February 7
1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
1812 - Author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.
1857 - A French court acquitted author Gustave Flaubert of obscenity for his serialized novel “Madame Bovary.”
1904 - A disastrous fire destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in downtown Baltimore.
1926 - Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week, which later evolved into Black History Month.
1943 - The government abruptly announced that wartime rationing of shoes made of leather would go into effect in two days, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person per year. (Rationing was lifted in October 1945.)
1944 - Germany launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy during World War II.
1948 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as U.S. Army chief of staff; he was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.
1962 - President John F. Kennedy imposed a full trade embargo on Cuba.
1964 - The Beatles arrived in the U.S. for the first time.
1971 - Women in Switzerland were finally granted suffrage.
1974 - The island of Grenada won its independence from Britain.
1984 - Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered space walk.
1985 - U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, Mexico, by drug traffickers who tortured and murdered him.
1986 - President Jean-Clause "Boby Doc" Duvalier fled Haiti, ending 28 years of family rule.
1990 - The Communist Party of the Soviet Union allowed other political parties to compete for power.
1991 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as the first democratically-elected president of Haiti.
1992 - European Community members signed the Maastricht Treaty, which led to creation of the euro.
1995 - Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
1999 - Jordan's King Hussein died at age 63 from cancer; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.
2009 - A miles-wide section of ice in Lake Erie broke away from the Ohio shoreline, trapping about 135 fishermen, some for as long as four hours before they could be rescued (one man fell into the water and later died of an apparent heart attack).
2011 - AOL Inc. announced the $315 million purchase of The Huffington Post website.
2012 - A federal appeals court ruled California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, l, but gave gay marriage opponents time to appeal the decision before ordering the state to allow such weddings to resume.
2017 - Charter school advocate Betsy DeVos won confirmation as education secretary by the slimmest of margins, pushed to approval only by the historic tie-breaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence.
2020 - Two days after his acquittal in his first impeachment trial, President Donald Trump took retribution against two officials who had delivered damaging testimony; he ousted Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a national security aide, and Gordon Sondland, his ambassador to the European Union.
Birthdays
23 - Bea Miller (singer)
28 - Xenia Goodwin (actress)
33 - Isaiah Thomas (basketball player)
34 - Matthew Stafford (football player)
37 - Deborah Ann Woll (actress)
37 - Tina Majorino (actress)
43 - Cerina Vincent (actress)
44 - Ashton Kutcher (actor)
46 - Marlo Hampton (reality star)
48 - Steve Nash (basketball player)
50 - Essence Atkins (actress)
55 - Jason Gedrick (actor)
57 - Chris Rock (actor/comedian)
60 - Eddie Izzard (actor/comedian)
60 - Garth Brooks (country singer)
62 - James Spader (actor)
90 - Gay Talese (author)
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Today in Sports History - February 7
1882 - The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship took place in Mississippi City.
1949 - Joe DiMaggio signed a contract with the New York Yankees that was worth $100,000. It was the first six-figure contract in major league baseball.
1965 - Cassius Clay began using the name Mohammed Ali.
1975 - The NBA's New Orleans Jazz ended a 28-game road losing streak.
1985 - "Sports Illustrated" published its annual swimsuit edition, with this being the largest in the magazine's history at 218 pages.
1991 - Bob Knight, Larry O'Brien, Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Harry Gallatin and Larry Fleisher are elected to the NBA Hall of Fame.
1994 - Basketball superstar Michael Jordan signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox to play baseball.
1995 - Joe Mullen (Pittsburgh Penguins) became the first American-born player to score 1,000 points in the NHL. Mullen ended his career with 1,063 career points.
1995 - President Bill Clinton invited the two sides of the major league baseball strike to the White House in an effort to reach an agreement. The two sides did not resolve the issue that day.
1997 - Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly announced his retirement from the NFL.
1998 - The Dallas Stars retired Neal Broten's #7.
2010 - The New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Miami to win Super Bowl XLIV.
2016 - The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Santa Clara, California to win Super Bowl 50.
2021 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on their home field in Tampa, 31-9, to win Super Bowl LV; the win gave Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady his seventh career Super Bowl victory.
1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
1812 - Author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.
1857 - A French court acquitted author Gustave Flaubert of obscenity for his serialized novel “Madame Bovary.”
1904 - A disastrous fire destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in downtown Baltimore.
1926 - Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week, which later evolved into Black History Month.
1943 - The government abruptly announced that wartime rationing of shoes made of leather would go into effect in two days, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person per year. (Rationing was lifted in October 1945.)
1944 - Germany launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy during World War II.
1948 - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as U.S. Army chief of staff; he was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.
1962 - President John F. Kennedy imposed a full trade embargo on Cuba.
1964 - The Beatles arrived in the U.S. for the first time.
1971 - Women in Switzerland were finally granted suffrage.
1974 - The island of Grenada won its independence from Britain.
1984 - Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered space walk.
1985 - U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara, Mexico, by drug traffickers who tortured and murdered him.
1986 - President Jean-Clause "Boby Doc" Duvalier fled Haiti, ending 28 years of family rule.
1990 - The Communist Party of the Soviet Union allowed other political parties to compete for power.
1991 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as the first democratically-elected president of Haiti.
1992 - European Community members signed the Maastricht Treaty, which led to creation of the euro.
1995 - Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
1999 - Jordan's King Hussein died at age 63 from cancer; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.
2009 - A miles-wide section of ice in Lake Erie broke away from the Ohio shoreline, trapping about 135 fishermen, some for as long as four hours before they could be rescued (one man fell into the water and later died of an apparent heart attack).
2011 - AOL Inc. announced the $315 million purchase of The Huffington Post website.
2012 - A federal appeals court ruled California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, l, but gave gay marriage opponents time to appeal the decision before ordering the state to allow such weddings to resume.
2017 - Charter school advocate Betsy DeVos won confirmation as education secretary by the slimmest of margins, pushed to approval only by the historic tie-breaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence.
2020 - Two days after his acquittal in his first impeachment trial, President Donald Trump took retribution against two officials who had delivered damaging testimony; he ousted Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a national security aide, and Gordon Sondland, his ambassador to the European Union.
Birthdays
23 - Bea Miller (singer)
28 - Xenia Goodwin (actress)
33 - Isaiah Thomas (basketball player)
34 - Matthew Stafford (football player)
37 - Deborah Ann Woll (actress)
37 - Tina Majorino (actress)
43 - Cerina Vincent (actress)
44 - Ashton Kutcher (actor)
46 - Marlo Hampton (reality star)
48 - Steve Nash (basketball player)
50 - Essence Atkins (actress)
55 - Jason Gedrick (actor)
57 - Chris Rock (actor/comedian)
60 - Eddie Izzard (actor/comedian)
60 - Garth Brooks (country singer)
62 - James Spader (actor)
90 - Gay Talese (author)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - February 7
1882 - The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship took place in Mississippi City.
1949 - Joe DiMaggio signed a contract with the New York Yankees that was worth $100,000. It was the first six-figure contract in major league baseball.
1965 - Cassius Clay began using the name Mohammed Ali.
1975 - The NBA's New Orleans Jazz ended a 28-game road losing streak.
1985 - "Sports Illustrated" published its annual swimsuit edition, with this being the largest in the magazine's history at 218 pages.
1991 - Bob Knight, Larry O'Brien, Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Harry Gallatin and Larry Fleisher are elected to the NBA Hall of Fame.
1994 - Basketball superstar Michael Jordan signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox to play baseball.
1995 - Joe Mullen (Pittsburgh Penguins) became the first American-born player to score 1,000 points in the NHL. Mullen ended his career with 1,063 career points.
1995 - President Bill Clinton invited the two sides of the major league baseball strike to the White House in an effort to reach an agreement. The two sides did not resolve the issue that day.
1997 - Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly announced his retirement from the NFL.
1998 - The Dallas Stars retired Neal Broten's #7.
2010 - The New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Miami to win Super Bowl XLIV.
2016 - The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Santa Clara, California to win Super Bowl 50.
2021 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on their home field in Tampa, 31-9, to win Super Bowl LV; the win gave Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady his seventh career Super Bowl victory.
