Today in History....February 7

On this day in …

* 1861, the general council of the Choctaw Indian nation adopted a resolution declaring allegiance with the South "in the event a permanent dissolution of the American Union takes place."

* 1904, a fire began in Baltimore that raged for about 30 hours and destroyed more than 1,500 buildings

* 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized a flag for the office of the vice president

* 1943, the government announced the start of shoe rationing, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person for the remainder of the year

* 1964, The Beatles began their first American tour as they arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport

* 1984, space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless the Second and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered space walk

* 2006, Abu Hamza al-Masri, a cleric of that "religion of peace"
linked to 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, was sentenced in London to seven years in prison for inciting followers to kill non-Muslims