This Day in History: February 7

1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.

1818 - "Academician" began publication in New York City.

1877 - The first Guernsey Cattle Club was organized in New York City.

1882 - The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship took place in Mississippi City.

1893 - Elisha Gray patented a machine called the telautograph. It automatically signed autographs to documents.

1904 - In Baltimore, a fire raged for about 30 hours and destroyed over 1,500 buildings.

1913 - The Turks lost 5,000 men in a battle with the Bulgarian army in Gallipoli.

1922 - DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace offered 5,000 copies of "Reader's Digest" magazine for the first time.

1931 - The American opera, "Peter Ibbetson," by Deems Taylor premiered in New York City.

1936 - The U.S. Vice President’s flag was established by executive order.

1940 - "Pinocchio" world premiered at the Center Theatre in Manhattan.

1941 - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Frank Sinatra recorded "Everything Happens to Me".

1943 - The U.S. government announced that shoe rationing would go into effect in two days.

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

1959 - The play, "The Rivalry," opened in New York City.

1962 - The U.S. government banned all Cuban imports and re-export of U.S. products to Cuba from other countries.

1966 - "Crawdaddy" magazine was published by Paul Williams for the first time.

1974 - The nation of Grenada gained independence from Britain.

1976 - Darryl Sittler (Toronto Maple Leafs) set a National Hockey League (NHL) record when he scored 10 points in a game against the Boston Bruins. He scored six goals and four assists.

1977 - Russia launched Soyuz 24.

1984 - Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart made the first untethered space walk.

1985 - "Sports Illustrated" released its annual swimsuit edition. It was the largest regular edition in the magazine’s history at 218 pages.

1985 - "New York, New York" became the official anthem of the Big Apple.

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

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

1999 - King Hussein of Jordan died. His son was sworn in as king four hours after the announcement that his father had died.

2000 - California's legislature declared that February 13 would be "Charels M. Schulz Day."

2001 - Robert Pickett, 47, fired several shots at the White House near the South Lawn. He was subdued after being shot in the knee. No one else was hurt in the incident.

2003 - Nootka Sound, Sandra Bohn was cited for petting a killer whale under the federal Fisheries Act. She was later fined $74.

Marvelous Monday

Bryan Adams was one of the biggest breakout stars of the 80’s. He came on the scene in 1983 with big hits like Heaven, Summer of ’69, and Cuts Like A Knife. Hailing from Canada, this rocker proved his mettle on the charts with one platinum album after another. He even recorded a searing, unforgettable duet with Tina Turner, It’s Only Love. Not bad credentials, eh?

Bryan’s career in the 90’s and into the new century has continued along its hit making course. He joined Rod Stewart and Sting for 1991’s biggest hit, Everything I Do (I Do It For You) and his solo work kept flying out of music stores like mad as radio continually saturated itself with his voice. He’s a charmed musician for sure.

And with good reason. One of his earliest hits is my personal favorite. Can’t Stop This Thing We Started has all the ingredients of a classic. It rocks with the best of them and Bryan really seems at home on this material. This is a truly infectious song. People remember it and sing along with it and groove to it now just like they did in ’84. Bryan Adams’ magic is timeless.

Thought for Today

“In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.” -- Buddha