07 February History
- 457 - A Thracian officer by the name of Leo is proclaimed as emperor of the East by the army general, Aspar, on the death of the Emperor Marcian.
- 1668 - The Netherlands, England and Sweden conclude an alliance directed against Louis XIV of France.
- 1783 - The Siege of Gibraltar, which was pursued by the Spanish and the French since July 24, 1779, is finally lifted.
- 1818 - The first successful U.S. educational magazine, Academician, begins publication in New York City.
- 1882 - American pugilist John L. Sullivan becomes the last of the bare-knuckle world heavyweight champions with his defeat of Patty Ryan in Mississippi City.
- 1913 - The Turks lose 5,000 men in a battle with the Bulgarian army in Gallipoli.
- 1915 - Fieldmarshal Paul von Hindenburg moves on Russians at Masurian Lakes.
- 1917 - The British steamer California is sunk off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat.
- 1926 - Negro History Week, originated by Carter G. Woodson, is observed for the first time.
- 1928 - The United States signs an arbitration treaty with France.
- 1931 - Amelia Earhart weds George Putnam in Connecticut.
- 1944 - The Germans launch a second attack against the Allied beachead at Anzio, Italy. They hoped to push the Allies back into the sea.
- 1950 - The United States recognizes Vietnam under the leadership of Emperor Bao Dai, not Ho Chi Minh who is recognized by the Soviets.
- 1963 - The Mona Lisa is put on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
- 1964 - The British band The Beatles are greeted by 25,000 fans upon their arrival in the United States at JFK Airport.
- 1965 - U.S. jets hit Don Hoi guerrilla base in reprisal for the Viet Cong raids.
- 1968 - North Vietnamese use 11 Soviet-built light tanks to overrun the U.S. Special Forces camp at Lang Vei at the end of an 18-hour long siege.
- 1978 - Ethiopia mounts a counter attack against Somalia.
- 1983 - Iran opens an invasion in the southeast of Iraq.
07 February Birthdays
- 1477 - Sir Thomas More, English statesman and writer, famous for Utopia, later executed for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the head of the church.
- 1804 - John Deere, farm equipment manufacturer
- 1812 - Charles Dickens, prolific English novelist whose stories reflected life in Victorian England. Some of his more famous works include Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities.
- 1837 - Sir James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and editor.
- 1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, author whose works were the basis for television's Little House on the Prairie.
- 1885 - Sinclair Lewis, novelist of satire and realism. (Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry).
- 1905 - Ulf Svante von Euler-Chelpin, Swedish physiologist.