February 7 ...

In 1478 English lawyer, writer, and politician Sir Thomas More was born in London. In 1804 manufacturer John Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont. In 1812 novelist Charles Dickens was born in Hampshire, England; also on this day a massive earthquake struck the Midwest along the New Madrid fault line. The quake, the last in a series of four beginning the preceding December, was so strong it was felt all the way to the East coast and changed the course of Mississippi River in many places. In 1817 Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, MD. In 1867 writer Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in Pepin, WI. In 1883 jazz great James Hubert "Eubie" Blake was born in Baltimore, MD. In 1885 writer Sinclair Lewis was born in Sauk Centre, MN. In 1904 a fire began in Baltimore that raged for about 30 hours and destroyed more than 1,500 buildings. In 1906 Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, was born in Beijing. In 1940 Walt Disney's Pinocchio premiered. In 1944 the Germans launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy. In 1945 General Douglas MacArthur returned to Manila, Philippines. In 1949 the New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio became the first baseball player to earn $100,000 a year. In 1958 the Brooklyn Dodgers' move to Los Angeles became official. In 1964 more than 3,000 fans jammed New York's Kennedy Airport to greet The Beatles as they arrived for their first US visit (including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show); also on this day, world heavyweight champion Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1973 the US Senate voted to set up a committee to investigate the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate complex. In 1974 Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles opened in movie theaters. In 1980 the first Sony Walkman went on sale. In 1984 space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered space walk. In 1999 Jordan's King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.