February 7

Historic Events

2024

Pakistan election offices are hit by twin bombings, killing at least 24 people a day before general elections. ›

2021

The 2021 Uttarakhand flood begins. ›

2016

North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world. ›

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. ›

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. ›

2012

President 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. ›

2009

Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history. ›

2001

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-98, carrying the Destiny laboratory module to the International Space Station. ›

1999

Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein. ›

1995

Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan. ›

1992

The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union. ›

1991

Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in. ›

1991

The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government. ›

1990

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power. ›

1986

Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation. ›

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). ›

1981

A plane crash at Pushkin Airport kills 50 people, including 16 members of the Pacific Fleet. ›

1979

Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered. ›

1974

Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom. ›

1966

The 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. ›

1964

The Beatles land in the United States for the first time, at the newly renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport. ›

1962

The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports. ›

1951

Korean War: More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers are massacred by South Korean forces. ›

1944

World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle. ›

1940

The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres. ›

1904

The Great Baltimore Fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours. ›

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. ›

1898

Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse...! ›

1894

The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States. ›

1863

HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189. ›

1854

A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855. ›

1842

Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien. ›

1819

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar. ›

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. ›

1812

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

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. ›

1795

The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. ›

1783

American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar. ›

1756

Guaraní War: The leader of the Guaraní rebels, Sepé Tiaraju, is killed in a skirmish with Spanish and Portuguese troops. ›

1497

In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a "Bonfire of the vanities". ›

1365

Albert III of Mecklenburg (King Albert of Sweden) grants city rights to Ulvila (Swedish: Ulvsby). ›

1313

King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Kingdom. ›

1301

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

1285

A synod at Blachernae convened by anti-Unionist Greek clergy condemns the former pro-Unionist patriarch John XI of Constantinople. ›

987

Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. ›

457

Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. ›