TODAY IN WORLD HISTORY

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2017. There are 327 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History On Feb. 7, 1817, America’s first public gas street lamp was lighted in Baltimore at the corner of Market and Lemon streets (now East Baltimore and Holliday streets).

On this date • In 1795, the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with states’ sovereign immunity, was ratified.

• In 1857, a French court acquitted author Gustave Flaubert of obscenity for his serialized novel “Madame Bovary.”

• In 1931, aviator Amelia Earhart married publisher George P. Putnam in Noank, Connecticut.

• In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized a flag for the office of the vice president.

• In 1948, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff; he was succeeded by Gen. Omar Bradley.

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

• In 1971, women in Switzerland gained the right to vote through a national referendum, 12 years after a previous attempt failed.

• In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk, which lasted nearly six hours.

• In 1986, the Philippines held a presidential election marred by charges of fraud against the incumbent, Ferdinand E. Marcos. Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier (doo-VAHL-yay’) fled his country, ending 28 years of his family’s rule.

• In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide (zhahn behr-TRAHN’ ahr-ihsTEED’) was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of Haiti (he was overthrown by the military the following September).

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

• In 1999, Jordan’s King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.