On Feb. 12, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless, ventured further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut had ever been. This space first was made possible by a nitrogen jet propelled backpack, previously known at NASA as the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU. After a series of test maneuvers inside and above Challenger's payload bay, McCandless went "free-flying" to a distance of 320 feet away from the Orbiter. This orbital panorama view shows McCandless out there amongst the black and blue of Earth and space. NASA/UPI | License Photo

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2017 with 327 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. Evening stars are Neptune, Venus, Mars and Uranus.


Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include English statesman and writer Thomas More in 1478; farm equipment manufacturer John Deere in 1804; English novelist Charles Dickens in 1812; Little House books author Laura Ingalls Wilder in 1867; novelist Sinclair Lewis in 1885; ragtime composer and pianist Eubie Blake in 1887; Buster Crabbe, actor (Flash Gordon) and Olympic swimming gold medalist, in 1908; writer Gay Talese in 1932 (age 85); actor Pete Postlethwaite in 1946; actor Miguel Ferrer in 1955; comedian Emo Philips in 1956 (age 61); actor James Spader in 1960 (age 57); actor Eddie Izzard in 1962 (age 55); country singer Garth Brooks in 1962 (age 55); comedian Chris Rock in 1966 (age 51); actor Ashton Kutcher in 1978 (age 39).

On this date in history:

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In 1497, the Bonfire of the Vanities in Florence, Italy, took place when followers of Girolamo Savonarola burned thousands of books, art and cosmetics.

In 1940, British railroads were nationalized.

In 1964, the Beatles arrived in the United States for the first time and immediately set off a frantic wave of "Beatlemania."

In 1973, the U.S. Senate voted to set up a committee to investigate a break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington's Watergate complex.

In 1984, U.S. astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart made the first untethered spacewalks. McCandless was the first to float freely in space, propelled by a nitrogen-powered "jetpack" after leaving the shuttle Challenger.

In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was inaugurated as Haiti's first democratically elected president in 186 years.

In 1992, the European Union was created when the Maastricht Treaty was signed.

In 1995, the mastermind in the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Center, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, was arrested in Pakistan. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1998.

In 1999, King Hussein of Jordan died of cancer at age 63. Hussein ruled Jordan for 46 years.

In 2005, rescuers reported no survivors among the 104 people aboard an Afghan airliner that crashed in the mountains near Kabul. It was Afghanistan's worst air disaster.

In 2009, the most deadly series of brushfires in Australian history claimed more than 200 lives, destroyed almost 2,000 homes and burned at least 1.1 million acres in Victoria state.

In 2010, Viktor Yanukovich regained the Ukrainian presidency.

In 2012, a federal appeals court in California rejected a ban on same-sex marriage that voters had approved four years earlier.

In 2013, a Gallup poll indicated 57 percent of Americans said their standard of living was improving and 27 percent said it was getting worse.

In 2014, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, had a spectacular opening ceremony. Performers in the show watched by 40,000 people at the Olympic stadium, included Cossack dancers, ballerinas, puppeteers and acrobats.

A thought for the day: "Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability." -- Sandra Day O'Connor