Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Saturday, 07 February 2026

2009

Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.

1999

Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.

1995

Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.

1992

The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.

1991

Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.

1990

Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.

1986

Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.

1984

Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).

1979

Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.

1974

Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan