Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Today is the 38th day of 2026. There are 327 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1904
A fire in Baltimore raged for about 30 hours and destroyed more than 1,500 buildings.
1936
President Roosevelt authorized a flag for the office of the vice president.
1943
The government announced that shoe rationing would go into effect in two days, limiting each purchaser to three pairs for the remainder of the year.
1944
During World War II, the Germans launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy.
1948
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.
1974
The island nation of Grenada won independence from Britain.
1984
Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk.
1986
Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country, ending 28 years of family rule.
1990
The Soviet Union's Communist Party agreed to let other political parties compete for control of the country, thereby giving up its monopoly on power.
1991
The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president.
1995
Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan, after two years as a fugitive.
Notable Births
1812
Author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.
Notable Deaths
1998
It was announced that Carl Wilson, a founding member of The Beach Boys, had died in Los Angeles from complications of lung cancer; he was 51.
1999
Jordan's King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.
2000
Magician Doug Henning died in Los Angeles at age 52.