On This Day in History

February 7

Historical Events

1301 Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.

1842 Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.

1856 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.

1991 Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting in an attempt to assassinate UK Prime Minister John Major, injuring four people.

Map of the 12 countries that signed the Treaty on European Union commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty

1992 The Maastricht Treaty is signed by 12 countries from the European Community (EC) to create the European Union (EU).

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Famous Birthdays

Thomas More 1478 - 1535 John Deere 1804 - 1886

Charles Dickens 1812 - 1870 Chris Rock 59th Birthday

Also Maria Louise van Hessen-Kassel, Garth Brooks (62) and Ashton Kutcher (46).

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Famous Deaths

Harvey S. Firestone 1868 - 1938 Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1906 - 2001

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2,000-year-old Glass Treasure Shattered by a Drunk

One of the British Museum's treasured pieces of Roman antiquity was shattered on this day by a drunken visitor.

Drunken Visitor Shatters Roman Treasure