Today in history

February 8
1631
Roger Williams, defender of religious liberty and founder of Rhode Island, arrived in Boston.

1826
New Harmony Community of Equality founded in Indiana.

1962
More than 20,000 attended a demonstration in Paris against the Secret Army Organization (OAS) which wanted Algeria to remain a French colony. At least eight people were killed and 240 injured.

1968
College students conducted a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Three black students were killed and 50 wounded in a confrontation with highway patrolmen.

1978
Longest walk begins. Native Americans march from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.

1985
Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke refuses to allow the US to use bases to monitor an MX missile test.

1991
49 German troops conscientiously object to going to Turkey for Gulf War.