What Happened on February 7?

February 7 is National Periodic Table Day, celebrating chemistry's most famous chart! It is also when The Beatles landed in America and astronauts floated free in space.

• 1940 — Disney's Pinocchio premieres and brings a wooden boy to life

  Walt Disney's Pinocchio premiered on February 7, 1940, dazzling audiences with groundbreaking animation and songs like 'When You Wish upon a Star.' Read the full story →

• 1964 — Beatlemania lands: The Beatles arrive in New York City

  Pan Am Flight 101 touched down at Kennedy Airport on February 7, 1964, carrying four young musicians from Liverpool — and about 3,000 screaming fans were there to greet them. Read the full story →

• 1984 — Astronaut Bruce McCandless takes the first untethered spacewalk

  Floating free above Earth with nothing but a jet backpack, astronaut Bruce McCandless II flew farther from his spacecraft than any spacewalker before him on February 7, 1984. Read the full story →

Famous birthdays

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) · Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957) · Chris Rock (1965)

Days & observances

National Periodic Table Day · National Fettuccine Alfredo Day · Independence Day (Grenada)