What happened on 8 February?

10 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 1904 Russo-Japanese War Japan defeats Imperial Russia on land and sea; first major Asian victory over a European power in modern times; reshapes geopolitics.
2. 1834 Born: Dmitri Mendeleev Russian chemist; creator of the periodic table.
3. 1904 Japan's night attack opens the war Two days after breaking off negotiations — and three hours before delivering its declaration of war — Japan's destroyers torpedo the Russian Pacific squadron at anchor off Port Art
4. 1587 Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots Mary Stuart beheaded at Fotheringhay after years of Catholic plotting; Elizabeth's reluctant signature embarrasses the regime.
5. 1865 Mendel's laws of heredity Mendel publishes pea-plant experiments establishing the laws of inheritance.
6. 1915 The Birth of a Nation Griffith's technically pioneering, racially poisonous feature film.
7. 1250 Battle of Mansurah Mamluks defeat Louis IX's army in the Nile delta; the king is captured and held for ransom.
8. 1601 Essex's Rebellion The Earl of Essex's failed coup against Elizabeth's government ends in his execution.
9. 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics Socialist Yugoslavia hosts a triumphant Winter Games; within a decade the bobsled run is a sniper position and the stadiums are graveyards.
10. 1887 Dawes Act Congress breaks up tribal landholding into individual allotments, opening 'surplus' land to settlers. Over four decades Native landholding fell from 138 million acres to 48 million