Today in History for 8th February 2023

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1896 - Georges Feydeau's "Le Dindon" premieres in Paris
1972 - Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard selected to Hall of Fame
1973 - Jean Kerrs "Finishing Touches" premieres in NYC
1983 - Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
1990 - "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine
1993 - Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die

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Famous Birthdays

1828 - Antonio Cagnoni, Italian composer, born in Godiasco (d. 1896)
1877 - Helen Homans, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1906), born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 1949)
1906 - Chester F. Carlson, American inventor (photocopy), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1968)
1930 - Manuel Castillo, Andalusian classical pianist and composer, born in Seville, Spain (d. 2005)
1966 - Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer
1983 - Jim Verraros, American pop singer (American Idol, 2002), born in Mount Prospect, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1611 - Jan Huygen van Linschoten, Dutch traveller and writer (Reys-Gheschrift), dies (B. 1653)
1650 - John Adriaensz, Dutch hydraulic engineer (Haarlemmermeer), dies at about 74
1909 - Edouard Silas, Dutch composer, dies at 80
1975 - Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1886)
1979 - Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov, Russian poet and writer (against Pasternak), dies at 82
1994 - Raymond Scott, American composer (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 85

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[+ Lucky]

Poor Mary. Beheaded at 44! Now they have decoded letters she wrote while bring confined by Queen Elizabeth I.

A trove of long-lost letters written in code by Mary, Queen of Scots, has been discovered and deciphered by an international team of codebreakers. Mary Stuart, who was first in line to succeed Queen Elizabeth I of England, wrote the letters during nearly two decades of imprisonment by Elizabeth that led to her beheading 436 years ago Wednesday, on Feb. 8, 1587.

 

 

Considered by Catholics to be the true sovereign of England, Mary was held under guard for 19 years by her cousin — the Protestant daughter of King Henry VIII — for fear that she was plotting against the throne. While in captivity, Mary wrote letters in code to allies and associates in an attempt to gain her freedom and become queen.

Some of that correspondence, now in the British National Archives, was intercepted and deciphered by Elizabeth’s secret agents. It was used as evidence of a plot to overthrow the crown and led to Mary’s execution.

The other letters were believed lost to history — until George Lasry, a French computer scientist and cryptographer; Norbert Biermann, a German pianist and music professor; and Satoshi Tomokiyo, a Japanese physicist and patents expert, found them in the online archives for enciphered documents at Bibliothèque nationale de France, the country’s national archives.

 

More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/02/08/mary-queen-scots-letters-decoded/

[+ Lucky]

Actor James Dean would have been 92 today!

The Daily News has more: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/nydn-entertainment-life-career-james-dean-1-2380091-photogallery.html