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).

Contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances 5 External links

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, during which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn 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: Napoleon finds Bennigsen's Russian forces taking a stand at Eylau. After bitter fighting, the French take the town, but the Russians resume the battle the next day. 1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri. 1813 – In the action of 7 February 1813 near the Îles de Los, the frigates Aréthuse and Amelia batter each other, but neither can gain the upper hand. 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. 1854 – A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855. 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. 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: Seven hundred five suspected communist sympathizers are butchered by South Korean forces. 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports. 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. 1991 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government. 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. 2013 – Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995. 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. 2016 – North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space.

Births
572 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622) 1102 – Empress Matilda, English 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 blacksmith and businessman, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886) 1812 – Charles Dickens, English author and critic (d. 1870) 1825 – Karl Möbius, German zoologist and ecologist (d. 1908) 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, composer, and conductor (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 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, Swedish-American engineer and theorist (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) 1898 – Dock Boggs, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1971) 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (d. 1989) 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 engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company (d. 1984) 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983) 1908 – Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian journalist and author (d. 2000) 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (d. 1999) 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian soldier (d. 2010) 1912 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (d. 1981) 1913 – 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) 1916 – Frank Hyde, Australian rugby player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2007) 1919 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (d. 1989) 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and author 1920 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990) 1922 – Leon Bibb, American-Canadian singer and actor (d. 2015) 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980) 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress (d. 2014) 1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (d. 2012) 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2009) 1926 – Bill Hoest, American cartoonist (d. 1988) 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, Sri Lankan Minister of Finance (d. 2015) 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Malta 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist and producer (d. 1971) 1934 – Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2003) 1935 – Herb Kohl, American businessman and politician 1935 – Jörg Schneider, Swiss actor and author (d. 2015) 1936 – Jas Gawronski, Italian journalist and politician 1937 – Peter Jay, English economist, journalist, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player 1940 – Tony Tan, Singaporean academic and politician, 7th President 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) 1948 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Three Dog Night) (d. 2015) 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician 1949 – Joe English, American drummer and songwriter (Wings and Sea Level) 1949 – Alan Lancaster, English bass player and songwriter (Status Quo and The Party Boys) 1950 – Karen Joy Fowler, American author 1952 – Vasco Rossi, Italian singer-songwriter 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (d. 1998) 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) 1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player and coach 1958 – Giuseppe Baresi, Italian footballer and manager 1958 – Terry Marsh, English boxer and politician 1958 – Matt Ridley, English journalist, author, and politician 1959 – Vladimír Havlík, Czech action artist 1959 – Mick McCarthy, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster 1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor, producer, and screenwriter 1960 – James Spader, American actor and producer 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1962 – David Bryan, American keyboard player and songwriter (Bon Jovi) 1962 – Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor, and producer 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian journalist, author, and screenwriter 1964 – Cynthia Woodhead, American swimmer and journalist 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer 1968 – Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-Slovak ice hockey player and manager 1968 – Sully Erna, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Godsmack and Meliah Rage) 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster 1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer-songwriter 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 – Danny Goffey, English singer-songwriter and drummer (Supergrass, Babyshambles, The Jennifers, Lodger, and The Hotrats) 1974 – Steve Nash, South African-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 1975 – Dan Green, American voice actor, voice director and script adapter 1976 – Chito Miranda, Filipino singer-songwriter (Parokya ni Edgar) 1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer 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 and coach 1979 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate 1979 – Cerina Vincent, American actress and producer 1980 – Richie Castellano, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Blue Öyster Cult) 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 – Georgios Gougoulias, Greek footballer 1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese footballer 1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian race car driver 1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer 1983 – Sam Martin, American singer 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 1987 – Kerli, Estonian-American singer-songwriter and pianist 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 – Elia Viviani, Italian cyclist 1989 – Isaiah Thomas, American basketball roster 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 – Sergi Roberto, Spanish footballer 1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer and actress (Cute, ZYX, and High-King) 1993 – Diego Laxalt, Uruguayan footballer 1995 – Roberto Osuna, Mexican baseball player 1996 – Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer and actress (Cute, Petitmoni, and Kira Pika) 1997 – Anhelina Kalinina, Ukrainian tennis player 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) 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548) 1642 – William Bedell, English bishop and academic (b. 1571) 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) 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1787) 1864 – Vuk 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) 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) 1921 – John J. Gardner, American politician (b. 1845) 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) 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) 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) 1996 – Phillip Davidson, American general (b. 1915) 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 – 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) 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921) 2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1932) 2006 – Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1914) 2009 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (b. 1924) 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1964) 2012 – Harry Keough, American soccer player and coach (b. 1927) 2013 – Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter (b. 1933) 2014 – Tado, Filipino comedian and actor (b. 1974) 2014 – Doug Mohns, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933) 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) 2015 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances
Christian feast day: Richard the Pilgrim Blessed Eugénie Smet Blessed Pope Pius IX Chrysolius Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph Colette of Corbie February 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Independence Day (Grenada), celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.