TODAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 8TH

1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.

1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.

1865 – In the United States, Delaware voters reject the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and vote to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratifies the amendment on February 12, 1901.)

1885 – The first government-approved Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii.

1887 – The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.

1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.

1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (d. 1974) is born.

1915 – D. W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.

1922 – United States President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House.

1960 – The first eight brass star plaques are installed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.

1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.

1978 – Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.

1993 – General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.

1996 – The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.

2007 – Anna Nicole Smith, American model and actress (b. 1967) dies.

2013 – A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.