EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST 10/7

[edit]

• 48 BC – Battle of Dyrrhachium: Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat by Pompey in Macedonia.
• 138 – Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
• 645 – Isshi Incident: Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d'état at the imperial palace.
• 988 – The Norse King Glúniairn recognises Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, High King of Ireland, and agrees to pay taxes and accept Brehon Law; the event is considered to be the founding of the city of Dublin.
• 1086 – King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants.
• 1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground.
• 1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, defeats the king's Lancastrian forces and takes King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.
• 1499 – The Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama.
• 1519 – Zhu Chenhao declares the Ming dynasty's Zhengde Emperor a usurper, beginning the Prince of Ning rebellion, and leads his army north in an attempt to capture Nanjing.
• 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.
• 1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.
• 1645 – English Civil War: The Battle of Langport takes place.
• 1778 – American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta.
• 1806 – The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
• 1821 – The United States takes possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain.
• 1832 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.
• 1850 – U.S. President Millard Fillmore is sworn in, a day after becoming President upon Zachary Taylor's death.
• 1869 – Gävle, Sweden, is largely destroyed in a fire; 80% of its 10,000 residents are left homeless.
• 1877 – The then-villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.
• 1882 – War of the Pacific: Chile suffers its last military defeat in the Battle of La Concepción when a garrison of 77 men is annihilated by a 1,300-strong Peruvian force, many of them armed with spears.
• 1890 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.
• 1913 – The temperature in Death Valley, California, hits 134 °F (57 °C), the highest temperature ever to be recorded on Earth.
• 1921 – Belfast's Bloody Sunday: Sixteen people are killed and 161 houses destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• 1925 – Meher Baba begins his silence of 44 years. His followers observe Silence Day on this date in commemoration.
• 1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.
• 1927 – Kevin O'Higgins TD, Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State is assassinated by the IRA.
• 1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.
• 1940 – World War II: The Vichy government is established in France.
• 1941 – Jedwabne pogrom: The massacre of Jewish people living in and near the village of Jedwabne in Poland.
• 1942 – Diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1942 – World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the "Akutan Zero") that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft's flight characteristics.
• 1946 – Hungarian hyperinflation sets a record with inflation of 348.46 percent per day, or prices doubling every eleven hours.
• 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
• 1951 – Korean War: Armistice negotiations begin at Kaesong.
• 1962 – Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.
• 1966 – The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. As many as 60,000 people come to hear Dr. King as well as Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Peter, Paul and Mary.
• 1967 – Uruguay becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1967 – New Zealand adopts decimal currency.
• 1973 – The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.
• 1973 – National Assembly of Pakistan passes a resolution on the recognition of Bangladesh.
• 1973 – John Paul Getty III, a grandson of the oil magnate J. Paul Getty, is kidnapped in Rome, Italy.
• 1976 – The Seveso disaster occurs in Italy.
• 1976 – One American and three British mercenaries are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial.
• 1978 – ABC World News Tonight premieres on ABC.
• 1978 – President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania is ousted in a bloodless coup d'état.
• 1980 – Alexandra Palace burns down for a second time.
• 1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.
• 1985 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154 stalls and crashes near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union), killing all 200 people on board in the USSR's worst-ever airline disaster.
• 1991 – The South African cricket team is readmitted into the International Cricket Council following the end of Apartheid.
• 1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.
• 1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.
• 1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the "out of Africa theory" of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
• 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, a member of Partido Popular (Spain), is kidnapped in the Basque city of Ermua by ETA members, sparking widespread protests.
• 1998 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases: The Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Rudolph Kos, a former priest.
• 2000 – EADS, the world's second-largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA.
• 2002 – At a Sotheby's auction, Peter Paul Rubens' painting The Massacre of the Innocents is sold for £49.5 million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
• 2005 – Hurricane Dennis slams into the Florida Panhandle, causing billions of dollars in damage.
• 2007 – Erden Eruç begins the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
• 2008 – Former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boškoski is acquitted of all war-crimes charges by a United Nations Tribunal.
• 2011 – Russian cruise ship Bulgaria sinks in Volga near Syukeyevo, Tatarstan, leading to 122 deaths.

Births[edit]

• 1419 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (d. 1471)
• 1451 – James III of Scotland (d. 1488)
• 1501 – Cho Shik, Korean poet and scholar (d. 1572)
• 1509 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (d. 1564)
• 1517 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal (d. 1571)
• 1592 – Pierre d'Hozier, French genealogist and historian (d. 1660)
• 1614 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Irish-English politician (d. 1686)
• 1625 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (d. 1703)
• 1638 – David Teniers III, Flemish painter (d. 1685)
• 1666 – John Ernest Grabe, German theologian and academic (d. 1711)
• 1682 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1716)
• 1682 – Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, German missionary and linguist (d. 1719)
• 1723 – William Blackstone, English lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1780)
• 1736 – Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1807)
• 1792 – George M. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 11th Vice President of the United States (d. 1864)
• 1802 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (d. 1871)
• 1804 – Emma Smith, American religious leader (d. 1879)
• 1809 – Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1889)
• 1823 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1908)
• 1830 – Camille Pissarro, Danish-French painter (d. 1903)
• 1832 – Alvan Graham Clark, American astronomer (d. 1897)
• 1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (d. 1903)
• 1835 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1880)
• 1839 – Adolphus Busch, German brewer, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (d. 1913)
• 1856 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (d. 1943)
• 1864 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (d. 1926)
• 1867 – Prince Maximilian of Baden (d. 1929)
• 1871 – Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, and essayist (d. 1922)
• 1874 – Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor (d. 1971)
• 1875 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (d. 1955)
• 1878 – Otto Freundlich, German painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
• 1883 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (d. 1948)
• 1883 – Hugo Raudsepp, Estonian playwright and politician (d. 1952)
• 1888 – Giorgio de Chirico, Greek-Italian painter and set designer (d. 1978)
• 1888 – Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese evangelist, author, and activist (d. 1960)
• 1894 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (d. 1969)
• 1895 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (d. 1982)
• 1896 – Thérèse Casgrain, Canadian politician (d. 1981)
• 1897 – Legs Diamond, American gangster (d. 1931)
• 1897 – Karl Plagge, German general and engineer (d. 1957)
• 1898 – Renée Björling, Swedish actress (d. 1975)
• 1899 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1936)
• 1899 – Heiri Suter, Swiss cyclist (d. 1978)
• 1900 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (d. 1993)
• 1900 – Sampson Sievers, Russian monk and mystic (d. 1979)
• 1902 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1902 – Nicolás Guillén, Cuban poet, journalist, and activist (d. 1989)
• 1903 – Werner Best, German SS officer and jurist (d. 1989)
• 1903 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (d. 1969)
• 1904 – Lili Damita, French-American actress and singer (d. 1994)
• 1905 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (d. 2002)
• 1905 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (d. 1971)
• 1905 – Wolfram Sievers, German physician (d. 1948)
• 1907 – Blind Boy Fuller, American singer and guitarist (d. 1941)
• 1909 – Donald Sinclair, English lieutenant and businessman (d. 1981)
• 1911 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
• 1913 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1985)
• 1914 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (d. 1992)
• 1914 – Rempo Urip, Indonesian film director
• 1916 – Judith Jasmin, Canadian journalist (d. 1972)
• 1917 – Hugh Alexander, American baseball player and scout (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Don Herbert, American television host and producer (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Reg Smythe, English cartoonist (d. 1998)
• 1918 – James Aldridge, Australian-English journalist and author (d. 2015)
• 1918 – Fred Wacker, American race driver and engineer (d. 1998)
• 1919 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Ian Wallace, English actor and singer (d. 2009)
• 1920 – David Brinkley, American journalist (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Cyril Grant, English footballer (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the Smiley (d. 2001)
• 1921 – Jeff Donnell, American actress (d. 1988)
• 1921 – Jake LaMotta, American boxer and actor
• 1921 – Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American activist, co-founded the Special Olympics (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Jean Kerr, American author and playwright (d. 2003)
• 1922 – Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter (d. 2007)
• 1923 – John Bradley, American soldier (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Suzanne Cloutier, Canadian actress and producer (d. 2003)
• 1923 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (d. 1987)
• 1924 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Bobo Brazil, American wrestler (d. 1998)
• 1925 – Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian physician and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia
• 1926 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1927 – Grigory Barenblatt, Russian mathematician and academic
• 1927 – David Dinkins, American soldier and politician, 106th Mayor of New York City
• 1928 – Bernard Buffet, French painter and illustrator (d. 1999)
• 1928 – Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (d. 2003)
• 1928 – Moshe Greenberg, American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Winnie Ewing, Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1929 – George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Moe Norman, Canadian golfer (d. 2004)
• 1930 – Bruce Boa, Canadian-English actor (d. 2004)
• 1930 – Susan Cummings, German-American actress
• 1930 – Josephine Veasey, English soprano and actress
• 1931 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
• 1931 – Jerry Herman, American composer and songwriter
• 1931 – Julian May, American author
• 1931 – Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 – Carlo Maria Abate, Italian race car driver
• 1933 – Jan DeGaetani, American soprano (d. 1989)
• 1933 – C.K. Yang, Taiwanese decathlete and pole vaulter (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2012)
• 1935 – Tura Satana, American actress and dancer (d. 2011)
• 1935 – Wilson Tuckey, Australian politician
• 1935 – Wilson Whineray, New Zealand rugby player and businessman (d. 2012)
• 1936 – Herbert Boyer, American businessman, co-founded Genentech
• 1936 – Tunne Kelam, Estonian journalist and politician
• 1937 – Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Gun Svensson, Swedish politician
• 1938 – Paul Andreu, French architect, designed the Osaka Maritime Museum and the National Grand Theater of China
• 1938 – Lee Morgan, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1972)
• 1939 – Phil Kelly, Irish-English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
• 1939 – Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turkish political scientist, journalist and educator (d. 1999)
• 1939 – Mavis Staples, American singer (The Staple Singers)
• 1940 – Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai, Indian-English economist and politician
• 1940 – Helen Donath, American soprano and actress
• 1940 – Brian Priestley, English pianist and composer (National Youth Jazz Orchestra)
• 1940 – Keith Stackpole, Australian cricketer
• 1941 – Jake Eberts, Canadian film producer (d. 2012)
• 1941 – David G. Hartwell, American anthologist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
• 1941 – Robert Pine, American actor and director
• 1941 – Ian Whitcomb, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1942 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell, and Elf) (d. 2010)
• 1942 – Pyotr Klimuk, Belarusian general, pilot, and astronaut
• 1942 – Sixto Rodriguez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and journalist (d. 1993)
• 1944 – K. S. Balachandran, Sri Lankan-Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1944 – Mick Grant, English racing motorcyclist
• 1944 – Norman Hammond, English archaeologist and academic
• 1945 – Ron Glass, American actor
• 1945 – Hal McRae, American baseball player and manager
• 1945 – John Motson, English sportscaster
• 1945 – Jean-Marie Poiré, French director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1945 – Virginia Wade, English tennis player and sportscaster
• 1946 – Sue Lyon, American actress
• 1947 – Arlo Guthrie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1948 – Ronnie Cutrone, American painter (d. 2013)
• 1948 – Chico Resch, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1949 – Anna Czerwińska, Polish mountaineer and author
• 1949 – Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1949 – Greg Kihn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Greg Kihn Band)
• 1949 – Winston Rekert, Canadian actor and director (d. 2012)
• 1949 – John Whitehead, American singer-songwriter and producer (McFadden & Whitehead) (d. 2004)
• 1950 – Tony Baldry, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, British Minister of State for Agriculture
• 1950 – Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President of Greece, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
• 1951 – Cheryl Wheeler, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1952 – Kim Mitchell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Max Webster)
• 1952 – Peter van Heemst, Dutch politician
• 1953 – Rik Emmett, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Triumph and Strung-Out Troubadours)
• 1953 – Zoogz Rift, American guitarist and composer (d. 2011)
• 1954 – Tommy Bowden, American football player and coach
• 1954 – Andre Dawson, American baseball player
• 1954 – Neil Tennant, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Pet Shop Boys and Electronic)
• 1955 – Nic Dakin, English educator and politician
• 1956 – Tom McClintock, American lawyer and politician
• 1958 – Béla Fleck, American banjo player and songwriter (Sparrow Quartet, New Grass Revival, Strength in Numbers, and Trio!)
• 1958 – Fiona Shaw, Irish actress and director
• 1959 – Ellen Kuras, American director and cinematographer
• 1959 – Sandy West, American singer-songwriter and drummer (The Runaways) (d. 2006)
• 1960 – Jeff Bergman, American voice actor
• 1960 – Seth Godin, American theorist and author
• 1961 – Jacky Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor
• 1963 – Ian Lougher, Welsh motorcycle racer
• 1964 – Martin Laurendeau, Canadian tennis player and coach
• 1964 – Urban Meyer, American football player and coach
• 1964 – Wilfried Peeters, Belgian cyclist
• 1965 – Scott McCarron, American golfer
• 1965 – Ken Mellons, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1966 – Clive Efford, English politician
• 1966 – Johnny Grunge, American wrestler (d. 2006)
• 1966 – Christian Stangl, Austrian skier and mountaineer
• 1966 – Anna Bråkenhielm, Swedish businessleader
• 1967 – Rebekah Del Rio, American singer-songwriter
• 1967 – Gillian Tett, English journalist and author
• 1967 – John Yoo, South Korean-American lawyer, author, and educator
• 1970 – Gary LeVox, American singer-songwriter (Rascal Flatts)
• 1970 – Jason Orange, English singer-songwriter and dancer (Take That)
• 1970 – Helen Sjöholm, Swedish singer and actress
• 1971 – Adam Foote, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Gregory Goodridge, Barbadian footballer and coach
• 1972 – Peter Serafinowicz, English actor
• 1972 – Sofía Vergara, Colombian-American actress and producer
• 1972 – Tilo Wolff, German-Swiss singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Lacrimosa)
• 1973 – Annie Mumolo, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1975 – Andrew Firestone, American businessman
• 1975 – Brendan Gaughan, American race car driver
• 1975 – Alain Nasreddine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1975 – Richard Westbrook, English race car driver
• 1976 – Edmílson, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Elijah Blue Allman, American singer and guitarist (Deadsy)
• 1976 – Ludovic Giuly, French footballer
• 1976 – Adrian Grenier, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1976 – Brendon Lade, Australian footballer and coach
• 1976 – Lars Ricken, German footballer
• 1977 – Ahmed Abdi Godane, Somali militant leader (d. 2014)
• 1977 – Chiwetel Ejiofor, English actor
• 1977 – Jesse Lacey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Brand New and Taking Back Sunday)
• 1979 – Mvondo Atangana, Cameroon footballer
• 1979 – Jorun Marie Kvernberg, Norwegian Hardingfele player
• 1980 – Thomas Ian Nicholas, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1980 – Alejandro Millán, Mexican singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Elfonía and Stream of Passion)
• 1980 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
• 1980 – Claudia Leitte, Brazilian singer-songwriter
• 1980 – James Rolfe, American actor, director, and producer
• 1980 – Jessica Simpson, American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
• 1981 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian footballer
• 1982 – Alex Arrowsmith, American guitarist and producer (The Shaky Hands)
• 1982 – Juliya Chernetsky, Ukrainian-American television host
• 1982 – Sebastian Mila, Polish footballer
• 1982 – Jeffrey Walker, Australian actor and director
• 1983 – Giuseppe De Feudis, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Matthew Egan, Australian footballer
• 1983 – Kim Heechul, South Korean singer and actor (Super Junior and Super Junior-T)
• 1983 – Joelson José Inácio, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Doug Kramer, Filipino basketball player
• 1983 – Gemma Sanderson, Australian model
• 1983 – Anthony Watmough, Australian rugby player
• 1984 – María Julia Mantilla, Peruvian model, Miss World 2004
• 1984 – Nikolaos Mitrou, Greek footballer
• 1984 – Kei Tanaka, Japanese actor
• 1985 – Park Chu-young, South Korean footballer
• 1985 – B. J. Crombeen, American ice hockey player
• 1985 – Mario Gómez, German footballer
• 1988 – Antonio Brown, American football player
• 1988 – Heather Hemmens, American actress, director, and producer
• 1990 – Sung Joon, South Korean model and actor
• 1990 – Eunan O'Kane, Irish footballer
• 1990 – Adam Reynolds, Australian rugby player
• 1990 – Nataline Sarkisyan, American leukemia patient, figure in health care reform debate (d. 2007)
• 1991 – María Chacón, Mexican actress and singer (Play)
• 1991 – Atsuko Maeda, Japanese singer and actress (AKB48)
• 1995 – Dor Hugi, Israeli footballer
• 1997 – Rena Kato, Japanese singer, dancer, model, and actress (AKB48)