This Day In European History

8th February

Events
1725: Tsar Peter the Great of Russia orders a Russian Academy of Sciences to be established in St. Petersburg; the order comes from his deathbed.
1725: Catherine I becomes Empress of Russia on the death of Peter the Great, although power rests with Peter's ally Prince Menshikov.
1983: The racehorse is Shergar abducted and never found.

Births
1577: Robert Burton, churchman and writer.
1592: Il Guercino, Italian painter.
1819: John Ruskin, English gothic writer.
1828: Jules Verne, French author.
1878: Martin Buber, German philosopher.

Deaths
1587: Mary Queen of Scots, executed.
1676: Tsar Alexis of Russia.
1725: Tsar Peter the Great of Russia.
1921: Prince Peter Kropotkin of Russian, geologist and anarchist.

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