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.
• 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 – 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.
• 1951 – Korean War: Sancheong-Hamyang massacre
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Births

• 572 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622)
• 1102 – Empress Matilda, English wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1169)
• 1478 – Thomas More, English politician and author (d. 1535)
• 1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English playwright (d. 1683)
• 1693 – Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
• 1741 – Henry Fuseli, Swiss painter (d. 1825)
• 1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech tenor composer (d. 1826)
• 1804 – John Deere, American businessman, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886)
• 1812 – Charles Dickens, English author (d. 1870)
• 1837 – James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
• 1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1923)
• 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
• 1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)
• 1873 – Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder and businessman (d. 1912)
• 1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
• 1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American author 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, American engineer (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Ann Little, American actress (d. 1984)
• 1893 – Joseph Algernon Pearce, Canadian astrophysicist (d. 1988)
• 1895 – Anita Stewart, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Dock Boggs, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand politician (d. 1989)
• 1905 – Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)
• 1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1906 – Puyi, Emperor of China (d. 1967)
• 1906 – Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
• 1908 – Fred Gipson, American author (d. 1973)
• 1908 – Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian revolutionary writer(d.2000)
• 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian army officer (d. 2010)
• 1909 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian
• 1912 – Russell Drysdale, 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 (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Markey Robinson, Irish painter (d. 1999)
• 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian singer-songwriter and author
• 1920 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990)
• 1922 – Marion Cunningham, American food writer (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
• 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and singer
• 1923 – Martha Holmes, American photographer (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (d. 2012)
• 1926 – John Frank Davidson, English engineer
• 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress
• 1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Russian runner (d. 1975)
• 1927 – Patsy Swayze, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1929 – Dave Shepherd, English jazz clarinettist
• 1932 – Gay Talese, American author
• 1932 – Alfred Worden, American astronaut
• 1933 – John Anderton, English footballer
• 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese politician, 7th President of Malta
• 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist (d. 1971)
• 1934 – Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2003)
• 1935 – Herb Kohl, American politician
• 1935 – Cliff Jones, Welsh footballer
• 1937 – Peter Jay, English economist, broadcaster and diplomat
• 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1938 – S. Ramachandran Pillai, Indian politician
• 1939 – Ray Taliaferro, American radio host
• 1941 – Kevin Crossley Holland, English translator, author and poet
• 1941 – Peter Foxhall, Australian clergyman and author
• 1941 – Little Tony, Italian-Sammarinese singer and actor (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Eric Foner, American historian
• 1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
• 1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player
• 1945 – Ian Jack, Scottish journalist
• 1946 – Héctor Babenco, Argentinian-Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Sammy Johns, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Brian Patten, English poet
• 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1948 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American keyboard player (Three Dog Night)
• 1949 – Martin Daunton, British historian and academic
• 1949 – Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach
• 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician
• 1949 – Joe English, American drummer (Wings and Sea Level)
• 1949 – Alan Lancaster, English rock musician, Status Quo
• 1950 – Karen Joy Fowler, American author
• 1950 – Dai Havard, Welsh politican
• 1951 – Benny Ayala, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
• 1952 – Vasco Rossi, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1954 – Dieter Bohlen German singer-songwriter and producer (Modern Talking and Blue System)
• 1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player
• 1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor
• 1956 – Emo Philips, American comedian
• 1956 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (Kiss and White Tiger) (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Richard Cook, English journalist (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player
• 1958 – Rusty Brooks, American wrestler
• 1958 – Terry Marsh, English boxer
• 1958 – Matt Ridley, English scientist, journalist, and author
• 1958 – Giuseppe Baresi, Italian footballer and coach
• 1959 – Mick McCarthy, English footballer, manager and pundit
• 1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor and comedian
• 1960 – James Spader, American actor
• 1961 – Alfred Zijai, Albanian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1962 – David Bryan, American keyboard player and songwriter (Bon Jovi)
• 1962 – Eddie Izzard, Yemeni-English actor and comedian
• 1963 – Seppo Vilderson, Estonian footballer
• 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian author
• 1964 – Ray Mears, English television host and author
• 1964 – Cynthia Woodhead, American swimmer
• 1965 – Jason Gedrick, American actor
• 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
• 1965 – Petr Váša, Czech singer-songwriter, actor, and poet
• 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-songwriter and guitarist (Godsmack)
• 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer
• 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 – Stephanie Cook, Scottish pentathlete
• 1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
• 1972 – Amon Tobin, Brazilian DJ, producer, and songwriter (Two Fingers)
• 1973 – Irina Björklund, Finnish actress
• 1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player
• 1974 – Nujabes, Japanese DJ and producer (d. 2010)
• 1974 – Cheryl Cosim, Filipino journalist
• 1974 – J Dilla, American rapper and producer (Slum Village) (d. 2006)
• 1974 – Danny Goffey, English singer-songwriter and drummer (Supergrass, Babyshambles, The Jennifers, Lodger, and The Hotrats)
• 1974 – Emma McLaughlin, American novelist
• 1974 – Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player
• 1975 – Wes Borland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Limp Bizkit, Black Light Burns, Big Dumb Face, and Combichrist)
• 1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Rémi Gaillard, French comedian and actor
• 1976 – Kelly Choi, South Korean-American television host
• 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 and mixed martial artist
• 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
• 1979 – Nicola Campedelli, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni activist and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1979 – Jon Leicester, American baseball player
• 1979 – Cerina Vincent, American actress
• 1980 – Kevin J. Boyle, American politician
• 1980 – Maximiliano Cejas, Argentinian footballer
• 1980 – Richie Castellano, American singer, songwriter and musician (Blue Öyster Cult)
• 1981 – Darcy Dolce Neto, Brazilian 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 – 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 – Kerli, Estonian-American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1987 – Brea Bennett, American porn actress
• 1987 – Joe Cardle, English footballer
• 1988 – Lee Don-Ku, South Korean ice hockey player
• 1988 – Nikola Fraňková, Czech tennis player
• 1988 – Albin Hodza, 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 – Louisa Lytton, English actress
• 1989 – Alexis Rolín, Uruguayan footballer
• 1990 – Anna Abreu, Finnish-Portuguese singer
• 1990 – Neil Etheridge, English-Filipino footballer
• 1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
• 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
• 1993 – Mehdi Kiani, Persian actor
• 1996 – David Castro, American actor
• 1996 – Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer (Cute, Petitmoni, and Kira Pika)
• 1997 – Anhelina Kalinina, Ukrainian tennis player

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 (b. 1522)
• 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
• 1642 – William Bedell, English clergyman (b. 1571)
• 1690 – Sir William Morice, 1st Baronet, English politician (b. 1628)
• 1693 – Paul Pellisson, French author (b. 1624)
• 1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer (b. 1666)
• 1779 – William Boyce, English composer (b. 1711)
• 1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
• 1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)
• 1819 – August Wilhelm Hupel, Baltic German linguist and clergyman (b. 1737)
• 1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English author (b. 1764)
• 1837 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
• 1839 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)
• 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1787)
• 1864 – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian philologist and liguist (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 (b. 1847)
• 1898 – John Reily Knox, American lawyer, founded Beta Theta Pi (b. 1820)
• 1919 – William Halford, American navy officer, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
• 1920 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral (b. 1874)
• 1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian politician, and judge (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 (b. 1886)
• 1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (b. 1876)
• 1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (b. 1874)
• 1952 – Pete Henry, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
• 1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player (b. 1874)
• 1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
• 1959 – Guitar Slim, American guitarist (b. 1926)
• 1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (b. 1903)
• 1962 – Clara Nordström, German author and translator (b. 1886)
• 1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
• 1964 – Sofoklis Venizelos, Greek politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
• 1965 – Perikles Ioannidis, Greek admiral (b. 1881)
• 1968 – Nick Adams, American actor (b. 1931)
• 1971 – Douglass Cadwallader, American golfer (b. 1884)
• 1972 – Walter Lang, American director (b. 1896)
• 1979 – Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Secondo Campini, Italian engineer (b. 1904)
• 1985 – Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1930)
• 1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (b. 1923)
• 1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (b. 1905)
• 1991 – Jean-Paul Mousseau, Canadian painter (b. 1927)
• 1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli soldier (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Buzz Sawyer, American wrestler (b. 1959)
• 1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Stephen Milligan, English journalist and politician (b. 1948)
• 1994 – Arnold Smith, Canadian diplomat, 1st Commonwealth Secretary-General (b. 1915)
• 1996 – Phillip Davidson, American general (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)
• 1999 – Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
• 1999 – José Silva, American parapsychologist (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Bobby Troup, American actor, pianist, and composer (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (b. 1947)
• 2000 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
• 2000 – Big Pun, American rapper (Terror Squad) (b. 1971)
• 2000 – Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (b. 1943)
• 2001 – Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and pilot (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Jack Fairman, English race car driver (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Tony Pond, English race car driver (b. 1945)
• 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
• 2003 – John H. Reading, American politician (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese 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 (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Molly Bee, American singer and actress (b. 1939)
• 2009 – Jack Cover, American pilot and scientist, invented the Taser gun (b. 1920)
• 2009 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Brian Naylor, Australian television host (b. 1931)
• 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1964)
• 2013 – William Anthony Hughes, American bishop (b. 1921)
• 2013 – John Livermore, American geologist (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Niki Marangou, Cypriot painter and author (b. 1948)
• 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)
• 2014 – Tado Jimenez, Filipino comedian (b. 1974)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Richard the Pilgrim
  • 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to February 7.

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