacturer, dies at 84

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

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

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