On this day: February 7
POSTED: 04:01 PM PST Feb 06, 2013
UPDATED: 11:00 PM PST Feb 06, 2013
The Mississippi River is rocked by earthquakes, Baltimore burns, Chaplin debuts "The Tramp," The Beatles arrive in America, and space shuttle astronauts make the first untethered spacewalk, all on this day.
Public domain
1904: A fire in Baltimore, Md., destroys more than 1,500 buildings in 30 hours. Much of the destroyed area was rebuilt in relatively short order, and the city adopted a building code, stressing fireproof materials. The fire also gave impetus to efforts to standardize firefighting equipment in the United States, especially hose couplings.
