February 7

Events

457 - Leo I of the Byzantine Empire|Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

1301 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first England|English Prince of Wales.

1550 - Pope Julius III|Julius III becomes Pope.

1613 - Mikhail I of Russia|Mikhail Romanov becomes Tsar of Russia.

1795 - The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution|11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.

1807 - Napoleon I of France|Napoléon's First French Empire|French Empire begin fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at the Battle of Eylau in Eylau, Poland.

1812 - The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.

1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali II of Yejju|Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien

1863 - HMS Orpheus (1861)|HMS ''Orpheus'' sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.

1882 - The last heavyweight boxing championship bare-knuckle fight takes place in Mississippi City, Mississippi.

1898 - Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.

1900 - The United Kingdom|British Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party is formed.

1904 - A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.

1940 - Walt Disney's ''Pinocchio (1940 movie)|Pinocchio'', an animation|animated feature based on the Carlo Collodi's story ''Pinocchio'' was first released.

1944 - World War II: In Anzio, Italy Nazi forces launch a counteroffensive.

1962 - The United States Government bans all Cuban imports and exports.

1964 - The Beatles arrive on their first visit to the United States.

1966 - Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)|Paul Williams creates the rock music magazine ''Crawdaddy!''.

1967 - A fire at a restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery, Alabama kills 25 people.

1971 - Women gain the right to vote in Switzerland.

1974 - Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

1976 - Darryl Sittler sets National Hockey League|NHL record with 10 points in one game.

1977 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24.

1979 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either planet was known to science.

1984 - Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk.

1985 - "New York, New York (song)|New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New York City.

1986 - Twenty-eight 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.

1991 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.

1992 - The European Union is formed.

1998 - The 1998 Winter Olympic Games open in Nagano, Japan.

1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah II of Jordan|Abdullah becomes the ruler of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein of Jordan|Hussein.

2000 - Bahria University is established through the Presidential Ordinance No. V of 2000 of Government of Pakistan.

2003 - Last contact with Pioneer 10.

2005- officially becomes available in the U.S.

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)

1693 - Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)

1812 - Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870)

1842 - Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (d. 1923)

1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)

1870 - Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)

1883 - Eubie Blake, American musician and composer (d. 1983)

1885 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)

1895 - Anita Stewart, American film actress (d. 1961)

1898 - Dock Boggs, American musician (d. 1971)

1905 - Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)

1905 - Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)

1906 - Puyi, Emperor of China (d. 1967)

1908 - Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)

1914 - Ramón Mercader, Spanish assassin of Leon Trotsky (d. 1978)

1915 - Eddie Bracken, American actor (d. 2002)

1920 - An Wang, Chinese-born computer pioneer (d. 1990)

1922 - Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)

1926 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut

1927 - Juliette Greco, French singer and actor

1927 - Vladimir Kuts, Russian runner

1932 - Gay Talese, American author

1932 - Al Worden, astronaut

1934 - Earl King, American musician (d. 2003)

1943 - Gareth Hunt, English actor

1945 - Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player

1945 - Pete Postlethwaite, English actor

1949 - Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach

1953 - Dan Quisenberry, baseball player (d. 1998)

1954 - Dieter Bohlen German composer

1955 - Rolf Benirschke, American football player

1955 - Mario Coutinho Brazilian physician

1955 - Miguel Ferrer, American actor

1960 - James Spader, American actor

1962 - Garth Brooks, American singer

1962 - Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian

1965 - Jason Gedrick, American actor

1967 - Chris Rock, American comedian and actor

1968 - Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-born hockey player

1968 - Sully Erna, American singer (Godsmack)

1974 - Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player

1975 - Wes Borland, American guitarist (Limp Bizkit)

1978 - Ashton Kutcher, American actor

1984 - Jonathan "Trueborn" Smith, American vocalist (Binswitch)

1985 - Tina Majorino, American actress

1988 - Ai Kago, Japanese singer (W (Double You), Morning Musume, and MiniMoni)

Deaths

1045 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)

1317 - Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)

1560 - Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (b. 1493)

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 (scientist)|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)

1873 - Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (b. 1814)

1878 - Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)

1920 - Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (b. 1874)

1937 - Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1845)

1938 - Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)

1968 - Nick Adams, American actor (b. 1931)

1971 - Dock Boggs, American musician (b. 1898)

1979 - Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)

1980 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)

1985 - Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1932)

1990 - Jimmy Van Heusen, American songwriter (b. 1913)

1993 - Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)

1994 - Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (b. 1913)

1994 - Stephen Milligan, British journalist and politician (b. 1948)

1996 - Phillip Davidson, US Army general (b. 1915)

1998 - Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)

1999 - King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)

1999 - Bobby Troup, American musician and actor (b. 1918)

2000 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician (b. 1947)

2000 - Big Pun, Puerto Rican singer (b. 1971)

2001 - Dale Evans, American actress and singer (b. 1912)

2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator (b. 1906)

2003 - Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)

2003 - John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)

2004 - John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)

Holidays and observances

Independence Day in Grenada (1974)

Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Mulk (Dominion) - First day of the 18th month of the Bahá'í Calendar

Sapporo Snow Festival in Sapporo, Japan (2005)

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/7

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050207.html ---- February 6 - February 8 - January 7 - March 7 -- historical anniversaries|listing of all days