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 the Thracian 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 – Napoleon'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.
• 1813 – Action of 7 February 1813: stalemate two evenly matched frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy, Aréthuse and HMS Amelia.
• 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 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 – Dreyfus affair: 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 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy 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.
• 1951 – Korean War: 705 suspected communist sympathizers are butchered by South Korean forces.
• 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
• 1964 – The Beatles first arrive 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.
• 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.
• 1997 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
• 1999 – Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
• 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leaves 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
• 2012 – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
• 2013 – At least 51 people are killed in a crash involving a bus and truck in Zambia.
• 2014 – The opening ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympics is held in the Russian city of Sochi.
• 2014 – Over 350 people were injured in the anti-government unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Births

• 572 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622)
• 1102 – Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England and wife of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1169)
• 1478 – Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (d. 1535)
• 1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English playwright and manager (d. 1683)
• 1693 – Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
• 1726 – Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter (d. 1766)
• 1741 – Henry Fuseli, Swiss-English painter and academic (d. 1825)
• 1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech tenor and composer (d. 1826)
• 1804 – John Deere, American businessman, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886)
• 1812 – Charles Dickens, English author and critic (d. 1870)
• 1837 – James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
• 1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1923)
• 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
• 1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish psychologist and therapist (d. 1937)
• 1871 – Wilhelm Stenhammar, Swedish pianist and composer (d. 1927)
• 1873 – Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder and businessman, designed the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
• 1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and geneticist (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
• 1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
• 1885 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
• 1887 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (d. 1983)
• 1889 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish-American engineer (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Ann Little, American actress (d. 1984)
• 1893 – Joseph Algernon Pearce, Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1988)
• 1895 – Anita Stewart, American actress and producer (d. 1961)
• 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (d. 1989)
• 1904 – Rocco D'Assunta, Italian actor, comedian and playwright (d. 1970)
• 1904 – Morton W. Coutts, New Zealand inventor (d. 2004)
• 1905 – Paul Nizan, French philosopher and author (d. 1940)
• 1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1906 – Puyi, Chinese emperor (d. 1967)
• 1906 – Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, Russian aircraft designer and engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
• 1908 – Fred Gipson, American journalist and author (d. 1973)
• 1908 – Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian journalist and author (d. 2000)
• 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian soldier (d. 2010)
• 1909 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (d. 2014)
• 1912 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (d. 1981)
• 1912 – Roberta McCain, American wife of John S. McCain, Jr.
• 1914 – Ramón Mercader, Spanish assassin of Leon Trotsky (d. 1978)
• 1915 – Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch (d. 2007)
• 1915 – Eddie Bracken, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and author
• 1920 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990)
• 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
• 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and singer (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress
• 1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-Russian runner and coach (d. 1975)
• 1928 – Lincoln D. Faurer, American general (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Gay Talese, American journalist and author
• 1932 – Alfred Worden, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1933 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka (d. 2015)
• 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Malta
• 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist and producer (d. 1971)
• 1935 – Cliff Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1935 – Herb Kohl, American businessman and politician
• 1935 – Jörg Schneider, Swiss actor and author (d. 2015)
• 1937 – Peter Jay, English economist, journalist, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
• 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1939 – Ray Taliaferro, American radio host
• 1940 – Tony Tan Keng Yam, seventh President of the Republic of Singapore
• 1941 – Kevin Crossley-Holland, English author and poet
• 1941 – Little Tony, Italian-Sammarinese singer and actor (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Eric Foner, American historian, author, and academic
• 1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
• 1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player and journalist
• 1946 – Héctor Babenco, Argentinian-Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor and singer (d. 2009)
• 1949 – Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach
• 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician
• 1950 – Karen Joy Fowler, American author
• 1951 – Benny Ayala, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1952 – Vasco Rossi, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Dieter Bohlen German singer-songwriter and producer (Modern Talking and Blue System)
• 1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player and game show host
• 1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor and director
• 1956 – Emo Philips, American comedian and actor
• 1956 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (Kiss and White Tiger) (d. 2007)
• 1958 – Matt Ridley, English journalist, author, and politician
• 1958 – Giuseppe Baresi, Italian footballer and manager
• 1958 – Terry Marsh, English boxer
• 1959 – Mick McCarthy, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
• 1960 – James Spader, American actor and producer
• 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1962 – Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor, and producer
• 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian journalist and author
• 1964 – Ray Mears, English television host and author
• 1964 – Cynthia Woodhead, American swimmer and journalist
• 1965 – Jason Gedrick, American actor
• 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Petr Váša, Czech singer-songwriter, actor, and poet
• 1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer
• 1967 – Sharla Cheung, Hong Kong actress and producer
• 1968 – Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-Slovak ice hockey player and manager
• 1968 – Maitreesh Ghatak, Indian economist and academic
• 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
• 1969 – Adriano Silva Francisco, Brazilian footballer
• 1969 – Yves Racine, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Stanley Roberts, American basketball player
• 1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer-songwriter
• 1972 – Essence Atkins, American actress
• 1972 – Aftab Habib, English cricketer and coach
• 1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
• 1972 – Amon Tobin, Brazilian DJ, producer, and songwriter (Two Fingers)
• 1973 – Irina Björklund, Finnish actress and singer
• 1973 – Mie Sonozaki, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player and coach
• 1974 – Nujabes, Japanese DJ and producer (d. 2010)
• 1974 – J Dilla, American rapper and producer (Slum Village) (d. 2006)
• 1974 – Steve Nash, South African-Canadian basketball player
• 1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Rémi Gaillard, French comedian and actor
• 1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
• 1977 – Dimitrios Papanikolaou, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1977 – Mariusz Pudzianowski, Polish strongman and mixed martial artist
• 1977 – Eri Tanaka, Japanese actress and voice actress
• 1978 – David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1978 – Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1978 – Ashton Kutcher, American model, actor, and producer
• 1978 – Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian footballer
• 1979 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer and coach
• 1979 – Nicola Campedelli, Italian footballer and coach
• 1979 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1979 – Cerina Vincent, American actress and producer
• 1980 – Richie Castellano, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Blue Öyster Cult)
• 1980 – Maximiliano Cejas, Argentinian footballer
• 1981 – Darcy Dolce Neto, Brazilian footballer
• 1981 – Lee Ok-sung, South Korean boxer
• 1982 – Osamu Mukai, Japanese actor
• 1982 – Mickaël Piétrus, French basketball player
• 1983 – Scott Feldman, American baseball player
• 1983 – Teshome Getu, Ethiopian footballer
• 1983 – Emma-Lee, Canadian singer
• 1983 – Georgios Gougoulias, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese footballer
• 1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian race car driver
• 1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Trey Hardee, American decathlete
• 1985 – Tina Majorino, American actress
• 1985 – Devis Nossa, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Deborah Ann Woll, American actress
• 1986 – Stephen Colletti, American actor
• 1986 – Michael Orozco Fiscal, American footballer
• 1986 – Lina Stančiūtė, Lithuanian tennis player
• 1986 – Giorgi Tsintsadze, Georgian basketball player
• 1986 – Pippa Wilson, English sailor
• 1987 – Achmad Jufriyanto, Indonesian footballer
• 1988 – Lee Don-ku, South Korean ice hockey player
• 1988 – Nikola Fraňková, Czech tennis player
• 1988 – Albin Hodža, French footballer
• 1988 – Lee Joon, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (MBLAQ)
• 1988 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer and actress (Morning Musume, W, and Minimoni)
• 1988 – Matthew Stafford, American football player
• 1989 – Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
• 1989 – Alexis Rolín, Uruguayan footballer
• 1989 – Elia Viviani, Italian cyclist
• 1990 – Anna Abreu, Finnish-Portuguese singer
• 1990 – Neil Etheridge, English-Filipino footballer
• 1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1991 – Takahisa Maeyama, Japanese actor
• 1991 – Ryan O'Reilly, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1991 – Zhou Yimiao, Chinese tennis player
• 1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer and actress (Cute, ZYX, and High-King)
• 1993 – David Dorfman, American actor
• 1993 – Diego Laxalt, Uruguayan footballer
• 1995 – Roberto Osuna, Mexican baseball player
• 1996 – Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer (Cute, Petitmoni, and Kira Pika)
• 1999 – Bea Miller, American singer-songwriter and actress

Deaths

• 812 – Li Ning, Chinese prince (b. 793)
• 999 – Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 932)
• 1045 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
• 1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont (b. 1256)
• 1560 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor and painter (b. 1493)
• 1603 – Hermann Wilken, German mathematician and academic (b. 1522)
• 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
• 1642 – William Bedell, English bishop and academic (b. 1571)
• 1690 – Sir William Morice, 1st Baronet, English politician (b. 1628)
• 1693 – Paul Pellisson, French lawyer and author (b. 1624)
• 1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1666)
• 1779 – William Boyce, English organist and composer (b. 1711)
• 1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
• 1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish-German painter and academic (b. 1726)
• 1819 – August Wilhelm Hupel, German-Estonian linguist and author (b. 1737)
• 1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English author (b. 1764)
• 1837 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
• 1839 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (b. 1799)
• 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1787)
• 1864 – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian philologist and linguist (b. 1787)
• 1871 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (b. 1797)
• 1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (b. 1814)
• 1878 – Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
• 1897 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer (b. 1847)
• 1898 – John Reily Knox, American lawyer, founded Beta Theta Pi (b. 1820)
• 1919 – William Halford, English-American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
• 1920 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral and explorer (b. 1874)
• 1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1850)
• 1937 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1938 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (b. 1868)
• 1939 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1886)
• 1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (b. 1876)
• 1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1874)
• 1952 – Pete Henry, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
• 1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
• 1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African minister and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
• 1959 – Guitar Slim, American singer and guitarist (b. 1926)
• 1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1903)
• 1962 – Clara Nordström, German author and translator (b. 1886)
• 1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist and manager (b. 1902)
• 1964 – Sofoklis Venizelos, Greek captain and politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
• 1968 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 1972 – Walter Lang, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
• 1979 – Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician (b. 1911)
• 1985 – Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1930)
• 1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (b. 1923)
• 1990 – Alan Perlis, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1922)
• 1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (b. 1905)
• 1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli colonel (b. 1920)
• 1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Arnold Smith, Canadian scholar and diplomat, 1st Commonwealth Secretary-General (b. 1915)
• 1996 – Boris Tchaikovsky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1925)
• 1998 – Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)
• 1999 – Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
• 1999 – Bobby Troup, American actor, pianist, and composer (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician and politician (b. 1947)
• 2000 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
• 2000 – Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (b. 1943)
• 2000 – Big Pun, American rapper and actor (Terror Squad) (b. 1971)
• 2001 – Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and pilot (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Jack Fairman, English racing driver (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1934)
• 2006 – Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Tamara Desni, German-English actress and singer (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1964)
• 2012 – Harry Keough, American soccer player and coach (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Phil Shanahan, Irish hurler (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Peter Steen, Danish actor (b. 1936)
• 2013 – József Tóth, Hungarian geographer and academic (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Billy Casper, American golfer and architect (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and author (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Richard the Pilgrim
  • Blessed Eugénie Smet
  • Blessed Pope Pius IX
  • Chrysolius
  • Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph
  • 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