On this day...

1812 Lord Byron makes his maiden speech in House of Lords
1818 First successful US educational magazine, Academician, begins, NYC
1827 Ballet introduced to US at Bowery Theatre (NYC)
1836 "Sketches by Boz" (essays) published by Charles Dickens
1839 Henry Clay declares in Senate "I had rather be right than President"
1872 Alcorn A & M College opens
1882 Last bare knuckle champion John L. Sullivan KOs Paddy Ryan
1891 Great Blizzard of 1891 begins
1900 Labour Party forms in England
1904 Baltimore catches fire (1500 buildings destroyed in 80 blocks)
1928 First solo England to Australia flight takes off (Bert Hinkler)
1934 First contract for TVA power, Tupelo, Miss
1936 A flag is authorized for the Vice President
1940 British railroads nationalized
1940 Walt Disney's "Pinocchio" released
1942 First indoor 15' pole vault (Cornelius Warmerdam 15' 3/8")
1944 Germans launch counteroffensive at Anzio Italy
1945 General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila
1947 Britain proposes partitioning Palestine between Arabs & Jews
1948 Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as Army Chief of Staff
1949 Joe DiMaggio becomes first $100,000/year baseball player (NY Yankees)
1956 Autherine Lucy, first black admitted to University of Alabama, is expelled
1962 Gas explosion in Luisanthal coal mine (Voelklingen, Germany) kills 298
1964 Beatles land at NY's JFK airport, for first US tour
1964 Cassius Clay becomes a black muslim
1965 US begins regular bombing & strafing of North Vietnam
1969 Diane Crump becomes first woman jockey at a major US racetrack
1971 Women win the right to vote in Switzerland
1974 Grenada gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1975 NBA New Orleans Jazz end a 28 game road losing streak
1984 Bruce McCandless makes first untethered space walk (US)
1986 Haiti's President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees to France
1987 Dennis Conner & Stars & Stripes bring America's Cup back to US
1987 Madonna's "Open Your Heart," single goes #1
1988 Heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson marries actress Robin Givens
1989 Tennis superstar Bjorn Borg, apparently attempts suicide in Milan

Birthdays which occurred on February 7th:

1478 Sir Thomas More, lawyer/lord chancellor of England/saint (Utopia)
1764 Ann Radcliffe, London, Gothic novelist (Mysteries of Udolpho)
1804 John Deere, pioneer manufacturer of agricultural implements
1812 Charles Dickens, England, novelist (Oliver Twist, Tale of 2 Cities)
1817 Frederick Douglass, Maryland, high ranking black in US government
1834 Dmitri Mendeleyev, Russian chemist (devised periodic table)
1837 Sir James Augustus Henry Murray, Scotland, created Oxford Dictionary
1867 Laura Ingalls Wilder, Wisconsin, author (Little House on Prairie)
1877 Godfrey H. Hardy, England, number theorist
1885 Sinclair Lewis, novelist/social critic (Main Street, Nobel 1930)
1899 Arvid Pelshe, Latvian Communist leader, CPSU Politburo member
1906 Henry P'u-I, last emperor of China, puppet emperor of Manchukuo
1908 Buster Crabbe, swimmer (Olympic-gold-1932), actor (Flash Gordon)
1912 Derek Farr, London, actor (8 O'Clock Walk, Doctor at Large)
1912 Jane Ross, Spokane Wash, actress (Audrey-Phyllis, Coed Fever)
1917 Dick Emery, London, comedian/TV personality
1919 Jock Mahoney, actor (Range Rider, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury)
1920 Eddie Bracken, Astoria NYC, actor (Summer Stock, Young & Willing)
1920 Oscar Brand, Winnipeg Canada, folk singer (Draw Me a Laugh)
1923 Keefe Brasselle, Elyria Ohio, actor (Be Our Guest)
1954 Miguel Ferrer, actor (Robocop)
1960 James Spader, NYC, actor
1960 Steve Bronski, rock synthersizer (Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy)
1962 David Bryan, rock keyboardist (Bon Jovi)
1962 Garth Brooks, Tulsa Oklahoma, country singer
1965 Jason Gedrick, actor (Heavenly Kid)

Deaths which occurred on February 7th:

1959 Napoleon Lajorie, baseball player, dies at 83
1968 Stuart Foster, singer (Galen Drake Show), dies at 49
1984 Brooks West, actor (Richard-My Friend Irma), dies at 67
1990 Jimmy Van Heusen, composer (Call Me Irresponsible), dies at 77
1990 Nathan Wartels, publisher (Crown), dies at 88