This Day in History: Feb. 7

On this day, Feb. 7 …

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

Also on this day:

• 1795: The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with states’ sovereign immunity, is ratified.
• 1812: Charles Dickens is born in Landport, Portsmouth, England.
• 1817: America’s first public gas street lamp is lighted in Baltimore at the corner of Market and Lemon streets (now East Baltimore and Holliday streets).
• 1904: A fire begins in Baltimore that rages for about 30 hours and destroys more than 1,500 buildings.
• 1948: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as U.S. Army chief of staff; he is succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.
• 1964: The Beatles arrive at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to begin their first American tour.
• 1984: Space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart go on the first untethered spacewalk, which lasts nearly six hours.
• 1986: The Philippines hold a presidential election marred by charges of fraud against the incumbent, Ferdinand E. Marcos.
• 1986: Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier flees his country, ending 28 years of his family’s rule.
• 1999: Jordan’s King Hussein dies of cancer at age 63; he is succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.
• 2009: A miles-wide section of ice in Lake Erie breaks away from the Ohio shoreline, trapping about 135 fishermen, some for as long as four hours before they could be rescued.
• 2010: Super Bowl XLIV: The New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Miami.
• 2017: St. John’s beats top-ranked Villanova 79-75 for its second win that week over a top-five team. (St. John’s had earlier snapped an 11-game losing streak by beating fourth-ranked Duke.) 
• 2017: Biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong strikes a $500 million deal to buy the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune and some other publications.