1. The Salem Witch Trials began on February 7, 1692, when three women were accused of practicing witchcraft in Salem Village, now known as Danvers. This event marked the beginning of a nine-month period of hysteria and panic that resulted in the execution of 20 people.

2. On February 7, 1812, the first commercial block of ice was cut from a pond in Wenham, Massachusetts, and shipped to Martinique in the Caribbean. The ice trade became a major industry in New England and revolutionized the way people preserved and transported food.

3. The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, but it was sparked by events that began on February 7, when British troops clashed with Boston residents over a dispute about jobs. This incident was one of the key events that led to the American Revolution.

4. On February 7, 1831, Amherst College was founded in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was the first institution of higher education in the United States to establish a dedicated department of physical education and one of the first to admit African American students.

5. The famous poet and author, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was born in Portland, Maine, on February 27, 1807. While not a Massachusetts native, Longfellow spent much of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his house is now a National Historic Landmark located on Brattle Street.