TV actress Sophie Bennett

Events in 1989 and 8-2

Events in the world in the birth year of Sophie Bennett

• US planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean (Jan. 4).
• Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him to death (Feb. 14).
• Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing's Tiananmen Square in rally for democracy (April 19 et seq.). More than one million in Beijing demonstrate for democracy; chaos spreads across nation (mid-May et seq.). Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators (June 4 et seq.).
• Mikhail S. Gorbachev named Soviet President (May 25).
• P. W. Botha quits as South Africa's President (Aug. 14).
• Deng Xiaoping resigns from China's leadership (Nov. 9).
• After 28 years, Berlin Wall is open to West (Nov. 11).
• Czech Parliament ends Communists' dominant role (Nov. 30).
• Romanian uprising overthrows Communist government (Dec. 15 et seq.); President Ceausescu and wife executed (Dec. 25).
• US troops invade Panama, seeking capture of General Manuel Noriega (Dec. 20).

Birthday Sophie Bennett (8-2) in history

• Day 8-2 year 1587: Queen Mary of Scotland was beheaded for treason. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother's execution.
• Day 8-2 year 1693: The founding date of William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the second oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the ninth oldest among English-speaking countries.
• Day 8-2 year 1870: The National Weather Service was established under the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
• Day 8-2 year 1904: The Russo-Japanese war began when the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in northeast China.
• Day 8-2 year 1915: D. W. Griffith's controversial epic, The Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles.
• Day 8-2 year 1924: The gas chamber was used for the first time as a method of execution in the United States. Gangster Gee Jon was put to death at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.
• Day 8-2 year 1960: The payola (pay for broadcast airplay) hearings opened in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dick Clark would testify in April.
• Day 8-2 year 1980: President Jimmy Carter revealed his plan to reinstate selective service draft registration.