On February 8, 1986, Spud Webb, who at 5’7” was one of the shortest players in the history of professional basketball, wins the NBA slam dunk contest, beating his Atlanta Hawks teammate and 1985 dunk champ, the 6’8” Dominique Wilkins.

Gunmen steal the champion Irish race horse Shergar from a stud farm owned by the Aga Khan in County Kildare, Ireland.

A classic “Nor’easter” storm that brought a severe blizzard to New England finally subsides on February 8, 1978, and the region begins to dig out from under several feet of snow.

In a pivotal moment in American political history, Senate leaders in 1973 officially named seven key members to a select committee tasked with investigating the burgeoning Watergate scandal.

On February 8, 1971, history was made in the financial world with the launch of the NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock exchange.

On March 1, 1965, tragedy struck shortly after takeoff when Eastern Air Lines Flight 663, a Douglas DC-7, crashed into Jamaica Bay, New York, claiming the lives of all 84 people on board.

In 1960, a significant cultural project began to take shape in the heart of Los Angeles: the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

An idea floated by a Hollywood business leader in 1953 comes to fruition on February 8, 1960, when construction begins on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—today one of the Los Angeles area’s main tourist attractions.

On February 6, 1952, a pivotal moment in British history unfolded with the death of King George VI, leading to the ascension of his daughter, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, as Queen Elizabeth II.

Cardinal József Mindszenty, the highest Catholic official in Hungary, is convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Communist People’s Court.