February 7


February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are
327 days remaining, 328 in leap years.

Events

   * 457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire
   * 1301 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes
     the first Prince of Wales
   * 1550 - Julius III becomes Pope
   * 1613 - Mikhail Romanov becomes Tsar of Russia
   * 1795 - The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed
   * 1882 - In Mississippi City the last heavyweight boxing championship
     bareknuckle fight takes place.
   * 1898 - Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse
   * 1900 - The British Labour Party is formed
   * 1904 - A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in
     30 hours.
   * 1943 - World War II: In the United States it is announced that shoe
     rationing will go into effect in two days.
   * 1944 - World War II: In Anzio, Italy Nazi forces launch a
     counteroffensive.
   * 1962 - The United States Government bans all US-related Cuban imports
     and exports.
   * 1964 - The Beatles arrived on their first visit to the United States
   * 1971 - Women gain the right to vote in Switzerland
   * 1974 - Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
   * 1977 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24.
   * 1984 - Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the
     first untethered space walk.
   * 1985 - "New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New
     York City.
   * 1986 - 28 years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President
     Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
   * 1990 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the
     Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power
   * 1991 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand
     Aristide, is sworn in.
   * 1992 - The European Union is formed
   * 1998 - The 1998 Winter Olympic Games open in Nagano, Japan

Births

   * 1478 - Sir Thomas More, statesman and humanist, author of Utopia (+
     1535)
   * 1812 - Charles Dickens, novelist (+ 1870)
   * 1834 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, chemist and inventor of the Periodic
     table of the chemical elements
   * 1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of Little House on the Prairie (+
     1957)
   * 1883 - Eubie Blake, musician, composer (+ 1983)
   * 1885 - Sinclair Lewis, author (+ 1951)
   * 1904 - Ernst Ginsberg, actor and film director (+ 1964)
   * 1905 - Paul Nizan, author (+ 1940)
   * 1908 - Buster Crabbe, Olympic Games swimming gold medalist, actor
   * 1910 - Max Bense, philosopher (+ 1990)
   * 1914 - Ramon Mercader, assassin of Leon Trotsky (+ 1978)
   * 1920 - An Wang, computer pioneer (+ 1990)
   * 1922 - Hattie Jacques, actress (+ 1980)
   * 1926 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut
   * 1927 - Juliette Greco, singer and actor
   * 1932 - Gay Talese, author
   * 1943 - Gareth Hunt. actor
   * 1945 - Pete Postlethwaite, actor
   * 1953 - Lige Curry, musician (P Funk)
   * 1962 - Garth Brooks, country music star
   * 1962 - Eddie Izzard, actor, comic
   * 1967 - Chris Rock, comedian, actor
   * 1978 - Ashton Kutcher, actor

Deaths

   * 780 - Nicetas, Patriarch of Constantinople
   * 1837 - King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
   * 1873 - Sheridan Le Fanu, writer
   * 1920 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander
   * 1938 - Harvey Firestone, manufacturer
   * 1979 - Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal
   * 1980 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer
   * 1993 - Lillian Gish, actress
   * 1998 - Lawrence Sanders, author
   * 1999 - King Hussein of Jordan
   * 1999 - Bobby Troup, musician, actor
   * 2000 - Big Pun, singer
   * 2000 - Doug Henning, magician
   * 2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author, aviator
   * 2001 - Dale Evans, actress, singer

Holidays and observances

   * Bah‡'’ Faith - Feast of Mulk (Dominion) - First day of the 18th month
     of the Bah‡'’ Calendar