TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS SUNDAY, FEB. 7, the 38th day of 2016. There are 328 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized a flag for the office of the vice president.

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, Conn.

In 1940, Walt Disney’s second animated feature, “Pinocchio,” premiered in New York.

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 1965, during the Vietnam War, Viet Cong forces attacked Camp Holloway, a U.S. Army helicopter base near Pleiku, killing eight Americans and wounding more than 100 others.

In 1974, the island nation of Grenada won independence from Britain.

In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts

Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered space walk, 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 fled his country, ending 28 years of his family’s rule. In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of Haiti. He was overthrown by the military the following September. In 1999, Jordan’s King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Author Gay Talese is 84. Former Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., is 81. Movie director Hector Babenco is 70. Actor Miguel Ferrer is 61. Reggae musician Brian Travers (UB40) is 57. Comedy writer Robert Smigel and actor James Spader are 56. Country singer Garth Brooks, rock musician David Bryan (Bon Jovi) and actor-comedian Eddie Izzard are 54. Actor-comedian Chris Rock is 51. Actor Jason Gedrick is 49. Actress Essence Atkins is 44. Rock singer-musician Wes Borland is 41. Rock musician Tom Blankenship ( My Morning Jacket) and actor Ashton Kutcher are 38. Actresses Tina Majorino and Deborah Ann Woll are 31.