February 7 birthdays & history

Famous people born on February 7

• 1812Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic
• 1478Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of England
• 1885Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1870Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish psychologist and therapist
• 1979Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1877G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and geneticist
• 1978Ashton Kutcher, American model, actor, producer, and entrepreneur
• 1965Chris Rock, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1867Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author
• 1960James Spader, American actor and producer

What happened on February 7

• 457Leo I, who ruled for nearly 20 years, was crowned Byzantine emperor.
• 1365Albert, King of Sweden, granted a charter to the town of Ulvila, the third-oldest city in Finland.
• 1795The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting the ability of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to sue U.S. states in federal courts, was ratified.
• 1914Kid Auto Races at Venice, featuring the first appearance of comedy actor Charlie Chaplin's character the Tramp, was released.
• 1940Walt Disney's Pinocchio, the first animated feature to win a competitive Academy Award, debuted at the Center Theatre in New York City.
• 1948Neil Harvey became the youngest Australian to score a century in Test cricket.
• 1992The Maastricht Treaty, which led to the formation of the European Union, was signed by the member states of the European Communities.
• 1994Having retired four months earlier, American basketball player Michael Jordan signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox to play baseball.
• 1997Steve Jobs returned to Apple Inc. as a consultant after the company's acquisition of his technology startup NeXT.
• 2005President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on the redenomination of Azerbaijan's currency, with 1 new manat equal to 5000 old manats.
• 2014An inquiry report of the United Nations Human Rights Council found systematic and wide-ranging violations of human rights in North Korea.
• 2014Researchers announced the discovery of the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa, at more than 800,000 years old.

Also observed on February 7

• Independence Day (Grenada), celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.