February 7, 2012 – Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac

Updated February 6, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Feb. 7, 1984, space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk.
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On Feb. 7, 1817, Frederick Douglass, the American abolitionist leader, was born. Following his death on Feb. 20, 1895, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1944 Germany launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy, during World War II.

1948 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.

1962 President John F. Kennedy imposed a full trade embargo on Cuba..

1964 The Beatles arrived in New York for their first American tour, kicking off rock ‘n’ roll’s “British invasion.”

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 space walk.

1986 Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country, ending 28 years of family rule.

1990 The Soviet Union’s Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power by agreeing to let other political parties compete for control of the country.

1991 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti’s first democratically elected president.

1992 European Community members signed the Maastricht Treaty, which led to creation of the euro.

1995 Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.

1999 Jordan’s King Hussein died at age 63.

2011 AOL Inc. announced the $315 million purchase of The Huffington Post website.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Comedian Chris Rock turns 47 years old today.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Actor Ashton Kutcher (“That ’70s Show”) turns 34 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

1932 Gay Talese, Author, turns 80

1935 Herb Kohl, U.S. senator, D-Wis., turns 77

1952 John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado, turns 60

1955 Miguel Ferrer, Actor, turns 57

1960 James Spader, Actor (“Boston Legal”), turns 52

1962 Garth Brooks, Country singer, turns 50

1962 Eddie Izzard, Actor, comedian, turns 50

1974 Steve Nash, Basketball player, turns 38

1985 Tina Majorino, Actress, turns 27

Historic Birthdays

Frederick Douglass 2/7/1817 – 2/20/1895 American black abolitionist.Go to obituary »

58 St. Thomas More 2/7/1478 – 7/6/1535
English humanist/chancellor

82 John Deere 2/7/1804 – 5/17/1886
American inventor of agricultural implements

58 Charles Dickens 2/7/1812 – 6/9/1870
English novelist

84 Gardner Quincy Colton 2/7/1814 – 8/9/1898
American anesthetist/inventor

78 Sir James Murray 2/7/1837 – 7/26/1915
Scottish lexicographer/editor

90 Laura Ingalls Wilder 2/7/1867 – 2/10/1957
American author of children’s fiction

67 Alfred Adler 2/7/1870 – 5/28/1937
Austrian physician/psychologist

100 Eubie Blake 2/7/1883 – 2/12/1983
American pianist/composer

65 Sinclair Lewis 2/7/1885 – 1/10/1951
American novelist/social critic

73 Buster Crabbe 2/7/1908 – 4/23/1983
American swimmer/actor

79 Ruth Sager 2/7/1918 – 3/29/1997
American geneticist

1944	Germany launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy, during World War II.
1948	Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff and was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.
1962	President John F. Kennedy imposed a full trade embargo on Cuba..
1964	The Beatles arrived in New York for their first American tour, kicking off rock ‘n’ roll’s “British invasion.”
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 space walk.
1986	Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country, ending 28 years of family rule.
1990	The Soviet Union’s Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power by agreeing to let other political parties compete for control of the country.
1991	Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti’s first democratically elected president.
1992	European Community members signed the Maastricht Treaty, which led to creation of the euro.
1995	Ramzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
1999	Jordan’s King Hussein died at age 63.
2011	AOL Inc. announced the $315 million purchase of The Huffington Post website.

1932	Gay Talese, Author, turns 80
1935	Herb Kohl, U.S. senator, D-Wis., turns 77
1952	John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado, turns 60
1955	Miguel Ferrer, Actor, turns 57
1960	James Spader, Actor (“Boston Legal”), turns 52
1962	Garth Brooks, Country singer, turns 50
1962	Eddie Izzard, Actor, comedian, turns 50
1974	Steve Nash, Basketball player, turns 38
1985	Tina Majorino, Actress, turns 27

58	St. Thomas More 2/7/1478 – 7/6/1535 English humanist/chancellor
82	John Deere 2/7/1804 – 5/17/1886 American inventor of agricultural implements
58	Charles Dickens 2/7/1812 – 6/9/1870 English novelist
84	Gardner Quincy Colton 2/7/1814 – 8/9/1898 American anesthetist/inventor
78	Sir James Murray 2/7/1837 – 7/26/1915 Scottish lexicographer/editor
90	Laura Ingalls Wilder 2/7/1867 – 2/10/1957 American author of children’s fiction
67	Alfred Adler 2/7/1870 – 5/28/1937 Austrian physician/psychologist
100	Eubie Blake 2/7/1883 – 2/12/1983 American pianist/composer
65	Sinclair Lewis 2/7/1885 – 1/10/1951 American novelist/social critic
73	Buster Crabbe 2/7/1908 – 4/23/1983 American swimmer/actor
79	Ruth Sager 2/7/1918 – 3/29/1997 American geneticist

via learning.blogs.nytimes.com

I Sit and Look Out by Walt Whitman

I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with
themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying,
neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband–I see the treacherous seducer
of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be
hid–I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny–I see martyrs and
prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea–I observe the sailors casting lots who
shall be kill’d, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these–All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look
out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.