October 7

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

Up to 1800

• 3761 BC – The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar.
• 336 – Pope Marcus ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
• 1428 – Start of the English siege of Orléans in the Hundred Years' War.
• 1477 – Opening of Uppsala University in Sweden.
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus misses Florida when he changes course.
• 1506 – Pope Julius II and France occupy Bologna.
• 1513 – Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramon de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
• 1520 – First public burning of books in Netherlands, in Louvain.
• 1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovered Catalina Island off California coast.
• 1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain, Venice, and Papal States) destroys Turkish fleet.
• 1582 – Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1637 – Prince Frederick Henry of Orange occupies Breda.
• 1690 – English attack Quebec under Louis de Buade.
• 1702 – English/Dutch troops under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough occupy Roermond.
• 1714 – Beer tax riots in Alkmaar, Netherlands.
• 1737 – 40 foot waves sink 20,000 small craft and kill 300,000 (Bengal, India).
• 1756 – Flooding on the Elbe near what is now Germany's North Sea coast kills 600 people.
• 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.
• 1765 – Stamp Act Congress convenes in NY.
• 1769 – English explorer, Captain Cook, reaches New Zealand. Abel Tasman had been the first European to land there over a century earlier.
• 1776 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Americans beat the British in the Battle of Second Saratoga and 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.

1801 – 1900

• 1806 – Carbon paper patented in London by inventor Ralph Wedgewood.
• 1816 – The first double-decked steamboat, the "Washington," arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 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: In the Battle of Darbytown Road, the Confederate forces' attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is stopped.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Capture of the CSS Florida — Union warship captures the USS Wachusett — Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.
• 1865 – The Morant Bay Rebellion starts in Jamaica.
• 1868 – Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; student enrollment is 412, the most at any American university to that date.
• 1870 – Leon Gambetta flees Paris in balloon.
• 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.
• 1882 – Baseball: First World Series (game 2), Chicago (NL) beats Cincinnati (AA) 2–0.
• 1886 – Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba.
• 1900 – The term "orienteering" is first used for an event.

1901 – 1950

• 1904 – Baseball: New York Highlander Jack Chesbro wins record 41st game of season (41-12).
• 1907 – France's Henry Farman flies 30 m in a double decker plane.
• 1908 – Crete revolts against the Ottoman Empire and aligns with Greece.
• 1908 – Serbia and Montenegro sign anti-Austria-Hungarian pact.
• 1910 – Absinthe is banned in Switzerland.
• 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
• 1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided victory in American college football.
• 1918 – The Governing Council in Warsaw declares Poland to be an independent state.
• 1919 – KLM of the Netherlands was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
• 1919 – First London-Amsterdam airline service (Britain Aerial Transport and KLM).
• 1922 – Oud-burgem of Rotterdam Zimmerman becomes High Comm's of Austria.
• 1922 – First radio link, WNJ (Newark, New Jersey) and WGY (Schenectady) link for World Series.
• 1924 – Greek government of Dikalekopoulis forms.
• 1928 – Ras Tafari Makonnen crowned negus of Abyssinia by Empress Zauditu.
• 1928 – Paavo Nurmi runs world record 10 miles (50:15.0).
• 1929 – Ramsay MacDonald is the first British premier to address the U.S. Congress.
• 1931 – First infra-red photograph, Rochester, New York.
• 1933 – Air France, the national airline of France, is created after the merger of five smaller airlines.
• 1938 – Germany demands all Jewish passports stamped with the letter J.
• 1940 – Germany invades Romania.
• 1941 – German army occupies Viarma, U.S.S.R.
• 1941 – John Curtin becomes the 14th Prime Minister of Australia
• 1942 – the McCollum memo conspires to bring the United States to war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.
• 1942 – U.S. and British government announce establishment of United Nations.
• 1942 – Maxwell Anderson's "Eve of St. Mark," premieres in New York City.
• 1942 – Salvo Katjoesja-rocket destroys Nazi battalion in Stalingrad.
• 1943 – Japan executes 100 American civilian prisoners on Wake Island.
• 1944 – Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp.
• 1944 – Uprising at Auschwitz, Jews burn down crematoriums.
• 1944 – Fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel is ordered to return to Berlin.
• 1944 – Allies bombs sea dikes at Vlissingen.
• 1949 – German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.
• 1949 – One of the earliest television shows, "Ford Theater" debuts
• 1950 – United States forces cross the 38th parallel in the Korean War.
• 1950 – Missionaries of Charity is founded by Mother Teresa.

1951 – 2000

• 1951 – Malayan Emergency: Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA) ambushes and kills British High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney.
• 1951 – David Ben-Gurion forms Israeli government.
• 1957 – Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" debuts.
• 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 – U.S. manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury.
• 1958 – Potter Stewart appointed to U.S. Supreme Court.
• 1959 – Far side of the Moon seen for first time, compliments of U.S.S.R.'s Luna 3.
• 1960 – Second Kennedy and Nixon debate Cold War foreign policy in the second of four scheduled debates.
• 1960 – Nigeria joins the UN.
• 1962 – U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.
• 1963 – John F. Kennedy signs ratification for the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• 1963 – Hurricane Flora hits Haiti and the Dominican Republic, kills 7,190.
• 1968 – Hollywood adopts the movie ratings system.
• 1970 – Richard Nixon announces a new five-point peace proposal to end the Vietnam War.
• 1971 – Oman joins the UN.
• 1976 – Hua Guofeng becomes Chairman of the Communist Party of China.
• 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.
• 1984 – NFL running back Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown's rushing record.
• 1985 – The "Achille Lauro" is hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.
• 1985 – The Mameyes disaster occurs in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
• 1996 – The Fox News Channel, an American cable news network, is launched.
• 2000 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg abdicates in favour of his son, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
• 2000 – Germany wins 1–0 against England in the last game at the Old Wembley Stadium.

From 2001

• 2001 – Start of United States war in Afghanistan with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
• 2002 – Maher Arar is deported by the US government to Syria, where he is tortured and held without charge for a year before being returned home to Canada.
• 2003 – California recall: California governor Gray Davis is recalled from office and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• 2004 – King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates.
• 2005 – Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency win the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2006 – Sport: The first Lusophone Games, for Portuguese-speaking countries begin in Macao.
• 2006 – Palau's capital is moved from Koror to Ngerulmud in the state of Melekeok.
• 2006 – Russian journalist and writer Anna Politkovskaya is murdered.
• 2011 – The Nobel Peace Prize is shared between Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen.
• 2012 – Hugo Chávez is re-elected President of Venezuela against Henrique Capriles. Chavez dies less than five months later, on March 5, 2013.
• 2014 – Lunar Eclipse: A "Blood Moon", or red-appearing Moon, is seen in most of the world except Europe and Africa.
• 2016 – President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2019 – Saturn overtakes Jupiter as the planet in the Solar System with the most known Moons (82, compared to Jupiter's 79).
• 2019 – Eight people are injured in a lorry-ramming attack in Limburg an der Lahn, Germany.
• 2023 – Hamas leads an invasion of Israel, starting the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.

Births

Up to 1850

• 13 BC – Drusus Julius Caesar, adoptive son of Roman Emperor Tiberius (d. 23)
• 1471 – King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
• 1573 – William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1645)
• 1576 – John Marston, English poet and playwright (d. 1634)
• 1589 – Maria Magdalena of Austria (d. 1631)
• 1728 – Caesar Rodney, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1784)
• 1744 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
• 1746 – William Billings, American composer (d. 1800)
• 1748 – King Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
• 1769 – Solomon Sibley, American politician (d. 1846)
• 1798 – Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, French violinmaker, businessman and inventor (d. 1875)
• 1822 – Rudolf Leuckert, German zoologist (d. 1898)
• 1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
• 1836 – Henri Elzear Taschereau, 4th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1911)
• 1841 – King Nicholas of Montenegro (d. 1921)
• 1846 – Wladimir Köppen, German scientist (d. 1940)
• 1849 – James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)

1851 – 1900

• 1857 – George P. McLean, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1932)
• 1866 – Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
• 1870 – Uncle Dave Macon, American banjo player, singer, songwriter and comedian (d. 1952)
• 1873 – Alfred Ander, Swedish criminal, last person to be executed in Sweden (d. 1910)
• 1877 – Thomas Archibald Sprague, Scottish botanist (d. 1958)
• 1881 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
• 1884 – Harold Geiger, US Army aviation pioneer (d. 1927)
• 1885 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (d. 1962)
• 1888 – Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
• 1889 – Robert Z. Leonard, American movie director, actor, producer and screenwriter (d. 1968)
• 1892 – Dwain Esper, American director and producer (d. 1982)
• 1894 – Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
• 1897 – Elijah Muhammad, American Muslim leader (d. 1975)
• 1897 – Charles Chauvel, Australian screenwriter, movie director and producer (d. 1959)
• 1898 – Alfred Wallenstein, American cellist and conductor (d. 1983)
• 1900 – Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official (d. 1945)

1901 – 1925

• 1901 – Souvanna Phouma, Prime Minister of Laos (d. 1984)
• 1904 – Armando Castellazzi, Italian footballer (d. 1968)
• 1905 – Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
• 1909 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish writer (d. 1990)
• 1909 – Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian-American pianist (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany, New York (d. 1983)
• 1911 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer-songwriter and bandleader (d. 1973)
• 1912 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Walt Whitman Rostow, American economist (d. 2003)
• 1914 – Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1914 – Begum Akhtar, Indian singer (d. 1974)
• 1914 – Sarah Churchill, British actress (d. 1982)
• 1915 – Charles Templeton, Canadian cartoonist and television evangelist (d. 2001)
• 1917 – June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Harry V. Jaffa, American historian (d. 2015)
• 1919 – Zelman Cowen, Australian academic and Governor-General of Australia (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Georg Leber, German politician (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian footballer and coach (d. 2004)
• 1922 – William Zinsser, American writer, editor, literary critic and teacher (d. 2015)

1926 – 1950

• 1926 – Marcello Abbado, Italian composer and pianist
• 1927 – Ronald David Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (d. 1989)
• 1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Sanne Ledermann, friend of Anne Frank (d. 1943)
• 1928 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
• 1928 – Ali Kafi, Algerian politician (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Hans-Peter Dürr, German physicist (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Graeme Ferguson, Canadian director and producer
• 1931 – Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 2021)
• 1932 – Joannes Gijsen, Dutch-born former Catholic bishop of Reykjavik (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright and academic (d. 2014)
• 1934 – Ulrike Meinhof, German left-wing militant and Red Army Faction member (d. 1976)
• 1935 – Thomas Keneally, Australian writer
• 1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
• 1937 – Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
• 1937 – Christopher Booker, English journalist and author
• 1938 – Fereydoun Farrokhzad, Iranian singer, actor and poet (d. 1992)
• 1938 – Ann Jones, English tennis player
• 1939 – Clive James, Australian TV presenter and writer
• 1939 – Harry Kroto, English chemist (d. 2016)
• 1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
• 1939 – Enrique Pinti, Argentine actor, comedian, theatre director and writer
• 1942 – Joy Behar, American talk show host and actress
• 1943 – José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
• 1943 – Oliver North, American former military officer and politician
• 1944 – Donald Tsang, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• 1944 – Pete van Wieren, American sportscaster (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Kevin Godley, English singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Bernard Lavilliers, French singer-songwriter and actor
• 1946 – Pengiran Anak Saleha, Queen of Brunei
• 1950 – Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician, 4th President of Tanzania

1951 – 1975

• 1951 – David J. Halberstam, American sportscaster
• 1951 – John Mellencamp, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
• 1952 – Mary Badham, American actress
• 1952 – Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
• 1953 – Ronald Worm, German footballer
• 1953 – Tico Torres, American musician (Bon Jovi)
• 1953 – Linda Griffiths, Canadian actress and playwright (d. 2014)
• 1954 – Christian Bourquin, French politician (d. 2014)
• 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-born cellist
• 1955 – Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist
• 1956 – Brian Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1957 – Jayne Torvill, English figure skater
• 1959 – Simon Cowell, English media personality
• 1959 – Lourdes Flores Nano, Peruvian politician
• 1960 – Viktor Lazlo, Belgian singer
• 1964 – Sam Brown, American singer
• 1964 – Dan Savage, American LGBT activist, journalist and television producer
• 1966 – Marco Beltrami, American movie score composer
• 1966 – Sherman Alexie, American author, humourist and screenwriter
• 1967 – Toni Braxton, American soul music singer
• 1968 – Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead
• 1968 – Pippa Funnell, British equestrian
• 1969 – Francesco Buzzurro, Italian guitarist
• 1969 – Karen L. Nyberg, American engineer and astronaut
• 1970 – Nicole Ari Parker, American actress
• 1971 – Ismael Urzaiz, Spanish footballer
• 1971 – Michelle Mone, Scottish businesswoman
• 1972 – Loek van Wely, Dutch chess player
• 1972 – Ben Younger, American screenwriter
• 1973 – Dida, Brazilian footballer
• 1973 – Grigol Mgalobishvili, 7th Prime Minister of Georgia
• 1974 – Charlotte Perrelli, Swedish singer
• 1975 – Tim Minchin, Australian comedian

From 1976

• 1976 – Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Santiago Solari, Argentine footballer
• 1976 – Taylor Hicks, American singer
• 1978 – Alesha Dixon, English singer
• 1978 – Jake Humphrey, English sports television presenter
• 1978 – Omar Benson Miller, American actor
• 1979 – Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
• 1979 – Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
• 1979 – Simona Amanar, Romanian gymnast
• 1980 – Jean-Marc Gaillard, French cross-country skier
• 1982 – Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
• 1982 – Jermain Defoe, English footballer
• 1982 – Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
• 1983 – Aaron Parks, American jazz musician
• 1984 – Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
• 1984 – Simon Poulsen, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Evan Longoria, American baseball player
• 1986 – Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
• 1986 – Kaitlyn, American wrestler and model
• 1986 – Bree Olson, American pornographic actress
• 1987 – Sam Querrey, American tennis player
• 1987 – Cian Healy, Irish rugby union player
• 1987 – Lauren Mayberry, Scottish singer (Chvrches)
• 1988 – Diego Costa, Brazilian-Spanish footballer
• 1988 – Holland Roden, American actress
• 1990 – Ayla Kell, American actress
• 1991 – Nicole Jung, American-Korean singer
• 1991 – Lay, Chinese-Korean entertainer
• 1996 – Lewis Capaldi, Scottish singer and songwriter
• 1997 – Kira Kosarin, American actress and singer
• 2001 – Princess Senate Seeiso, Princess of Lesotho

Deaths

Up to 1900

• 336 – Pope Mark
• 929 – Charles the Simple, King of France (b. 879)
• 1368 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (b. 1338)
• 1577 – George Gascoigne, English soldier, courtier and poet (b. 1535)
• 1612 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist and diplomat (b. 1538)
• 1637 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
• 1653 – Fausto Poli, Italian cardinal (b. 1581)
• 1708 – Guru Gobind Singh, 10th Sikh Guru (b. 1666)
• 1787 – Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the American Lutheran Church (b. 1711)
• 1796 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (b. 1710)
• 1849 – Edgar Allan Poe, American writer (b. 1809)
• 1857 – Louis McLane, United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
• 1870 – Majid bin Said of Zanzibar, Sultan of Zanzibar (b. 1834)
• 1894 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American writer (b. 1809)
• 1896 – Emma Wedgwood, British naturalist (b. 1808)

1901 – 2000

• 1903 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
• 1906 – Honoré Beaugrand, 18th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
• 1919 – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
• 1925 – Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1860)
• 1926 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (b. 1856)
• 1943 – Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
• 1943 – Radclyffe Hall, English author and poet (b. 1880)
• 1943 – Archibald Warden, English tennis player (b. 1869)
• 1951 – Anton Philips, Dutch businessman (b. 1874)
• 1956 – Clarence Birdseye, American inventor (b. 1886)
• 1959 – Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
• 1967 – Norman Angell, British politician (b. 1872)
• 1991 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
• 1992 – Tevfik Esenc, last speaker of the Ubykh language (b. 1904)
• 1993 – Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
• 1994 – Niels Kaj Jerne, Danish immunologist (b. 1911)

From 2001

• 2002 – Pierangelo Bertoli, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
• 2004 – Kenneth Bigley, English engineer (b. 1942)
• 2006 – Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist and writer (b. 1958)
• 2007 – Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1975)
• 2008 – Peter Copley, British actor (b. 1915)
• 2008 – George Emil Palade, Romanian cell biologist (b. 1912)
• 2009 – Irving Penn, American photographer (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Milka Planinc, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Ramiz Alia, last Communist leader of Albania, and President (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, Mexican drug lord (b. 1974)
• 2013 – Ovadia Yosef, Israeli Chief Rabbi (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Patrice Chéreau, French director, movie maker, actor and producer (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Siegfried Lenz, German writer (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Iva Withers, Canadian-American theatre actress and singer (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Nika Kiladze, Georgian footballer (b. 1988)
• 2014 – Zilpha Keatley Snyder, American writer (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Cigar, American racehorse (b. 1990)
• 2015 – Dominique Dropsy, French footballer (b. 1951)
• 2015 – Elena Lucena, Argentine actress (b. 1914)
• 2015 – Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (b. 1927)
• 2015 – W. R. Mitchell, British writer (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Jurelang Zedkaia, 5th President of the Marshall Islands (b. 1950)
• 2016 – Wolfgang Suschitzky, Austro-Hungarian-born British photographer and cinematographer (b. 1912)
• 2017 – Konstantin Sarsania, Russian footballer (b. 1968)
• 2017 – Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov, Russian philologist (b. 1929)
• 2017 – Jim Landis, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2017 – Washington SyCip, Filipino-American World War II veteran (b. 1921)
• 2017 – Kazys Almenas, Lithuanian physicist, engineer and publisher (b. 1935)
• 2017 – Ole Krarup, Danish politician (b. 1935)
• 2018 – Peggy McCay, American actress (b. 1927)
• 2018 – Oleg Pavlov, Russian novelist (b. 1970)
• 2018 – Celeste Yarnall, American actress (b. 1944)
• 2019 – Pepe Oneto, Spanish journalist and writer (b. 1942)
• 2019 – Ella Vogelaar, Dutch politician (b. 1949)

Observances

• Teacher's Day (Laos)
• National Day of East Germany (1949 to 1989)