October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 85 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 3761 BC – The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).
- 336 – Pope Mark dies, leaving the papacy vacant.
- 1513 – Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
- 1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.
- 1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.
- 1582 – Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 1763 – George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
- 1776 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.
- 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
- 1800 – French corsair Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the English 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional french song Le Trente-et-un du mois d'août.
- 1826 – Granite Railway (first chartered railway in the U.S.) begins operations.
- 1828 – The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.
- 1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces' attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.
- 1864 – American Civil War: U.S.S. "Wachusett" captures the C.S.S. "Florida" Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.
- 1868 – Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.
- 1870 – Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a balloon.
- 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.
- 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
- 1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 in one of the most lopsided college football games in American history.
- 1919 – KLM of the Netherlands was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
- 1933 – Air France was inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.
- 1940 – World War II: the McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.
- 1942 – World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
- 1944 – World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burn down the crematoria.
- 1949 – German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.
- 1952 – "American Bandstand" debuts on a local Philadelphia station.
- 1955 – Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.
- 1958 – President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspends the 1956 constitution, imposes martial law, and cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959.
- 1958 – The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury.
- 1959 – U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.
- 1962 – U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.
- 1963 – John F. Kennedy signs ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.
- 1977 – The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
- 1982 – Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
- 1985 – The "Achille Lauro" is hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.
- 1993 – The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.
- 1998 – Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming.
- 2000 – The last ever competitive match at Wembley Stadium is a 1-0 defeat of England to Germany and the last goal was scored by Liverpool's Dietmar Hammann. The match was Tony Adams' 60th at Wembley setting the record for most appearances at the stadium.
- 2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
- 2003 – Gray Davis is recalled as Governor of California, three years before the official end of his office term. Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor.
- 2004 – King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates.
Births
- 1471 – King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
- 1573 – William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1645)
- 1576 – John Marston, English writer (d. 1634)
- 1589 – Maria Magdalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1631)
- 1713 – Granville Elliott, British military officer (d. 1759)
- 1728 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer (d. 1784)
- 1744 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
- 1748 – King Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
- 1769 – Solomon Sibley, American politician (d. 1846)
- 1786 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
- 1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
- 1841 – King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
- 1849 – James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)
- 1866 – Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
- 1879 – Joe Hill, American Labor Activist and Poet (d. 1915)
- 1881 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
- 1884 – Major Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (d. 1927)
- 1885 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
- 1888 – Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
- 1892 – Dwain Esper, director (d. 1982)
- 1894 – Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
- 1897 – Elijah Muhammad, American Black Muslim leader (d. 1975)
- 1898 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (d. 1956)
- 1900 – Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official (d. 1945)
- 1905 – Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician (d. 2001)
- 1909 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish novelist (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany, New York (d. 1983)
- 1910 – Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (d. 1986)
- 1911 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer (d. 1973)
- 1911 – Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1995)
- 1912 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and writer (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1914 – Sarah Churchill, British actress (d. 1982)
- 1917 – June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Sir Zelman Cowen, Australian politician
- 1920 – Jack Rowley, English footballer (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player
- 1922 – William Zinsser, American writer
- 1923 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Québécois member of Les Automatistes (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Irma Grese, Supervisor at Nazi concentration camps (d. 1945)
- 1926 – Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1927 – R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (d. 1989)
- 1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor
- 1928 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
- 1929 – Robert Westall, British author (d. 1993)
- 1929 – Graeme Ferguson, Canadian filmmaker and executive
- 1931 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate
- 1934 – Amiri Baraka, American writer
- 1934 – Ulrike Meinhof, German terrorist (d. 1976)
- 1935 – Thomas Keneally, Australian author
- 1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
- 1937 – Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
- 1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
- 1939 – Clive James, Australian television presenter and writer
- 1939 – Harold Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1939 – Bill Snyder, American football coach
- 1940 – Bruce Vento, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1943 – Joy Behar, American television personality
- 1943 – José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
- 1943 – Oliver North, American former military officer
- 1944 – Judee Sill, American musician (d. 1979)
- 1944 – Donald Tsang, current Chief executive of Hong Kong
- 1945 – Kevin Godley, British musician (10cc)
- 1946 – Bernard Lavilliers, French singer
- 1946 – Pengiran Anak Saleha, Queen of Brunei
- 1948 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist
- 1949 – Dave Hope, American musician (Kansas)
- 1950 – Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician
- 1951 – John Mellencamp, American singer
- 1951 – David J. Halberstam, American radio executive
- 1952 – Mary Badham, American actress
- 1952 – Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation
- 1952 – Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
- 1952 – Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
- 1953 – Tico Torres, musician (Bon Jovi)
- 1954 – Kenneth Atchley, American composer
- 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-born American cellist
- 1955 – Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist
- 1957 – Michael W. Smith, American singer
- 1957 – Jayne Torvill, British figure skater
- 1958 – Judy Landers, American actress
- 1959 – Dylan Baker, American character actor
- 1959 – Simon Cowell, English recording executive
- 1959 – Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
- 1959 – Jean-Marc Fournier, French-Canadian politician
- 1960 – Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
- 1960 – Viktor Lazlo, Belgian singer
- 1961 – Matthew Roloff, American reality star
- 1961 – Brian Mannix, Australian singer and actor
- 1962 – Dave Bronconnier, Canadian politician
- 1964 – Sam Brown, English singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Dan Savage, American sex-columnist and author
- 1964 – Paul Stewart, English footballer
- 1965 – Genji Hashimoto, Japanese racing driver
- 1966 – Sherman Alexie, Native American author and comedian
- 1966 – Toni Braxton, American singer
- 1966 – Marco Beltrami, Italian-American film composer
- 1967 – Luke Haines, English musician (The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder)
- 1967 – Takahiro Izutani, Japanese Composer
- 1968 – Thom Yorke, English singer (Radiohead)
- 1969 – Javier Álvarez, Spanish singer-songwriter
- 1969 – Malia Hosaka, Hawaiian professional wrestler
- 1969 – Maria Whittaker, English model
- 1969 – Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1970 – Nicole Ari Parker, American actress
- 1971 – Daniel Boucher, Québécois musician
- 1972 – Ben Younger, American screenwriter and film director
- 1973 – Dida, Brazilian footballer
- 1973 – Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer
- 1973 – Priest Holmes, American Football Running Back
- 1974 – Allison Munn, American actress
- 1974 – Charlotte Nilsson, Swedish singer
- 1974 – Alexander Polinsky, American actor
- 1975 – Terry Gerin, American professional wrestler
- 1975 – Damian Kulash, American musician (OK Go)
- 1975 – Tim Minchin, Australian comedian and musician
- 1976 – Taylor Hicks, American musician
- 1976 – Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer
- 1976 – Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Charles Woodson, American football player
- 1976 – Marc Coma, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1977 – Brandon Quinn, American actor
- 1977 – Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
- 1978 – Alesha Dixon, British pop singer (Mis-Teeq)
- 1978 – Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
- 1979 – Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
- 1979 – Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
- 1979 – Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
- 1979 – Tang Wei, Chinese actress
- 1980 – Edison Chen, Canadian actor
- 1981 – Doni Schroader, American avant garde composer,pop musician
- 1982 – Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
- 1982 – Jermain Defoe, English footballer
- 1982 – Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
- 1982 – Li Yundi, Chinese classical pianist
- 1983 – Scottie Upshall, Canadian Hockey Player
- 1984 – Toma Ikuta, Japanese singer and actor
- 1984 – Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
- 1985 – Evan Longoria, American baseball player
- 1986 – Lee Nguyen, American footballer
- 1986 – Chase Daniel, American football player
- 1986 – Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
- 1986 – Bree Olson, American pornographic actress
- 1987 – Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer
- 1987 – Sam Querrey, American tennis player
- 1988 – Stacy DuPree, American musician (Eisley)
- 2001 – Princess Senate Seeiso, daughter of King Letsie III of Lesotho
Deaths
- 336 – Pope Mark
- 929 – Charles the Simple, King of France (b. 879)
- 1368 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (b. 1338)
- 1553 – Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (b. c.1500)
- 1555 – Louis of Praet, Habsburg diplomat (b. 1488)
- 1577 – George Gascoigne, English poet
- 1612 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat, (b. 1538)
- 1620 – Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish military leader (b. 1547)
- 1637 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
- 1651 – Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (b. 1559)
- 1653 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1581)
- 1708 – Guru Gobind Singh, tenth Sikh Guru (b. 1666)
- 1772 – John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (b. 1720)
- 1787 – Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (b. 1711)
- 1792 – George Mason, American statesman (b. 1725)
- 1793 – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (b. 1718)
- 1796 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (b. 1710)
- 1849 – Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet (b. 1809)
- 1894 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American writer (b. 1809)
- 1896 – Emma Wedgwood, English naturalist, wife of Charles Darwin, (b. 1808)
- 1903 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
- 1906 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
- 1911 – John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
- 1919 – Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
- 1925 – Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1880)
- 1926 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist (b. 1856)
- 1943 – Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
- 1943 – Radclyffe Hall, British author (b. 1880)
- 1944 – Helmut Lent, German night fighter pilot (b. 1918)
- 1956 – Clarence Birdseye, American inventor (b. 1886)
- 1959 – Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
- 1966 – Grigoris Asikis, Greek singer and songwriter. (b. 1890)
- 1966 – Smiley Lewis, American musician (b. 1913)
- 1967 – Norman Angell, British politician and Nobel Laureate (b. 1872)
- 1969 – Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (b. 1888)
- 1981 – Albert Cohen, Greek-born Swiss novelist (b. 1895)
- 1991 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
- 1992 – Allan Bloom, American philosopher and educator (b. 1930)
- 1992 – Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
- 1994 – Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born Danish immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player a.k.a. Song and Wind (b. 1915)
- 2001 – Christopher Adams, British-born pro wrestler and judoka (b. 1955)
- 2001 – Herblock, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist, businessman and corporate director (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Izzy Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Arthur Berger, American composer (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Wally George, American conservative TV commentator (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)
- 2005 – Charles Rocket, American actor (b. 1949)
- 2006 – Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
- 2007 – Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1975)
- 2007 – George E. Sangmeister, American politician (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Leslie Hardman, Jewish Orthodox rabbi (b. 1913)
Holidays and observances
External links
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