http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Feb 7, 1964: Beatles arrive in New York
On February 7, 1964, Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow lands at New York's Kennedy Airport--and "Beatlemania" arrives. It was the first visit to the United States by the Beatles, a British rock-and-roll quartet that had just scored its first No. 1 U.S. hit six days before with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." At Kennedy, the "Fab Four"--dressed in mod suits and sporting their trademark pudding bowl haircuts--were greeted by 3,000 screaming fans who caused a near riot when the boys stepped off their plane and onto American soil.
Two days later, Paul McCartney, age 21, Ringo Starr, 23, John Lennon, 23, and George Harrison, 20, made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety show. Although it was difficult to hear the performance over the screams of teenage girls in the studio audience, an estimated 73 million U.S. television viewers, or about 40 percent of the U.S. population, tuned in to watch. Sullivan immediately booked the Beatles for two more appearances that month. The group made their first public concert appearance in the United States on February 11 at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C., and 20,000 fans attended. The next day, they gave two back-to-back performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, and police were forced to close off the streets around the venerable music hall because of fan hysteria. On February 22, the Beatles returned to England.
The Beatles' first American tour left a major imprint in the nation's cultural memory. With American youth poised to break away from the culturally rigid landscape of the 1950s, the Beatles, with their exuberant music and good-natured rebellion, were the perfect catalyst for the shift. Their singles and albums sold millions of records, and at one point in April 1964 all five best-selling U.S. singles were Beatles songs. By the time the Beatles first feature-film, A Hard Day's Night, was released in August, Beatlemania was epidemic the world over. Later that month, the four boys from Liverpool returned to the United States for their second tour and played to sold-out arenas across the country.
Later, the Beatles gave up touring to concentrate on their innovative studio recordings, such as 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, a psychedelic concept album that is regarded as a masterpiece of popular music. The Beatles' music remained relevant to youth throughout the great cultural shifts of the 1960s, and critics of all ages acknowledged the songwriting genius of the Lennon-McCartney team. In 1970, the Beatles disbanded, leaving a legacy of 18 albums and 30 Top 10 U.S. singles.
During the next decade, all four Beatles pursued solo careers, with varying success. Lennon, the most outspoken and controversial Beatle, was shot to death by a deranged fan outside his New York apartment building in 1980. McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his contribution to British culture. In November 2001, George Harrison succumbed to cancer.
Feb 7, 1992: European Union treaty signed
After suffering through centuries of bloody conflict, the nations of Western Europe finally unite in the spirit of economic cooperation with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union. The treaty, signed by ministers of the European Community, called for greater economic integration, common foreign and security policies, and cooperation between police and other authorities on crime, terrorism, and immigration issues. The agreement also laid the groundwork for the establishment of a single European currency, to be known as the "euro." By the time the Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993, it had been ratified by 12 nations: Great Britain, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Since then, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have also joined the union. The euro was introduced into circulation on January 1, 2002.
Feb 7, 1990: Soviet Communist Party gives up monopoly on political power
The Central Committee of the Soviet Union's Communist Party agrees to endorse President Mikhail Gorbachev's recommendation that the party give up its 70-year long monopoly of political power. The Committee's decision to allow political challenges to the party's dominance in Russia was yet another signal of the impending collapse of the Soviet system.
At the end of three days of extremely stormy meetings dealing with economic and political reforms in the Soviet Union, the Central Committee announced that it was endorsing the idea that the Soviet Communist Party should make "no claim for any particular role to be encoded in the Constitution" that was currently being rewritten. The proposal was but one of many made by President Gorbachev during the meetings. Critics of Gorbachev's plan charged that dissipating the Communist Party's power would erode the gains made since the Bolshevik Revolution and would weaken the international stature of the Soviet Union. Supporters, however, carried the day--they noted the impatience of the Soviet people with the slow pace of change and the general pessimism about the crumbling economy under communist rule. As one Communist Party official noted, "Society itself will decide whether it wishes to adopt our politics." However, he was also quick to add that the move by the Central Committee did not mean that the Communist Party was removing itself from public affairs. Many foreign observers stressed that even in a new pluralistic political system in Russia, the well-established party would have immense advantages over any challengers.
The response from the United States was surprise and cautious optimism. One State Department official commented that, "The whole Soviet world is going down the drainpipe with astonishing speed. It's mind-boggling." Former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger indicated that he was "personally gratified and astonished that anyone would have the chance to say such things in Moscow without being shot." President George Bush was more circumspect, merely congratulating President Gorbachev for his "restraint and finesse."
Ironically, the fact that the Communist Party was willing to accept political challenges to its authority indicated how desperately it was trying to maintain its weakening power over the country. The measures were little help, however--President Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991 and the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on December 31, 1991.
Feb 7, 1775: Benjamin Franklin publishes "An Imaginary Speech"
In London on this day in 1775, Benjamin Franklin publishes An Imaginary Speech in defense of American courage.
Franklin's speech was intended to counter an unnamed officer's comments to Parliament that the British need not fear the colonial rebels, because "Americans are unequal to the People of this Country [Britain] in Devotion to Women, and in Courage, and worse than all, they are religious."
Franklin responded to the three-pronged critique with his usual wit and acuity. Noting that the colonial population had increased while the British population had declined, Franklin concluded that American men must therefore be more "effectually devoted to the Fair Sex" than their British brethren.
As for American courage, Franklin relayed a history of the Seven Years' War in which the colonial militia forever saved blundering British regulars from strategic error and cowardice. With poetic flare, Franklin declared, "Indiscriminate Accusations against the Absent are cowardly Calumnies." In truth, the colonial militias were notoriously undisciplined and ineffective at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. New Englanders, unused to taking orders and unfamiliar with the necessary elements of military life, brought illness upon themselves when they refused to build latrines and were sickened by their own sewage. During the American Revolution, Washington repeated many of the same complaints spoken by British officers when he attempted to organize American farmers into an effective army.
With regard to religion, Franklin overcame his own distaste for the devout and reminded his readers that it was zealous Puritans that had rid Britain of the despised King Charles I. Franklin surmised that his critic was a Stuart [i.e. Catholic] sympathizer, and therefore disliked American Protestants, "who inherit from those Ancestors, not only the same Religion, but the same Love of Liberty and Spirit."
Feb 7, 1898: Zola is brought to trial
On this day in 1898, French writer Emile Zola is brought to trial for libel for "J'Accuse," his newspaper editorial attacking the French army over the Dreyfus affair.
On January 13, Zola had published his editorial in the newspaper L'Aurore. The letter exposed a military cover-up regarding Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus, a French army captain, had been accused of espionage in 1894 and sentenced in a secret military court-martial to imprisonment in a South American penal colony. Two years later, evidence of Dreyfus' innocence surfaced, but the army suppressed the information. Zola's letter exposed the military's mistaken conviction.
Zola was a well-known writer who had published his first story collection more than three decades earlier. A high school dropout, he had worked in the sales department of a major French publisher, who encouraged his writing and published his first book. He became one of the most famous writers in France with the publication of his 1877 hit, The Drunkard, part of his 20-novel cycle exploring the lives of two families.
Zola's letter provoked national outrage on both sides of the issue, among political parties, religious organizations, and others. Supporters of the military sued Zola for libel. He was convicted and sentenced to one year's imprisonment, but he fled France. In 1899, Dreyfus was pardoned, but for political reasons he was not exonerated until 1906. Shortly after Dreyfus' pardon, Zola returned to France, where he died in 1902.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1074 - Battle of Montesarchio in which the prince of
Benevento, Pandulf IV, is killed battling the encroaching Normans.
1238 - The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
1301 - Edward of Caernarion (later Edward II) becomes first
(English) prince of Wales
1522 - Treaty of Brussels: Habsburgers split into
Spanish/Austrian Branches
1550 - Giovanni Maria del Monte elected Pope Julius III
1569 - King Philip II forms inquistion in South America
1613 - Michail Romanov (16) becomes czar of Russia
1639 - Academie Francaise begins Dictionary of French
Language
1653 - Nicolas Fouquet appointed superintendant of Finance
of France
1668 - Dutch Prince William III dances in premiere of
"Ballet of Peace"
1792 - Austria & Prussia sign anti-French covenant
1792 - D Cimarosa's opera "Il Matrimonio Segreto,"
premieres in Vienna
1795 - 11th Amendment to US Constitution ratified, affirms
power of states
1795 - Dutch Prince William V accepts British occupation of
Dutch Indies
1812 - 8.2 earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri
1812 - Lord Byron makes his maiden speech in House of Lords
1818 - 1st successful US educational magazine
"Academician," begins (NYC)
1827 - Ballet (Deserter) introduced to US at Bowery Theater
(NYC)
1831 - Belgium adopts its Constitution
Novelist Charles DickensNovelist Charles Dickens 1836 -
"Sketches by Boz" (essays) published by Charles Dickens
1839 - Henry Clay declares in Senate "I had rather be
right than president"
1842 - Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the
Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
1856 - The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first
piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world
providing for elections by way of a secret ballot.
1862 - Federal fleet attack on Roanoke Island NC
1863 - HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New
Zealand, killing 189.
1864 - Federal troops occupy Jacksonville, Florida
1872 - Alcorn A & M College opens
1876 - Pres Grants private-secretary Orville acquitted in
Whiskey Ring
1877 - 1st Guernsey Cattle Club organizes (NYC)
1881 - Battle at Ingogo, Transvaal: Boers beat superior
British forces
1882 - Last bare knuckle champion John L Sullivan KOs Paddy
Ryan in Miss
1883 - Lt-colonel Borgnis-Desbordes founds Fort Bamako Niger
1884 - Canadian Rugby Football Union forms
1889 - Astronomical Society of Pacific holds 1st meeting in
SF
1891 - Great Blizzard of 1891 begins in England
1894 - The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western
Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
1900 - British troops vacate Vaal Krantz, Natal
1903 - VVV '03 Soccer team forms in Venlo
1904 - Baltimore catches fire (1500 buildings destroyed in
80 blocks)
1905 - Dominican Rep signs treaty turning over customs
collection to US
1907 - The Mud March was the first large procession
organized by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
Baseball Legend Connie MackBaseball Legend Connie Mack 1908
- Connie Mack sells hurler Rube Waddell to St Louis Browns for $5,000
1910 - Edmond Rostand's "Chantecler," premieres in
Paris
1912 - 2nd Dutch 11 city skate (Coen de Koenig wins (11:40)
1914 - Charlie Chaplin debuts "The Tramp" in
"Kid Auto Races at Venice"
1914 - Steel work completed on Exposition (Civic)
Auditorium, SF
1915 - 1st wireless message sent from a moving train to a
station received
1915 - 2nd Battle of Masurian Lakes: German armies
surrounded a Russian army
1922 - John Willard's "Cat & the Canary,"
premieres in NYC
1924 - Benito Mussolini government exchanges diplomats with
USSR
1928 - 1st solo England to Australia flight takes off (Bert
Hinkler)
1931 - US opera, "Peter Ibbetson," by Deems Taylor
premieres at Met Opera NYC
1933 - Colonial troops in Suriname kill 2 demonstrators
1933 - Social-Dem meeting in Berlin "As thousands
cheer" Marxism is dead
1934 - 1st contract for TVA power, Tupelo, Miss
1935 - Monopoly invented by Charles Darrow symbol Rich Uncle
Pennybags
Italian Dictator Benito MussoliniItalian Dictator Benito
Mussolini 1936 - A flag is authorized for Vice President
1936 - Felix the Cat, Cartoon Character, by Van Beuren from
Otto Messmer
1940 - British railroads nationalized
1940 - Walt Disney's 2nd feature-length movie,
"Pinocchio," premieres (NYC)
1941 - Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey orchestra record
"Everything Happens to Me"
1942 - 1st indoor 15' pole vault (Cornelius Warmerdam 15'
3/8")
1943 - Shoe rationing begins in US (may purchase up to 3
more pairs in 1942)
1944 - Bing Crosby records "Swinging on a Star"
for Decca Records
1944 - Germans launch counteroffensive at Anzio Italy
1945 - General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila
1945 - Harry Truman appoints Irwin C Mollison judge of US
Customs Court
1945 - US 76th/5th Infantry divisions begin crossing Sauer
1946 - Filibuster in US Senate kills FEPC bill
1947 - Arabs & Jews reject British proposal to split
Palestine
1948 - "Cradle Will Rock" closes at Mansfield
Theater NYC after 34 perfs
WW2 General Douglas MacArthurWW2 General Douglas MacArthur
1948 - Omar Bradley succeeds Dwight Eisenhower as Army Chief of Staff
1949 - Joe DiMaggio becomes 1st $100,000/year baseball
player (NY Yankees)
1950 - Georges Bidault forms French government
1950 - Sen Joe McCarthy finds "communists" in US
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1950 - US & Great-Britain recognize Bao Dai Vietnamese
regime
1956 - Autherine Lucy, 1st black admitted to U of Alabama,
is expelled
1958 - 1st showing of DAF 600 auto
1958 - Dodgers officially become the Los Angeles Dodgers,
Inc
1958 - Dutch auto-transmission car DAF 600 introduced
1959 - "Whoop-Up" closes at Shubert Theater NYC
after 56 performances
1959 - Castro proclaims new Cuban constitution
1959 - Cessna lands in Las Vegas after 65 d without landing
(refuels in air)
1959 - Dorothy Rigney sells White Sox to Bill Veeck for a
reported $27M
1960 - Old handwriting found in at Qumran, near the Dead Sea
1961 - Jane Fonda made her acting debut in the NBC drama
"A String of Beads"
Actress Jane FondaActress Jane Fonda 1962 - Gas explosion in
Luisanthal coal mine Voelklingen Germany kills 298
1962 - President Kennedy begins blockade of Cuba
1962 - Sam Snead wins LPGA Royal Poinciano Plaza Golf
Invitational
1962 - The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
1964 - Baskin-Robbins introduces Beatle Nut ice cream
1964 - Beatles land at NY's JFK airport, for 1st US tour
1964 - Cassius Clay becomes a black Moslem
1964 - Roger Sessions' 5th Symphony, premieres
1965 - George Harrison has his tonsils removed
1965 - Operations begin at Grupo Folklorico Antiyano on
Curacao
1965 - US begins regular bombing & strafing of N Vietnam
1965 - WVIZ TV channel 25 in Cleveland, OH (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1966 - KWCM TV channel 10 in Appleton, MN (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1967 - A fire at a restaurant in Montgomery, Alabama kills
25 people.
1968 - Arthur Miller's "Price," premieres in NYC
1968 - Belgium government of Vanden Boeynants falls
1968 - WLED TV channel 49 in Littleton, NH (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1969 - "This Is Tom Jones," debuts on ABC TV
1969 - Al-Fatah-leader Yasser Arafat becomes president of
PLO
1969 - Diane Crump becomes 1st woman jockey at a major US
racetrack (Hialeah)
1969 - The original Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse is
removed from service.
1970 - "Hollywood Palace," last airs on ABC TV
1970 - "Jingle Jangle" hits #10 on the pop singles
chart by Archies
1970 - LSU's "Pistol" Pete Marovich scores 69 pts
in losing cause
1970 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet
Lynn
1970 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Tim Wood
1971 - Swiss men accept female suffrage
1973 - 1st time Rangers shut-out Islanders 6-0
1973 - Senate createse Select Committee on Presidential
Campaign Activities
1974 - Grenada gains independence from Britain (National
Day)
1974 - Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" opens in
movie theaters
1975 - NBA New Orleans Jazz end a 28 game road losing streak
Actor & Director Mel BrooksActor & Director Mel
Brooks 1976 - Darryl Sittler, Toronto, sets NHL record with 10 points in a game
1976 - FCC raids & shuts down pirate radio station WCPR
(Brooklyn New York)
1976 - Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" peaks at
#9
1976 - World's largest telescope (600 cm) begins operation
(USSR)
1977 - Soyuz 24 launches with 2 cosmonauts
1978 - Ethiopian offensive in Ogaden desert
1979 - "Supertrain," TV Anthology, Superbomb of
1979, debuts on NBC
1979 - Colonel Benjedid Chadli succeeds pres Boumedienne in
Algeria
1979 - Faoud Bacchus scores 250 for WI v India at Kanpur
1979 - Pink Floyd premiered their live version of "The
Wall" in Los Angeles
1982 - Joanne Carner wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1982 - Luis A Monge elected pres of Costa Rica
1983 - 1st female secretary of transportation sworn-in
(Elizabeth Dole)
1984 - Bruce McCandless makes 1st untethered space walk (US)
1984 - David (born without immunity system) at 12, touches
mom for 1st time
King of Pop Michael JacksonKing of Pop Michael Jackson 1984
- Michael Jackson awarded a 4-ft-high platinum disc by CBS
1985 - "New York, New York" became the official
anthem of NYC
1985 - Marshall U's Bruce Morris scores a basket from
92'5"
1985 - NY Devil Don Lever becomes 57th NHLer to score 300
goals
1986 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Debi
Thomas
1986 - Haiti's President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees
to France Henri Namphy becomes leader of Haiti
1986 - Philippine Corazon Aquino defeats incumbent dictator
Ferdinand Marcos but fraudulent returns gave the election to Marcos
1987 - "Ronnies Rap" by Ron & DC Crew peaks at
#93
1987 - Dennis Conner & Stars & Stripes bring
America's Cup back to US
1987 - Madonna's "Open Your Heart," single goes #1
1987 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian
Boitano
1988 - 38th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 138-133 at
Chicago
1988 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 15-6
1988 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1989 - 40th NHL All-Star Game: Campbell beat Wales 9-5 at
Edmonton
Pop Star MadonnaPop Star Madonna 1989 - Tennis superstar
Bjorn Borg, apparently attempts suicide in Milan
1990 - Karachi police kill 22 anti-nationalistic
demonstrators
1990 - USSR Communist party agrees to allow opposition
political parties
1990 - Lisa Leslie of Morningside HS in Inglewood California
scores 101 in 1st half, South Torrance HS decides not to play 2nd half &
loses 102-24
1991 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide sworn in as Haiti's 1st
elected president
1991 - Bob Knight, Larry O'Brien, Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens,
Harry Gallatin & Larry Fleisher elected to NBA Hall of Fame
1991 - The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street
during a cabinet meeting.
1992 - Mike Tyson testifies in his rape trial
1992 - Shannon LA Rhea Marketic, 22, (California), crowned 41st
Miss USA
1993 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 23-20
1993 - Pebbles Flintstone & Bamm Bamm Rubble wed
1993 - Tammie Green wins LPGA Healthsouth Palm Beach Golf
Classic
1994 - 21st American Music Award: Whitney Houston wins
1994 - Howard Stern stops a would-be jumper on the George
Washington Bridge
1994 - Jim Nabors undergoes a liver transplant
Radio shock jock Howard SternRadio shock jock Howard Stern
1995 - Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Graham Gooch & Mike Gatting
1997 - US & Russia announce summit set for Helsinki,
March 20-21
1998 - 18th Winter Olympic games open at Nagano Japan
1998 - NHL's Dallas Stars retire Neal Broten's #7
1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on
the death of his father, King Hussein.
2000 - Bahria University is established through Presidential
Ordinance No. V of 2000 by the Government of Pakistan.
2009 - Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst
natural disaster in Australia's history.
2010 - Super Bowl XLIV; New Orleans Saints defeated the
Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win their first super bowl.
2013 - Eugène Delacroix's painting Liberty Leading the
People is vandalized at the Louvre-Lens museum
2013 - Azerbaijan launches its first satellite, Azerspace-1
1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. 1818 - "Academician" began publication in New York City. 1877 - The first Guernsey Cattle Club was organized in New York City. 1882 - The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship took place in Mississippi City. 1893 - Elisha Gray patented a machine called the telautograph. It automatically signed autographs to documents. 1913 - The Turks lost 5,000 men in a battle with the Bulgarian army in Gallipoli. 1922 - DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace offered 5,000 copies of "Reader's Digest" magazine for the first time. 1931 - The American opera "Peter Ibbetson," by Deems Taylor, premiered in New York City. 1936 - The U.S. Vice President’s flag was established by executive order. 1940 - "Pinocchio" world premiered at the Center Theatre in Manhattan. 1941 - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Frank Sinatra recorded "Everything Happens to Me." 1943 - The U.S. government announced that shoe rationing would go into effect in two days. 1944 - During World War II, the Germans launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy. 1959 - The play "The Rivalry" opened in New York City. 1962 - The U.S. government banned all Cuban imports and re-export of U.S. products to Cuba from other countries. 1966 - "Crawdaddy" magazine was published by Paul Williams for the first time. 1974 - The nation of Grenada gained independence from Britain. 1976 - Darryl Sittler (Toronto Maple Leafs) set a National Hockey League (NHL) record when he scored 10 points in a game against the Boston Bruins. He scored six goals and four assists. 1977 - Russia launched Soyuz 24. 1984 - Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart made the first untethered space walk. 1985 - "Sports Illustrated" released its annual swimsuit edition. It was the largest regular edition in the magazine’s history at 218 pages. 1985 - "New York, New York" became the official anthem of New York City. 1986 - Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country ending 28 years of family rule. 1991 - The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president. 1999 - King Hussein of Jordan died. His son was sworn in as king four hours after the announcement that his father had died. 2000 - California's legislature declared that February 13 would be "Charels M. Schulz Day."
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/feb07.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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