February 7

February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 327 days remaining until the end of the year (328 in leap years).

Events

• 457 – Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1074 – Pandulf IV of Benevento is killed battling the invading Normans at the Battle of Montesarchio.
• 1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
• 1497 – The bonfire of the vanities occurs in which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy.
• 1783 – American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
• 1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
• 1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Eylau – Napoléon's French Empire begins fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at Eylau, Poland.
• 1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
• 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
• 1842 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
• 1856 – The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is imprisoned and later exiled to Calcutta.
• 1856 – The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the second piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot.
• 1863 – HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
• 1894 – The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
• 1897 – Greco-Turkish War: The first full-scale battle takes place when the Greek expeditionary force in Crete defeats a 4,000-strong Ottoman force at Livadeia.
• 1898 – Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
• 1904 – A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
• 1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
• 1935 – The classic board game Monopoly is invented.
• 1940 – The second full length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
• 1943 – Imperial Japanese naval forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Allied forces in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
• 1944 – World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
• 1948 – Neil Harvey becomes the youngest Australian to score a century in Test cricket.
• 1951 – Korean War: Sancheong-Hamyang massacre
• 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
• 1964 – The Beatles first arrived in the United States. Their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show two days later would mark the beginning of the British Invasion.
• 1974 – Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1976 – Darryl Sittler sets an NHL record for scoring 10 points in a single game.
• 1979 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
• 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
• 1986 – Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
• 1990 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.
• 1991 – Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
• 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
• 1995 – Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
• 1999 – Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
• 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

Births

• 1102 – Empress Matilda, Princess of England and wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1169)
• 1478 – Sir Thomas More, English statesman, humanist and author (d. 1535)
• 1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English dramatist (d. 1683)
• 1693 – Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
• 1702 – Carl August Thielo, Danish composer (d. 1763)
• 1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech composer and tenor (d. 1826)
• 1804 – John Deere, American manufacturer (Deere & Company) (d. 1886)
• 1812 – Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870)
• 1837 – Sir James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
• 1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (d. 1923)
• 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
• 1873 – Thomas Andrews, British shipbuilder on the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
• 1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)
• 1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
• 1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1951)
• 1885 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
• 1886 – Yehezkel Abramsky, Russian rabbi, head of the London Beth Din for 17 years (d. 1976)
• 1887 – Eubie Blake, American musician and composer (d. 1983)
• 1889 – Harry Nyquist, important contributor to information theory (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Ann Little, American actress (d. 1984)
• 1895 – Anita Stewart, American film actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Dock Boggs, American musician (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand politician (d. 1989)
• 1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1983)
• 1905 – Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)
• 1906 – Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer (d. 1984)
• 1906 – Puyi, Emperor of China (d. 1967)
• 1907 – Yevgeniy Abalakov, Soviet mountaineer (d. 1948)
• 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
• 1908 – Fred Gipson, American author (d. 1973)
• 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, former officer of the Italian Army (d. 2010)
• 1909 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian
• 1912 – Russell Drysdale, Australian Artist (d. 1981)
• 1912 – Roberta McCain, American, mother of John McCain
• 1914 – Ramón Mercader, Spanish assassin of Leon Trotsky (d. 1978)
• 1915 – Eddie Bracken, American actor (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Teoctist, Ex-Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Markey Robinson, Northern Irish painter (d. 1999)
• 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian folk musicologist
• 1920 – An Wang, Chinese computer pioneer (d. 1990)
• 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
• 1923 – Martha Holmes, American photographer (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and singer
• 1926 – John Frank Davidson, British chemical engineer and Royal Medal holder
• 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actor
• 1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Russian runner (d. 1975)
• 1929 – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean filmmaker
• 1932 – Gay Talese, American author
• 1932 – Al Worden, American astronaut
• 1933 – John Anderton, English footballer
• 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese politician, Prime Minister (1987-1996, 1998-2004); President (2004-2009)
• 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist (d. 1971)
• 1934 – Earl King, American musician (d. 2003)
• 1935 – Herbert Kohl, American politician
• 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1938 – S. Ramachandran Pillai, Indian communist leader
• 1939 – Ray Taliaferro, American radio talkshow host
• 1941 – Peter Foxhall, Australian evangelist
• 1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
• 1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player
• 1945 – Ian Jack, Scottish journalist
• 1946 – Hector Babenco, Brazilian film director
• 1946 – Sammy Johns, American country singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Wayne Allwine, American voice artist (d. 2009)
• 1949 – Joe English, American drummer (Wings, Sea Level)
• 1949 – Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach
• 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian civil servant and Chief of Police
• 1951 – Benny Ayala, baseball player
• 1952 – Vasco Rossi, Italian singer
• 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1954 – Dieter Bohlen German composer
• 1954 – Brian Morton, Scottish writer
• 1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player
• 1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor
• 1956 – Emo Philips, American comedian
• 1956 – Mark St. John, American musician (Kiss) (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Richard Cook, British jazz writer (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player
• 1958 – Matt Ridley, British scientist and writer
• 1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor and comedian
• 1960 – James Spader, American actor
• 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer
• 1962 – David Bryan, American musician (Bon Jovi)
• 1962 – Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian
• 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian novelist
• 1964 – Ray Mears, British survival expert and TV presenter
• 1964 – Cynthia Woodhead, American swimmer
• 1965 – Jason Gedrick, American actor
• 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor and comedian
• 1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer
• 1967 – Richie Burnett, Welsh darts player
• 1967 – Cheung Man, Hong Kong actress
• 1968 – Peter Bondra, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1968 – Sully Erna, American singer (Godsmack)
• 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer
• 1969 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
• 1969 – Yves Racine, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Stanley Roberts, American basketball player
• 1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer
• 1972 – Essence Atkins, American actress
• 1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
• 1972 – Amon Tobin, Brazilian musician
• 1973 – Irina Björklund, Finnish actress
• 1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player
• 1974 – J Dilla, American record producer (d. 2006)
• 1974 – Nujabes, Japanese hip hop producer (d. 2010)
• 1974 – Danny Goffey, British musician (Supergrass)
• 1974 – Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player
• 1975 – Wes Borland, American guitarist (Limp Bizkit)
• 1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1976 – Kelly Choi, Korean/American TV hostess
• 1976 – Sreto Ristić, German footballer
• 1977 – Georgios Alexopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1977 – Paul Comrie, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
• 1977 – Dimitris Papanikolaou, Greek basketball player
• 1977 – Mariusz Pudzianowski, Polish strongman
• 1978 – David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1978 – Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1978 – Ashton Kutcher, American actor
• 1978 – Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian footballer
• 1979 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer
• 1979 – Nicola Campedelli, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Jon Leicester, American baseball player
• 1979 – Cerina Vincent, American actress
• 1980 – Kevin J. Boyle, American politician
• 1980 – Maximiliano Cejas, Argentine footballer
• 1981 – Lee Ok-Sung, South Korean boxer
• 1982 – Osamu Mukai, Japanese actor
• 1982 – Mickael Pietrus, French basketball player
• 1983 – Scott Feldman, American baseball player
• 1983 – Teshome Getu, Ethiopian footballer
• 1983 – Georgios Gougoulias, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian racing driver
• 1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese football player
• 1985 – Tina Majorino, American actress
• 1985 – Devis Nossa, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Deborah Ann Woll, American actress
• 1986 – Michael Orozco Fiscal, American footballer
• 1986 – Pippa Wilson, British sailor
• 1987 – Joe Cardle, British footballer
• 1987 – Kerli, Estonian singer
• 1988 – Lee Don-Ku, South Korean ice hockey player
• 1988 – Albin Hodza, French footballer
• 1988 – Lee Joon, Korean singer (MBLAQ)
• 1988 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer
• 1988 – Matthew Stafford, American football player
• 1989 – Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
• 1989 – Louisa Lytton, British actress
• 1990 – Anna Abreu, Finnish singer
• 1990 – Neil Etheridge, English/Filipino footballer
• 1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1991 – Zhou Yimiao, Chinese tennis player
• 1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer
• 1993 – David Dorfman, American actor
• 1996 – David Castro, American actor
• 1996 – Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer

Deaths

• 999 – Boleslaus II of Bohemia
• 1045 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
• 1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)
• 1560 – Bartolomeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (b. 1493)
• 1603 – Hermann Wilken, German humanist and mathematician (b. 1522)
• 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
• 1642 – William Bedell, English clergyman (b. 1571)
• 1652 – Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (b. 1582)
• 1690 – William Morice, English royalist statesman
• 1693 – Paul Pellisson, French writer (b. 1624)
• 1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer and scientist (b. 1666)
• 1779 – William Boyce, English composer (b. 1711)
• 1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
• 1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)
• 1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English novelist (b. 1764)
• 1837 – King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
• 1839 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)
• 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martinez de la Rosa, Spanish statesman and dramatist (b. 1787)
• 1871 – Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, piano manufacturer (Steinway & Sons) (b. 1797)
• 1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (b. 1814)
• 1878 – Blessed Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
• 1897 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (b. 1847)
• 1898 – John Reily Knox, Lawyer and founder of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity (b. 1820)
• 1919 – William Halford, American naval officer and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
• 1920 – Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (b. 1874)
• 1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian politician, judge, journalist, and author. (b. 1850)
• 1937 – Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1845)
• 1938 – Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)
• 1939 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (b. 1886)
• 1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (b. 1876)
• 1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (b. 1874)
• 1952 – Pete Henry, American professional American football player and coach (b. 1897)
• 1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player (b. 1874)
• 1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African Prime Minister, father of Apartheid policy (b. 1874)
• 1959 – Guitar Slim, American blues guitarist (b. 1926)
• 1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (b. 1903)
• 1962 – Clara Nordström, German writer and translator (b. 1886)
• 1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
• 1964 – Sophoklis Venizelos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
• 1965 – Perikles Ioannidis, Greek admiral (b. 1881)
• 1968 – Nick Adams, American actor (b. 1931)
• 1972 – Walter Lang, American film director (b. 1896)
• 1979 – Dr. Josef Mengele, German, Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)
• 1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian (b. 1923)
• 1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino military figure (b. 1905)
• 1990 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American songwriter (b. 1913)
• 1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli soldier, Medal of Distinguished Service recipient (b. 1920)
• 1991 – Jean-Paul Mousseau, French-Canadian painter, member of Les Automatistes (b. 1927)
• 1992 – Buzz Sawyer, wrestler (b. 1959)
• 1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Stephen Milligan, British journalist and politician (b. 1948)
• 1994 – Arnold Smith, Canadian diplomat (b. 1915)
• 1996 – Phillip Davidson, US Army general (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)
• 1999 – King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
• 1999 – José Silva, author of Silva Method and the Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Bobby Troup, American musician and actor (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
• 2000 – Big Pun, Puerto Rican-American rapper (b. 1971)
• 2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (b. 1947)
• 2000 – Dave Peverett, English musician (Foghat, Savoy Brown) (b. 1943)
• 2001 – Dale Evans, American actress and singer (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Jack Fairman, British racing driver (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
• 2003 – John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1934)
• 2006 – Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Tamara Desni, German-born British actress (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Jack Cover, American inventor of the Taser gun (b. 1920)
• 2009 – Brian Naylor, Australian television presenter (b. 1931)
• 2009 – Molly Bee, American singer (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian Cycler, Coach of the Italy team of cycling (b. 1964)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Blessed Eugenia Smet
  • Blessed Pope Pius IX
  • Chrysolius
  • February 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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