8 February 2025 (MIA)

1924 – The first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.

1968 – Three college students were killed in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.

1974 – The three-man crew of the Skylab space station returned to Earth after spending 84 days in space.

1978 – The deliberations of the Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time as members opened debate on the Panama Canal treaties.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter unveiled a plan to re-introduce draft registration.

1989 – 144 people were killed when an American-chartered Boeing 707 filled with Italian tourists slammed into a fog-covered mountain in the Azores.

1992 – The 16th Olympic Winter Games opened in Albertville, France.

1994 – The Untied States of America recognised the Republic of Macedonia.

1996 – The Republic of Argentina recognised the Republic of Macedonia.

2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28.

2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.

2005 – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.

2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.

2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people.

2014 – An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.

2015 – The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation. Elsewhere, a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market, Hypercacher, in Vincennes.