TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 On this day in history:

1788 - The Colony of New South Wales is formally proclaimed.

1863 - Naval vessel HMS Orpheus sinks in Manukau Harbour, killing 189.

1913 - The Turks lost 5000 men in a battle with the Bulgarian army in Gallipoli.

1944 - During World War II, the Germans launched a counter-offensive at Anzio, Italy.

1967 - The ‘Black Tuesday’ bushfires devastate Tasmania.

1974 - The nation of Grenada gained independence from Britain.

1977 - Russia launched Soyuz 24.

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

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

2009 - Today marks the start of the horrific Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, which eventually kill 173.

BIRTHDAYS

Sir Thomas More 1478 John Deere 1804 Charles Dickens 1812 Frederick Douglas 1817 Laura Ingalls Wilder 1867 Sinclair Lewis 1885 Eubie Blake 1887

Larry “Buster” Crabbe 1908 Oscar Brand 1920

An Wang 1920

Eddie Bracken 1920 Wilma Lee Cooper 1921 Keefe Brasselle 1923 Gay Talese 1932

Earl King 1934

King Curtis 1934 Dieter Bohlen 1944 Sammy Johns 1946 Pete Postlethwaite 1946 Jimmy Greenspoon 1948 Alan Lancaster 1949 Marilyn Cochran 1950 Miguel Ferrer 1954 Brian Travers 1959 James Spader 1960 Garth Brooks 1962 David Bryan 1962

Chris Rock 1966

Jason Gedrick 1967 Edward Bergenholz 1974 Ashton Kutcher 1978 Tina Majorino 1985