Historical Events on February 7

Universal Product Code

Here are some historical events that happened on February 7:

1497: The Bonfire of the Vanities occurs in Florence, Italy, led by the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, where secular and "sinful" items such as books, art, and mirrors were burned.

1812: The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri, generating widespread damage and forming temporary waterfalls on the Mississippi River.

1904: A fire breaks out in Baltimore, Maryland, destroying over 1,500 buildings in the downtown area.

1943: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in the Pacific Theater of World War II, with American forces defeating Japanese troops, marking a significant turning point in the conflict.

1974: The Universal Product Code (UPC) is scanned for the first time to sell an item at a supermarket checkout in Troy, Ohio, marking the beginning of the barcode era.

1990: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to relinquish its monopoly on political power, paving the way for multiparty elections.

1991: Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in, but he would later be overthrown in a coup and then reinstated to power multiple times.

2009: The deadliest bushfires in Australia's history, known as "Black Saturday," occur in the state of Victoria, claiming 173 lives and causing widespread destruction.

These are just a few examples of significant events that have occurred on February 7 throughout history.