February 7 in History

Historical Events on February 7

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).
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: More than 700 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 leave 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

The U.S. state of 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.
2016

North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space.

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