Today in History: Mississippi becomes the last state to abolish slavery

Today is Friday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2025. There are 327 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 7, 2013, Mississippi certified its ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making it the last state to officially abolish slavery.

Also on this date:

In 1904, the Great Baltimore Fire began; one of the worst city fires in American history, it destroyed over 1,500 buildings in central Baltimore.

In 1943, the government abruptly announced that wartime rationing of shoes made of leather would go into effect in two days, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person per year. (This was reduced to two pairs per year in 1944; rationing was lifted in October 1945.)

In 1964, the Beatles were met by thousands of screaming fans at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as they arrived to begin their first American tour.

In 1971, women in Switzerland gained the right to vote through a national referendum, 12 years after a previous attempt failed.

In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered spacewalk.

In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of Haiti. (He was overthrown by the military the following September.)

In 1999, Jordan’s King Hussein died of cancer at age 63; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.

In 2021, after moving south to a new team and conference, Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on the Buccaneers’ home field.

In 2023, Lebron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time career scoring leader.

Today’s birthdays: Author Gay Talese is 93. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., is 73. Actor James Spader is 65. Country singer Garth Brooks is 63. Actor-comedian Eddie Izzard is 63. Actor-comedian Chris Rock is 60. Actor Essence Atkins is 53. Basketball Hall of Famer Steve Nash is 51. Actor Ashton Kutcher is 47. Actor Deborah Ann Woll is 40. NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford is 37. NHL forward Steven Stamkos is 35.