| February 8 |
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| 1941 |
Whirlaway began his three-year-old season with a win in a six furlong allowance race at Hialeah. |
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| 1956 |
Longtime baseball owner and manager Connie Mack died at the age of 93. |
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| 1972 |
Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn announced the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues selected Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson to the Hall of Fame. |
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| 1986 |
Hawks guard Spud Webb, despite being only 5'7", won the NBA's slam dunk contest at the NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas. |
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| 1991 |
White Ruffles, driven by Jack Moiseyev, won the first of her two consecutive Cape & Cutter finals in a stakes-record 1:54 at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. |
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| 1997 |
Scotty Bowman became the first NHL coach to win 1,000 regular season games when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-5. |
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Mike Gartner of the Phoenix Coyotes became only the sixth player in NHL history to compile 600 career assists and 600 goals when he got two assists in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. |
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| 1998 |
Beating the flu, Michael Jordan registered 23 points, handed out eight assists and pulled down six rebounds to propel the East All Stars past the West, 135-114. |
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| 2000 |
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas died from apparent complications after a January 23rd automobile accident that killed one passenger and left him paralyzed from the chest down. Thomas was 33 years old. |
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| 2002 |
The 19th Winter Olympics officially began with lighting of the cauldron in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 1980 US Hockey Team had the honor of lighting the flame, led by former Captain Mike Eruzione. |
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| 2003 |
The NBA switched the first-round of the playoffs from a best-of-5 to a best-of-7 format beginning this year. |
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| 2004 |
The NFC beat the AFC in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, 55-52. The 107 points were the most scored in Pro Bowl history. St. Louis QB Marc Bulger threw for four touchdown passes and was named the MVP. |
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The Eastern Conference beat the Western Conference, 6-4, in the NHL All-Star game in St. Paul, Minneapolis. Colorado's Joe Sakic scored three goals in a losing cause, but was named the MVP. |
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Greg Biffle took the pole position for Daytona 500. |
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| 2005 |
The WNBA added a new franchise in Chicago. |
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| 2006 |
Idaho named Dennis Erickson its new college football coach. |
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| 2007 |
The Dallas Cowboys named Wade Phillips their new head coach. |
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| 2008 |
The Seattle Mariners acquired pitcher Erik Bedard from the Baltimore Orioles for five players. |
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LSU fired head basketball coach John Brady. |
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| 2009 |
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught two touchdowns, including the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter, as the NFC upended the AFC, 30-21, in the Pro Bowl. |
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The Philadelphia Phillies signed first baseman Ryan Howard to a three-year contract worth $54 million. |
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| Birthdays |
Alonzo Mourning (1970) - NBA Player; Dino Ciccarelli (1960) - NHL player. |
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