TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – FEB 7
1668 The Netherlands, England and Sweden conclude an alliance directed against Louis XIV of France.
1795 The 11th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.
1818 The first successful U.S. educational magazine, Academician, begins publication in New York City.
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.
1893 Elisha Gray patented a machine called the telautograph. It automatically signed autographs to documents.
1926 Negro History Week, originated by Carter G. Woodson, is observed for the first time.
1928 The United States signs an arbitration treaty with France.
1936 The U.S. Vice President’s flag was established by executive order.
1943 The U.S. government announced that shoe rationing would go into effect in two days.
1950 The United States recognizes Vietnam under the leadership of Emperor Bao Dai, not Ho Chi Minh who is recognized by the Soviets.
1964 The Beatles arrived in the U.S. for the first time.
1971 Women in Switzerland were finally granted suffrage.
1978 Ethiopia mounts a counter attack against Somalia.
1983 Iran opens an invasion in the southeast of Iraq.
1984 Astronaut Bruce McCandless unhooked a lifeline and became the first human to fly free in space , using a gas-powered jet-pack to propel himself nearly 300 feet away from the Earth-orbiting U.S. space shuttle Challenger
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 Haiti’s president, Jean-Claude “Papa Doc” Duvalier, flees the country, ending 28 years of family rule
1991 The IRA launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.
1992 The Maastricht Treaty calling for greater economic integration, common foreign and security policies, and cooperation between police and other authorities on crime, terrorism, and immigration issues is signed by ministers foreign and finance ministers of the EC member states of the European Community.
2002 President George W. Bush introduced faith-base initiative plans. He proposed a plan which would encourage faith-based organizations to provide more social services without breaching the separation of church and state.
2005 A judge sentences Paul Shanley to 12 to 15 years in prison for child rape, condemning the defrocked priest for using his status to prey on a vulnerable little boy.
2009 The Black Saturday bushfires in Australia kill 173 people
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
