History of 7th February

457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1074 - Battle of Montesarchio in which the prince of Benevento, Pandulf IV, is killed battling the encroaching Normans.
1238 - The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1301 - Edward of Caernarion (later Edward II) becomes 1st prince of Wales
1522 - Treaty of Brussels: Habsburgers split into Spanish/Austrian Branches
1550 - Giovanni Maria del Monte elected Pope Julius III
1569 - King Philip II forms inquistion in South America
1613 - Michail Romanov (16) becomes czar of Russia
1639 - Academie Francaise begins Dictionary of French Language
1653 - Nicolas Fouquet appointed superintendant of Finance of France
1668 - Dutch Prince William III dances in premiere of "Ballet of Peace"
1792 - Austria & Prussia sign anti-French covenant
1792 - D Cimarosa's opera "Il Matrimonio Segreto," premieres in Vienna
1795 - 11th Amendment to US Constitution ratified, affirms power of states
1795 - Dutch Prince William V accepts British occupation of Dutch Indies
1812 - 8.2 earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri
1812 - Lord Byron makes his maiden speech in House of Lords
1818 - 1st successful US educational magazine "Academician," begins (NYC)
1827 - Ballet (Deserter) introduced to US at Bowery Theater (NYC)
1831 - Belgium adopts it's Constitution
1836 - "Sketches by Boz" (essays) published by Charles Dickens
1839 - Henry Clay declares in Senate "I had rather be right than president"
1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
1856 - The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot.
1862 - Federal fleet attack on Roanoke Island NC
1863 - HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
1864 - Federal troops occupy Jacksonville, Florida
1872 - Alcorn A & M College opens
1876 - Pres Grants private-secretary Orville acquitted in Whiskey Ring
1877 - 1st Guernsey Cattle Club organizes (NYC)
1881 - Battle at Ingogo, Transvaal: Boers beat superior British forces
1882 - Last bare knuckle champion John L Sullivan KOs Paddy Ryan in Miss
1883 - Lt-colonel Borgnis-Desbordes founds Fort Bamako Niger
1884 - Canadian Rugby Football Union forms
1889 - Astronomical Society of Pacific holds 1st meeting in SF
1891 - Great Blizzard of 1891 begins
1894 - The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
1900 - British troops vacate Vaal Krantz, Natal
1900 - Labour Party forms in England
1901 - Queen Wilhelmina marries Prince Heinrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
1903 - VVV '03 Soccer team forms in Venlo
1904 - Baltimore catches fire (1500 buildings destroyed in 80 blocks)
1905 - Dominican Rep signs treaty turning over customs collection to US
1907 - The Mud March was the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
1908 - Connie Mack sells hurler Rube Waddell to St Louis Browns for $5,000
1910 - Edmond Rostand's "Chantecler," premieres in Paris
1912 - 2nd Dutch 11 city skate (Coen de Koenig wins (11:40)
1914 - Charlie Chaplin debuts "The Tramp" in "Kid Auto Races at Venice"
1914 - Steel work completed on Exposition (Civic) Auditorium, SF
1915 - 1st wireless message sent from a moving train to a station received
1915 - 2nd Battle of Masurian Lakes: German armies surrounded a Russian army
1922 - John Willard's "Cat & the Canary," premieres in NYC
1924 - Mussolini govt exchanges diplomats with USSR
1928 - 1st solo England to Australia flight takes off (Bert Hinkler)
1931 - US opera, "Peter Ibbetson," by Deems Taylor premieres at Met Opera NYC
1933 - Colonial troops in Suriname kill 2 demonstrators
1933 - Social-Dem meeting in Berlin "As thousands cheer" Marxism is dead
1934 - 1st contract for TVA power, Tupelo, Miss
1935 - Monopoly invented by Charles Darrow symbol Rich Uncle Pennybags
1936 - A flag is authorized for Vice President
1936 - Felix the Cat, Cartoon Character, by Van Beuren from Otto Messmer
1940 - British railroads nationalized
1940 - Walt Disney's 2nd feature-length movie, "Pinocchio," premieres (NYC)
1941 - Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey Orch record "Everything Happens to Me"
1942 - 1st indoor 15' pole vault (Cornelius Warmerdam 15' 3/8")
1943 - Shoe rationing begins in US (may purchase up to 3 more pairs in 1942)
1944 - Bing Crosby records "Swinging on a Star" for Decca Records
1944 - Germans launch counteroffensive at Anzio Italy
1945 - General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila
1945 - Pres Truman appoints Irwin C Mollison judge of US Customs Court
1945 - US 76th/5th Infantry divisions begin crossing Sauer
1946 - Filibuster in US Senate kills FEPC bill
1947 - Arabs & Jews reject British proposal to split Palestine
1948 - "Cradle Will Rock" closes at Mansfield Theater NYC after 34 perfs
1948 - Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as Army Chief of Staff
1949 - Joe DiMaggio becomes 1st $100,000/year baseball player (NY Yankees)
1950 - Georges Bidault forms French govt
1950 - Sen Joe McCarthy finds "communists" in US Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1950 - US & Great-Britain recognize Bao Dai Vietnamese regime
1956 - Autherine Lucy, 1st black admitted to U of Alabama, is expelled
1958 - 1st showing of DAF 600 auto
1958 - Dodgers officially become the Los Angeles Dodgers, Inc
1958 - Dutch auto-transmission car DAF 600 introduced
1959 - "Whoop-Up" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 56 performances
1959 - Castro proclaims new Cuban constitution
1959 - Cessna lands in Las Vegas after 65 d without landing (refuels in air)
1959 - Dorothy Rigney sells White Sox to Bill Veeck for a reported $27M
1960 - Old handwriting found in at Qumran, near the Dead Sea
1961 - Jane Fonda made her acting debut in the NBC drama "A String of Beads"
1962 - Gas explosion in Luisanthal coal mine Voelklingen Germany kills 298
1962 - President Kennedy begins blockade of Cuba
1962 - Sam Snead wins LPGA Royal Poinciano Plaza Golf Invitational
1962 - The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
1964 - Baskin-Robbins introduces Beatle Nut ice cream
1964 - Beatles land at NY's JFK airport, for 1st US tour
1964 - Cassius Clay becomes a black Moslem
1964 - Roger Sessions' 5th Symphony, premieres
1965 - Cassius Clay becomes a Muslim & adopts the name Muhammad Ali
1965 - George Harrison has his tonsils removed
1965 - Operations begin at Grupo Folklorico Antiyano on Curacao
1965 - US begins regular bombing & strafing of N Vietnam
1965 - WVIZ TV channel 25 in Cleveland, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1966 - KWCM TV channel 10 in Appleton, MN (PBS) begins broadcasting
1967 - A fire at a restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama kills 25 people.
1968 - Arthur Miller's "Price," premieres in NYC
1968 - Belgium govt of Vanden Boeynants falls
1968 - WLED TV channel 49 in Littleton, NH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 - "This Is Tom Jones," debuts on ABC TV
1969 - Al-Fatah-leader Yasser Arafat becomes president of PLO
1969 - Diane Crump becomes 1st woman jockey at a major US racetrack (Hialeah)
1969 - The original Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse is removed from service.
1970 - "Hollywood Palace," last airs on ABC TV
1970 - "Jingle Jangle" hits #10 on the pop singles chart by Archies
1970 - LSU's "Pistol" Pete Marovich scores 69 pts in losing cause
1970 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
1970 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
1971 - Swiss men accept female suffrage
1973 - 1st time Rangers shut-out Islanders 6-0
1973 - Senate createse Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities
1974 - Grenada gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1974 - Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" opens in movie theaters
1975 - NBA New Orleans Jazz end a 28 game road losing streak
1976 - Darryl Sittler, Toronto, sets NHL record with 10 points in a game
1976 - FCC raids & shuts down pirate radio station WCPR (Bkln NY)
1976 - Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" peaks at #9
1976 - World's largest telescope (600 cm) begins operation (USSR)
1977 - Soyuz 24 launches with 2 cosmonauts
1978 - Ethiopian offensive in Ogaden desert
1979 - "Supertrain," TV Anthology, Superbomb of 1979, debuts on NBC
1979 - Colonel Benjedid Chadli succeeds pres Boumedienne in Algeria
1979 - Faoud Bacchus scores 250 for WI v India at Kanpur
1979 - Pink Floyd premiered their live version of "The Wall" in Los Angeles
1979 - Toronto Maple Leaf Darryl Sittler scores NHL record 10 pts (6 goals)
1982 - Joanne Carner wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1982 - Luis A Monge elected pres of Costa Rica
1983 - 1st female secretary of transportation sworn-in (Elizabeth Dole)
1984 - Bruce McCandless makes 1st untethered space walk (US)
1984 - David (born without immunity system) at 12, touches mom for 1st time
1984 - Michael Jackson awarded a 4-ft-high platinum disc by CBS
1985 - "New York, New York" became the official anthem of NYC
1985 - Marshall U's Bruce Morris scores a basket from 92'5"
1985 - NY Devil Don Lever becomes 57th NHLer to score 300 goals
1986 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Debi Thomas
1986 - Haiti's President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees to France Henri Namphy becomes leader of Haiti
1986 - Philippine Corazon Aquino defeats incumbent dictator Ferdinand Marcos but fraudulent returns gave the election to Marcos
1987 - "Ronnies Rap" by Ron & DC Crew peaks at #93
1987 - Dennis Conner & Stars & Stripes bring America's Cup back to US
1987 - Madonna's "Open Your Heart," single goes #1
1987 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano
1988 - 38th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 138-133 at Chicago
1988 - Heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson marries actress Robin Givens
1988 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 15-6
1988 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1989 - 40th NHL All-Star Game: Campbell beat Wales 9-5 at Edmonton
1989 - Tennis superstar Bjorn Borg, apparently attempts suicide in Milan
1990 - Karachi police kill 22 anti-nationalistic demonstrators
1990 - USSR Communist party agrees to allow opposition political parties
1990 - Lisa Leslie of Morningside HS in Inglewood Calif scores 101 in 1st half, South Torrance HS decides not to play 2nd half & loses 102-24
1991 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide sworn in as Haiti's 1st elected president
1991 - Bob Knight, Larry O'Brien, Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Harry Gallatin & Larry Fleisher elected to NBA Hall of Fame
1991 - The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
1992 - Mike Tyson testifies in his rape trial
1992 - Shannon LA Rhea Marketic, 22, (California), crowned 41st Miss USA
1993 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 23-20
1993 - Pebbles Flintstone & Bamm Bamm Rubble wed
1993 - Tammie Green wins LPGA Healthsouth Palm Beach Golf Classic
1994 - 21st American Music Award: Whitney Houston wins
1994 - Howard Stern stops a would-be jumper on the George Washington Bridge
1994 - Jim Nabors undergoes a liver transplant
1995 - Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Graham Gooch & Mike Gatting
1997 - US & Russia announce summit set for Helsinki, March 20-21
1998 - 18th Winter Olympic games open at Nagano Japan
1998 - NHL's Dallas Stars retire Neal Broten's #7
1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
2000 - Bahria University is established through Presidential Ordinance No. V of 2000 by the Government of Pakistan.
2009 - Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.