This Day in History

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February 7

1497 – The Bonfire of the Vanities occurs, during which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy.

1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.

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.

1944 – World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.

1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.

1974 – Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.

1979 - Stephen Stills became the first rock performer to record on digital equipment in Los Angeles' Record Plant Studio.

1984 – Space Shuttle program: Mission STS-41-B: 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 "Baby Doc" 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 – 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.

1994 - Blind Melon's lead singer Shannon Hoon was forced to leave the American Music Awards ceremony for his loud and disruptive behaviour. Hoon was later charged with battery, assault, resisting arrest, and destroying a police station phone.

1995 – Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.

2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

2013 – 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.

Births

1804 – John Deere; 1812 – Charles Dickens; 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder (author Little House On The Prairie book series); 1873 – Thomas Andrews (designer of the RMS Titanic); 1885 – Sinclair Lewis (author Elmer Gantry); 1887 – Eubie Blake; 1906 – Puyi; 1906 – Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov (Antonov Aircraft Company); 1908 – Buster Crabbe; 1915 – Eddie Bracken; 1919 – Jock Mahoney; 1920 – Oscar Brand♪ ♫; 1922 – Hattie Jacques; 1932 – Gay Talese; 1934 – Earl King♪ ♫; 1946 – Sammy Johns (sang "Chevy Van", and that's alright with me); 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite; 1949 – Joe English(Wings); 1955 – Miguel Ferrer; 1956 – Mark St. John(KISS); 1960 – Robert Smigel (puppeteer and voice behind Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog); 1960 – James Spader; 1962 – Garth Brooks♪ ♫; 1962 – David Bryan(Bon Jovi); 1962 – Eddie Izzard; 1965 – Chris Rock; 1972 – Robyn Lively; 1975 – Wes Borland(Limp Bizkit); 1978 – Ashton Kutcher; 1985 – Tina Majorino (ther little girl with a map of Dry Land tattooed on her back 'Enola' in Waterworld); 1999 – Bea Miller♪ ♫

Deaths

1871 – Henry E. Steinway♪ ♫; 1938 – Harvey Samuel Firestone (founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company); 1959 – Guitar Slim♪ ♫; 1979 – Josef Mengele; 1999 – King Hussein of Jordan; 2000 – Doug Henning; 2001 – Dale Evans; 2015 – Billy Casper