About the day » Wednesday February 8, 1956Calender converter

• Doodgeboren kind van Hattum, Tilburg († 1956)
• Lia Melkert, Gouda, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 2008)
• Patricia Beth Marcus, Oak Park, IL
• Steven D. Lustgraaf, Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, Verenigde Staten († 2008)
• Gert van Heusden, Hillegom († 2021)
• N.N. van Bezouwen, Rotterdam († 1956)
• Gary Lee Brands († 1977)
• Dirk Boers, Den Haag († 2009)
• Deborah Lynn Marcus, Oak Park, IL
• N.N. Rijnberk, Arnhem

• Antje Bakker (71), oudorp
• Christina Jacobina Zinsmeister (77), Rotterdam
• Alida Catharine Winkelman (74), Haarlem, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Arie Willem Dröge (85), Vuren
• Cornelia Voogt (72), Amsterdam
• Cornelis Zwart (72), Alkmaar, prov. Noord Holland
• Cornelis Johannes Hesp (64), Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Christiaan Antonie Jan Dieters (62), Zeist, Utrecht, Nederland
• Cornelia van Strien (84), Groede
• Arie Willem Dröge (85), Vuren

• 1953 » Mary Steenburgen, American actress
• 1954 » Joe Maddon, American baseball coach and manager
• 1955 » Jim Neidhart, American wrestler († 2018)
• 1955 » John Grisham, American lawyer and author
• 1956 » Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1957 » Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
• 1958 » Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
• 1958 » Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager († 2007)
• 1959 » Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
• 1959 » Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player

• 1945 » Italo Santelli, Italian fencer and coach (b. 1866)
• 1956 » Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (b. 1862)
• 1957 » John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
• 1957 » Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• 1959 » William J. Donovan, American head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (b. 1883)
• 1960 » Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect and engineer, designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral (b. 1880)
• 1960 » J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (b. 1911)
• 1963 » George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (b. 1908)
• 1964 » Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist and author (b. 1888)
• 1968 » Maurice Maillot, French actor (b. 1906)

1. Jan
2. Johannes
3. Cornelis
4. Hendrik
5. Willem
6. Peter
7. Robert
8. Pieter
9. Petrus
10. Gerrit
11. John
12. Adrianus
13. Paul
14. Dirk
15. Jacobus
16. Jacob

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Cornelia
4. Elisabeth
5. Anna
6. Wilhelmina
7. Catharina
8. Adriana
9. Petronella
10. Hendrika
11. Yvonne
12. Geertruida
13. Margaretha
14. Marianne
15. Patricia
16. Jacoba

• Koningin Juliana (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from September 4, 1948 till April 30, 1980 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from September 2, 1952 to October 13, 1956 the cabinet Drees II, with Dr. W. Drees (PvdA) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from October 13, 1956 to December 22, 1957 the cabinet Drees III, with Dr. W. Drees (PvdA) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 10.8 million citizens.
• May 1 » A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
• May 24 » The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
• July 9 » The 7.7 M_w  Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.
• July 13 » The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence.
• July 26 » Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation.
• December 4 » The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.

The temperature on February 8, 1956 was between -3.7 °C and 2.9 °C and averaged 0.2 °C. There was 2.1 mm of rain during 2.9 hours. The almost completely overcast was. The average windspeed was 4 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the north-northwest.