Thursday 7th of February 1478

Social philosopher, statesman and humanist Thomas More known for Utopia is born in Milk Street, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Friday 7th of February 1812

Writer and social critic Charles John Huffam Dickens aka Boz is born in 393 Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Saturday 7th of February 1863

189 die in HMS Orpheus Australian Royal Navy corvette shipwreck in Whatipu Beach, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand.

Thursday 7th of February 1878

255th Pope Pius IX dies of epilepsy at the age of 86 in Palazzo Apostolico, Rome, Vatican City, Lazio, Italy.

Pius IX was the longest reigning pope (over 31 years) ever.

Sunday 7th of February 1904

Sharecropper and murderer Luther Holbert and his wife are tortured and lynched   in Vardaman, Mississippi, United States.

Suspected of killing a white plantation owner, black Luther Holbert attempted to escape with his wife before a lynch mob could dispense its own form of 'justice'. Catching up with the Holberts, the mob bound the couple to convenient trees. While the mob's ringleaders forced the Holberts to hold out their hands in order that their fingers could be chopped off one by one – the audience of 600 spectators enjoyed treats like deviled eggs, lemonade, and whiskey in a festive atmosphere. Next, the Holberts' ears were amputated and those severed appendages, along with the disconnected digits, became much-prized souvenirs. Mr. Holbert was beaten severely enough so that his skull was fractured and one eye was left dangling from its socket. When someone in the crowd produced a large corkscrew, that instrument was used to alternately bore into husband and wife, each time gouging out "spirals of raw, quivering flesh" when withdrawn. Finally the tortured man and woman were burned alive like Christian martyrs.

Wednesday 7th of February 1906

Last Emperor of China Aisin-Gioro Henry Puyi is born in Beijing, Hebei, China.

Friday 7th of February 1913

Catalan communist and assassin Ramón Mercader aka Jacques Mornard aka Frank Jacson known for the assassination of Russian Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky is born as Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Friday 7th of February 1936

Murderer John Daugherty is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 44 in Virginia State Penitentiary, Richmond, Virginia, United States.

Wednesday 7th of February 1962

298 die in coal mine explosion in Luisenthal Mine, Völklingen, Saarland, Germany.

Wednesday 7th of February 1979

Nazi doctor and anthropologist Josef Mengele aka Der Todesengel suffers a stroke while swimming and drowns at the age of 68 in Bertioga, Região Sudeste, Brazil.

Mengele was buried in Embu das Artes under the name Wolfgang Gerhard, whose identification card he had been using since 1971. The remains were exhumed on 6 June 1985 and extensive forensic examination confirmed with a high degree of probability that the body was Mengele's.

Saturday 7th of February 1981

42-year-old Fatima Sonnenberg is raped and stabbed to death by serial killer Michael Wolpert aka Der Neu-Isenburger Frauenmörder in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany.

Saturday 7th of February 1987

24-year-old Sandra Lindsay is tortured to death by serial killer Gary Heidnik aka The Cellar of Horror Murderer in 3520 North Marshall Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Heidnik caught Lindsay trying to move the plywood that covered the pit where she was locked up. Lindsay was forced to hang from a roof beam by a single handcuff attached to her wrist for several days. During this time her condition deteriorated and she refused to eat. Heidnik tried to force feed her pieces of bread, often jamming food into her mouth and holding her mouth shut until she swallowed. Towards the end of the week she was vomiting and running a high fever. The next day Lindsay lost consciousness. When Heidnik couldn't rouse her he became angry and unlocked the handcuffs, dropping her to the ground. Lindsay was dead.

Monday 7th of February 1994

Composer Witold Roman Lutosławski dies of cancer at the age of 81 in Warszawa, Województwo Mazowieckie, Poland.

Tuesday 7th of February 1995

Murderer Jeffrey Motley is executed by lethal injection at the age of 30 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 7th of February 2007

Nothing but a shadow on the wall in Borgerhout, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Friday 7th of February 2020

Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang known for warning about the new ‘Wuhan’ COVID-19 aka ‘Corona virus’ strain dies of COVID-19 at the age of 34 in Houhu Hospital, Wuhan, Hebei, China.

On 12 January Li was admitted to intensive care and tested positive for the infection on 30 January.

Sunday 7th of February 2021

Snow covered branches in Rivierenhof, Antwerpen, Deurne, Antwerpen, Belgium.