February 7th in History

457 - Leo I becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

1301 - Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.

1783 - American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.

1807 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Eylau – Napoléon's French Empire begins fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at Eylau, Poland.

1856 - The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is imprisoned and later exiled to Calcutta.

1897 - Greco-Turkish War: The first full-scale battle takes place when the Greek expeditionary force in Crete defeats a 4,000-strong Ottoman force at Livadeia.


1935 - The classic board game Monopoly is invented.

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.

1951 - Korean War: Sancheong-Hamyang massacre

1974 - Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.


1986 - Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude 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 - Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.

1992 - The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.

1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.


2009 - Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

2012 - President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.

Famous Birthdays


572 - Prince Shōtoku of Japan

1102 - Empress Matilda, Princess of England and wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire

1693 - Empress Anna of Russia

1873 - Thomas Andrews, shipbuilder of the RMS Titanic

1906 - Puyi, Emperor of China

1938 - S. Ramachandran Pillai, communist leader

1956 - Mark St. John, musician

1962 - David Bryan, musician

1972 - Robyn Lively, actress

1979 - Nicola Campedelli, footballer

1988 - Nikola Fraňková, tennis player

1993 - David Dorfman, actor