February 7Birthdays & History

On this day: February 7 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 457Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.Europe
2. 987Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.Europe
3. 1285A synod at Blachernae convened by anti-Unionist Greek clergy condemns the former pro-Unionist patriarch John XI of Constantinople.EuropeMiddle East
4. 1301Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.Europe
5. 1313King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Kingdom.Asia
6. 1365Albert III of Mecklenburg (King Albert of Sweden) grants city rights to Ulvila (Swedish: Ulvsby).Europe
7. 1497In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a "Bonfire of the vanities".Europe
8. 1756Guaraní War: The leader of the Guaraní rebels, Sepé Tiaraju, is killed in a skirmish with Spanish and Portuguese troops.Europe
9. 1783American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.North AmericaEurope
10. 1795The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.North America
11. 1807Napoleonic 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.Europe
12. 1812The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.North America
13. 1813In 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.AfricaEurope
14. 1819Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.Asia
15. 1842Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.Africa
16. 1854A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855.Europe
17. 1863HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.Oceania
18. 1894The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States.North America
19. 1898Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse...!Europe
20. 1900Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.AfricaEurope
21. 1900A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.AsiaNorth America
22. 1904The Great Baltimore Fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.North America
23. 1940The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.North America
24. 1943World 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.AsiaOceania
25. 1944World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.Europe
26. 1951Korean War: More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers are massacred by South Korean forces.Asia
27. 1962The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.North AmericaLatin America
28. 1964The Beatles land in the United States for the first time, at the newly renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport.North America
29. 1966The Great Fire of Iloilo breaks out in a lumber yard in Iznart Street and burns for almost half a day destroying nearly three-quarters of the City Proper area and Php 50 million pesos in total properties' damage.Asia
30. 1974Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.Europe
31. 1979Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.World
32. 1981A plane crash at Pushkin Airport kills 50 people, including 16 members of the Pacific Fleet.Europe
33. 1984Space 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).North America
34. 1986Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.Latin America
35. 1990Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.Europe
36. 1991Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.Latin America
37. 1991The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government.Europe
38. 1992The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.Europe
39. 1995Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.Asia
40. 1999Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.Middle East
41. 2001Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-98, carrying the Destiny laboratory module to the International Space Station.North America
42. 2009Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.Oceania
43. 2012President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of the Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.Asia
44. 2013The 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.North America
45. 2014Scientists 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.EuropeAfrica
46. 2016North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.Asia
47. 2021The 2021 Uttarakhand flood begins.Asia
48. 2024Pakistan election offices are hit by twin bombings, killing at least 24 people a day before general elections.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "February 7" / CC BY-SA 4.0