By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Monday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2021. There are 326 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlights in History:

On Feb. 8, 1952, Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed her accession to the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI.

On this date:

In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1693, a charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in the Virginia Colony.

In 1831, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, was born in Delaware.

In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.

In 1922, President Warren G. Harding had a radio installed in the White House.

In 1924, the first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Gee Jon, a Chinese immigrant convicted of murder, was put to death.

In 1960, work began on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

In 1971, NASDAQ, the worldís first electronic stock exchange, held its first trading day.

In 1973, Senate leaders named seven members of a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal, including its chairman, Sen. Sam J. Ervin, D-N.C. In 1989, 144 people were killed when an American-chartered Boeing 707 filled with Italian tourists slammed into a fog-covered mountain in the Azores.

In 2007, model, actor and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died in Hollywood, Florida, at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.

In 2010, Michael Jacksonís personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop superstar in Los Angeles Superior Court. (Murray was convicted in 2011 and served two years in prison.)

Ten years ago: Wael Ghonim (WYí-uhl goh-NEEMí), a 30-year-old Google executive whoíd helped ignite Egyptís uprising, appeared before protesters in Cairoís Tahrir Square for the first time after being released from detention; he told them, ìWe wonít give up.î