February 7

Events

• 457 - Leo I the Thracian becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 987 - Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
• 1301 - Edward of Caernarvon becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
• 1313 - King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Kingdom
• 1497 - In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a "Bonfire of the vanities".
• 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 - 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, United States.
• 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.
• 1900 - A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
• 1904 - A fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
• 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 massacred 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.
• 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.
• 2014 - Scientists announce that the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, date back to more than 800,000 years ago, making them the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa.
• 2016 - North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.

  Births

• 574 - Prince Shōtoku of Japan
• 1102 - Empress Matilda, Holy Roman Empress and claimant to the English throne
• 1478 - Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of England
• 1487 - Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort
• 1500 - João de Castro, viceroy of Portuguese India
• 1612 - Thomas Killigrew, English playwright and manager
• 1622 - Vittoria della Rovere, Italian noble
• 1693 - Empress Anna of Russia
• 1722 - Azar Bigdeli, Iranian anthologist and poet
• 1726 - Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter
• 1741 - Henry Fuseli, Swiss-English painter and academic
• 1758 - Benedikt Schack, Czech tenor and composer
• 1796 - Thomas Gregson, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania
• 1802 - Louisa Jane Hall, American poet, essayist, and literary critic
• 1804 - John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded Deere & Company
• 1812 - Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic
• 1825 - Karl Möbius, German zoologist and ecologist
• 1834 - Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe, French architect
• 1837 - James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist
• 1864 - Arthur Collins, American baritone singer
• 1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author
• 1870 - Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish psychologist and therapist
• 1871 - Wilhelm Stenhammar, Swedish pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1873 - Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder and businessman, designed the RMS Titanic
• 1877 - G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and geneticist
• 1878 - Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor
• 1885 - Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1885 - Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal
• 1887 - Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer
• 1889 - Harry Nyquist, Swedish-American engineer and theorist
• 1893 - Joseph Algernon Pearce, Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer
• 1893 - Nicanor Abelardo, Filipino pianist, composer and teacher
• 1895 - Anita Stewart, American actress
• 1901 - Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance
• 1904 - Ernest E. Debs, American politician, California State Assembly member, Los Angeles city councilman, and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
• 1905 - Paul Nizan, French philosopher and author
• 1905 - Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1906 - Puyi, Chinese emperor
• 1906 - Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, Russian engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company
• 1908 - Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor
• 1908 - Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian journalist and author
• 1909 - Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop
• 1909 - Amedeo Guillet, Italian soldier
• 1912 - Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter
• 1915 - Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch
• 1915 - Eddie Bracken, American actor and singer
• 1916 - Frank Hyde, Australian rugby player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1919 - Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman
• 1919 - Desmond Doss, American army corporal and combat medic, Medal of Honor recipient
• 1920 - Oscar Brand, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and author
• 1920 - An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories
• 1921 - Athol Rowan, South African cricketer
• 1922 - Hattie Jacques, English actress
• 1923 - Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur
• 1925 - Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler
• 1926 - Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut
• 1926 - Bill Hoest, American cartoonist
• 1927 - Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress
• 1927 - Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-Russian runner and coach
• 1927 - Lalo Ríos, Mexican actor
• 1928 - Lincoln D. Faurer, American general
• 1929 - Jim Langley, English international footballer, full back and manager
• 1932 - Gay Talese, American journalist and memoirist
• 1932 - Alfred Worden, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1933 - K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Sri Lankan Minister of Finance
• 1934 - Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Malta
• 1934 - King Curtis, American saxophonist and producer
• 1934 - Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1935 - Cliff Jones, Welsh international footballer, winger
• 1935 - Herb Kohl, American businessman and politician
• 1935 - Jörg Schneider, Swiss actor and author
• 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
• 1943 - Eric Foner, American historian, author, and academic
• 1943 - Gareth Hunt, English actor
• 1945 - Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player and journalist
• 1946 - Héctor Babenco, Argentinian-Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 - Sammy Johns, American country music singer-songwriter
• 1946 - Pete Postlethwaite, English actor
• 1946 - Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist
• 1949 - Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician
• 1949 - Joe English, American drummer and songwriter
• 1950 - Karen Joy Fowler, American author
• 1953 - Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet
• 1954 - Dieter Bohlen, German singer-songwriter and producer
• 1955 - Rolf Benirschke, American football player and game show host
• 1955 - Miguel Ferrer, American actor and director
• 1956 - John Nielsen, Danish racing driver
• 1956 - Mark St. John, American guitarist
• 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 - 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
• 1962 - Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor, and producer
• 1963 - Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, American Naval officer and astronaut
• 1964 - Ashok Banker, Indian journalist, author, and screenwriter
• 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
• 1968 - Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
• 1969 - Andrew Micallef, Maltese painter and musician
• 1971 - Anita Tsoy, Russian singer-songwriter
• 1972 - Robyn Lively, American actress
• 1973 - Juwan Howard, American basketball player and coach
• 1974 - J Dilla, American rapper and producer
• 1974 - Nujabes, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger
• 1974 - Steve Nash, South African-Canadian basketball player
• 1975 - Wes Borland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1975 - Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 - Rémi Gaillard, French comedian and actor
• 1976 - Chito Miranda, Filipino singer-songwriter
• 1977 - Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
• 1978 - David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1978 - Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1978 - Ashton Kutcher, American model, actor, producer, and entrepreneur
• 1978 - Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian football player
• 1979 - Daniel Bierofka, German footballer and coach
• 1979 - Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1979 - Sam J. Miller, American author
• 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 - 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
• 1988 - Ai Kago, Japanese singer and actress
• 1989 - Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
• 1989 - Elia Viviani, Italian cyclist
• 1989 - Isaiah Thomas, American basketball player
• 1990 - Gianluca Lapadula, Italian footballer
• 1990 - Dalilah Muhammad, American hurdler
• 1990 - Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1991 - Ryan O'Reilly, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1992 - Sergi Roberto, Spanish footballer
• 1992 - Ksenia Stolbova, Russian figure skater
• 1992 - Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer and actress
• 1993 - Chris Mears, English diver
• 1994 - Riley Barber, American ice hockey player
• 1995 - Roberto Osuna, Mexican baseball player
• 1996 - Pierre Gasly, French racing driver
• 1997 - Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer

  Deaths

• 199 - Lü Bu, Chinese warlord
• 318 - Jin Mindi, emperor of the Jin Dynasty
• 999 - Boleslaus II the Pious, Duke of Bohemia
• 1045 - Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan
• 1065 - Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim
• 1127 - Ava, German poet
• 1165 - Marshal Stephen of Armenia
• 1259 - Thomas, Count of Flanders
• 1317 - Robert, Count of Clermont
• 1320 - Jan Muskata, Bishop of Kraków
• 1333 - Nikko, Japanese priest, founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism
• 1520 - Alfonsina de' Medici, Regent of Florence
• 1560 - Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Florentine sculptor
• 1603 - Bartholomäus Sastrow, German politician
• 1626 - William V, Duke of Bavaria
• 1642 - William Bedell, English bishop and academic
• 1693 - Paul Pellisson, French lawyer and author
• 1736 - Stephen Gray, English astronomer and physicist
• 1779 - William Boyce, English organist and composer
• 1799 - Qianlong Emperor of China
• 1801 - Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish-German painter and academic
• 1819 - August Wilhelm Hupel, German-Estonian linguist and author
• 1823 - Ann Radcliffe, English author
• 1837 - Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
• 1849 - Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president
• 1862 - Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
• 1864 - Vuk Karadžić, Serbian philologist and linguist
• 1871 - Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons
• 1873 - Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author
• 1878 - Pope Pius IX
• 1891 - Marie Louise Andrews, American story writer and journalist
• 1897 - Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer
• 1919 - William Halford, English-American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient
• 1920 - Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral and explorer
• 1920 - Charles Langelier, Canadian journalist, judge, and politician
• 1921 - John J. Gardner, American politician
• 1937 - Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1938 - Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
• 1939 - Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator
• 1942 - Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer
• 1944 - Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano and actress
• 1959 - Nap Lajoie, American baseball player and manager
• 1959 - Daniel François Malan, South African minister and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa
• 1959 - Guitar Slim, American singer and guitarist
• 1960 - Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic
• 1963 - Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist and manager
• 1964 - Sofoklis Venizelos, Greek captain and politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece
• 1968 - Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter
• 1972 - Walter Lang, American director and screenwriter
• 1979 - Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician
• 1986 - Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist
• 1990 - Alan Perlis, American computer scientist and academic
• 1990 - Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general
• 1991 - Amos Yarkoni, Israeli colonel
• 1994 - Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor
• 1996 - Phillip Davidson, American general
• 1999 - King Hussein of Jordan
• 1999 - Bobby Troup, American actor, pianist, and composer
• 2000 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician and politician
• 2001 - Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 2001 - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and pilot
• 2003 - Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author
• 2005 - Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
• 2006 - Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire
• 2009 - Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist
• 2010 - Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach
• 2012 - Harry Keough, American soccer player and coach
• 2013 - Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter
• 2014 - Doug Mohns, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 2015 - Billy Casper, American golfer and architect
• 2015 - Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and author
• 2015 - Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach
• 2015 - John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State
• 2017 - Richard Hatch, American actor
• 2017 - Hans Rosling, Swedish academic
• 2017 - Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian philosopher
• 2019 - John Dingell, American politician
• 2019 - Albert Finney, English actor
• 2019 - Jan Olszewski, Polish politician, 3rd Prime Minister
• 2019 - Frank Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager

  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
• *New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church Typically observed on the Sunday closest to January 25 /February 7
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.
• National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day