December 7 is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 24 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 43 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated.
- 1696 – Connecticut Route 108, third oldest highway in Connecticut, is laid out to Trumbull.
- 1724 – Tumult of Thorn – religious unrest is followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.
- 1732 – The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London.
- 1776 – Marquis de Lafayette arranges to enter the American military as a major general.
- 1787 – Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- 1862 – US Civil War: Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
- 1869 – American outlaw Jesse James commits his first confirmed bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.
- 1917 – World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1930 – W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts broadcasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The broadcast also includes the first television commercial in the United States, an advertisement for I.J. Fox Furriers, who sponsored the radio show.
- 1936 – Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton becomes the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
- 1941 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor – The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing a declaration of war upon Japan by the United States. Japan also invades Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines at the same time (December 8 in Asia).
- 1946 – A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people, the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history.
- 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The government of Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei.
- 1962 – Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.
- 1963 – Instant replay makes its debut during an Army–Navy game.
- 1965 – Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
- 1970 – The first ever general election on the basis of direct adult franchise is held in Pakistan for 313 National Assembly seats.
- 1971 – Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a Coalition Government at Centre with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as Vice-Prime Minister.
- 1972 – Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
- 1975 – Indonesia invades East Timor.
- 1982 – In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr. becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.
- 1983 – An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxiing down the runway at Madrid Barajas International Airport, killing 93 people.
- 1987 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and himself.
- 1988 – Spitak Earthquake: In Armenia an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
- 1988 – Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.
- 1989 – Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran complete their trilogy of boxing fights nine years after their first two fights, at the opening of the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada; Leonard retains his WBC world Super Middleweight title by a 12 round unanimous decision.
- 1993 – The Long Island Rail Road massacre: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.
- 1994 – Norfolk Southern ends its steam excursion program. This is the last time that Norfolk and Western 611 is under steam.
- 1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
- 1999 – The Recording Industry Association of America files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client alleging copyright infringement.
- 2003 – The Conservative Party of Canada is officially recognized after the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
- 2005 – Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of U.S. federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.
- 2005 – Ante Gotovina, a Croatian army general accused of war crimes, is captured in the Playa de las Américas, Tenerife by the Spanish police.
- 2006 – A tornado strikes Kensal Green, North West London, seriously damaging about 150 properties.
- 2007 – The Hebei Spirit oil spill begins in South Korea after a crane barge that had broken free from a tug collides with the Very Large Crude Carrier, Hebei Spirit.
- 2008 – The first NFL game is played in Canada at Rogers Centre in Toronto as the Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 16–3.
[edit] Births
- 521 – Saint Columba, Irish Christian missionary to Scotland (d. 597)
- 903 – Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi, Persian astronomer (d. 986)
- 1302 – Azzone Visconti lord of Milan (d. 1339)
- 1545 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1567)
- 1561 – Kikkawa Hiroie, Japanese politician (d. 1625)
- 1598 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian artist (d. 1680)
- 1637 – Bernardo Pasquini, Italian composer (d. 1710)
- 1724 – Louise of Great Britain, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1751)
- 1764 – Claude Victor-Perrin, duc de Belluno, French marshal (d. 1841)
- 1784 – Allan Cunningham, British poet (d. 1842)
- 1792 – Abraham Jacob van der Aa, Dutch literator (d. 1857)
- 1801 – Johann Nestroy, Austrian dramatist and actor (d. 1862)
- 1803 – Maria Josepha of Saxony, queen consort of Spain (d. 1829)
- 1810 – Josef Hyrtl, Austrian anatomist (d. 1894)
- 1810 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist (d. 1882)
- 1823 – Leopold Kronecker, German mathematician (d. 1891)
- 1838 – Sir Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria (d. 1909)
- 1860 – Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1947)
- 1862 – Paul Adam, French novelist (d. 1920)
- 1863 – Felix Calonder, Swiss politician (d. 1952)
- 1863 – Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (d. 1945)
- 1863 – Richard Sears, American department store founder (d. 1914)
- 1873 – Willa Cather, American novelist (d. 1947)
- 1879 – Rudolf Friml, American composer (d. 1972)
- 1887 – Ernst Toch, Austrian composer (d. 1964)
- 1888 – Joyce Cary, Irish author (d. 1957)
- 1888 – Hamilton Fish III, American politician (d. 1991)
- 1891 – Fay Bainter, Academy Award-winning American actress (d. 1968)
- 1903 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician (d. 1987)
- 1904 – Konstantin Sokolsky, Russian singer (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Gerard Kuiper, Dutch-born American astronomer (d. 1973)
- 1907 – Fred Rose, Canadian communist politician (d. 1983)
- 1909 – Nikola Vaptsarov, Bulgarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1942)
- 1910 – Louis Prima, American musician (d. 1978)
- 1910 – Edmundo Ros, Trinidadian musician (d. 2011)
- 1912 – Daniel Jones, British composer (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Kersti Merilaas, Estonian author, poet (d. 1986)
- 1915 – Eli Wallach, American actor
- 1915 – Leigh Brackett, American screenwriter (d. 1978)
- 1916 – Yekaterina Budanova, Soviet pilot, one of only two female flying aces (d. 1943)
- 1916 – Jean Carignan, French Canadian fiddler (d. 1988)
- 1919 – Lis Løwert, Danish actress (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Fiorenzo Magni, Italian cyclist
- 1920 – Walter Nowotny, Austrian fighter pilot (d. 1944)
- 1920 – Tatamkulu Afrika, South African poet and writer (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader
- 1923 – Ted Knight, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1924 – John Love, Zimbabwean Formula One driver (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Mário Soares, former (17th) President of Portugal
- 1925 – Hernando da Silva Ramos, Brazilian racing driver
- 1927 – Helen Watts, British contralto (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Noam Chomsky, American linguist and political writer
- 1930 – Hal Smith, American baseball player
- 1930 – Christopher Nicole, British writer
- 1932 – Ellen Burstyn, American actress
- 1932 – Paul Caponigro, American photographer
- 1937 – Thad Cochran, American politician, senator from Mississippi
- 1940 – Stan Boardman, English comedian
- 1940 – Gerry Cheevers, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1941 – Melba Pattillo Beals, American journalist and writer
- 1942 – Harry Chapin, American singer and songwriter (d. 1981)
- 1942 – Alex Johnson, American baseball player
- 1942 – Peter Tomarken, American game show host (d. 2006)
- 1943 – Nicholas Katz, American mathematician
- 1943 – Göran Lennmarker, Swedish politician
- 1943 – Bernard C. Parks, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department
- 1944 – Jamiel Chagra, American drug trafficker
- 1944 – Daniel Chorzempa, American organist
- 1944 – Miroslav Macek, Czech politician
- 1945 – Marion Rung, Finnish singer
- 1947 – Johnny Bench, American baseball player
- 1947 – Tony Thomas, American TV and film producer
- 1947 – Garry Unger, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1948 – Gary Morris, American singer and actor
- 1948 – Mads Vinding, Danish bassist
- 1949 – Tom Waits, American singer, composer, and actor
- 1952 – Georges Corraface, Greek actor, president of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival
- 1952 – Susan Collins, American politician
- 1952 – Eckhard Märzke, East German footballer
- 1954 – Mary Fallin, American politician
- 1954 – Mark Hofmann, American forger and bomber
- 1954 – Mike Nolan, Irish singer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1955 – Chuck Loeb, Contemporary Jazz guitarist
- 1955 – Priscilla Barnes, American actress
- 1955 – John Watkins, Australian politician
- 1956 – Larry Bird, American basketball player
- 1957 – Tom Winsor, British lawyer and economic regulator
- 1958 – Tim Butler, English musician (The Psychedelic Furs)
- 1958 – Rick Rude, American professional wrestler (d. 1999)
- 1960 – Craig Scanlon, English guitarist (The Fall)
- 1961 – Lisa Fischer, American R&B singer
- 1961 – Mario Miethig, German footballer
- 1962 – Grecia Colmenares, Venezuelan actress
- 1963 – Theo Snelders, former Dutch footballer
- 1964 – Roberta Close, Brazilian model
- 1964 – Peter Laviolette, head coach Philadelphia Flyers
- 1965 – Colin Hendry, Scottish footballer
- 1965 – Dorien de Vries, Dutch windsurfer
- 1965 – Jeffrey Wright, American actor
- 1966 – C. Thomas Howell, American actor
- 1966 – Shinichi Itoh, Japanese motorcycle racer
- 1967 – Tino Martinez, American baseball player
- 1968 – Mark Geyer, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1969 – Andrea Claudio Galluzzo, Italian writer and journalist
- 1969 – Patrice O'Neal, American stand-up comedian and actor (d. 2011)
- 1970 – Carmen Campuzano, Mexican actress and fashion model
- 1971 – Vladimir Akopian, Armenian chess player
- 1971 – Chasey Lain, American pornographic actress
- 1972 – Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
- 1972 – Tammy Lynn Sytch, American professional wrestler
- 1973 – Terrell Owens, American football player
- 1973 – Fabien Pelous, French international rugby player
- 1973 – Damien Rice, Irish musician
- 1973 – Charles Carl Roberts, American spree killer (d. 2006)
- 1974 – Nicole Appleton, Canadian-born singer
- 1974 – Kang Full, South Korean webcomic artist
- 1975 – Jamie Clapham, English footballer
- 1976 – Alan Faneca, American football player
- 1976 – Ivan Franceschini, Italian fottballer
- 1976 – Brent Johnson, Canadian football player
- 1976 – Georges Laraque, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Vanessa Lorenzo, Spanish fashion model
- 1977 – Dominic Howard, English drummer (Muse)
- 1977 – Eric Chavez, American baseball player
- 1978 – Shiri Appleby, American actress
- 1978 – Kon Artis, American rapper
- 1978 – Frankie J, Mexican-born American singer
- 1978 – Chad Dukes, Radio Personality
- 1979 – Sara Bareilles, American singer
- 1979 – Jennifer Carpenter, American actress
- 1979 – Lampros Choutos, Greek footballer
- 1979 – Ayako Fujitani, Japanese actress
- 1979 – Derek Ramsay, Filipino actor and model
- 1980 – John Terry, English footballer
- 1982 – Chrispa, Greek singer
- 1982 – Jack Huston, English actor
- 1983 – Fausto Carmona, Dominican baseball player
- 1984 – Robert Kubica, the first Polish Formula One racing driver
- 1984 – Aaron Gray, American basketball player
- 1984 – Luca Rigoni, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Milan Michalek, Czech ice hockey player
- 1986 – Jonathan Gill, English singer (JLS)
- 1987 – Aaron Carter, American singer and actor
- 1987 – Thomas Fiss, American singer (Varsity Fanclub)
- 1988 – Emily Browning, Australian actress
- 1988 – Asia Ray Smith, American actress
- 1988 – Nathan Adrian, American swimmer
- 1989 – Nicholas Hoult, English actor
- 1989 – Alessandro Marchi, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Urszula Radwańska, Polish tennis player
- 1991 – Dori Sakurada, Japanese actor
- 1992 – Michael Barron, English footballer/dancer
- 1993 – Jasmine Villegas, American R&B and pop singer
- 2003 – Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands
[edit] Deaths
- 43 BC – Cicero, Roman politician and author (b. 106 BC)
- 283 – Pope Eutychian
- 983 – Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 955)
- 1254 – Pope Innocent IV
- 1279 – King Boleslaus V of Poland (b. 1226)
- 1295 – Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1243)
- 1498 – Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist (b. 1433)
- 1562 – Adrian Willaert, Flemish composer
- 1649 – Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1606)
- 1672 – Richard Bellingham, English colonial magistrate (b. 1592)
- 1683 – John Oldham, English poet (b. 1653)
- 1683 – Algernon Sydney, English politician (b. 1623)
- 1723 – Jan Santini Aichel, Bohemian architect (b. 1677)
- 1725 – Florent Carton Dancourt, French dramatist and actor (b. 1661)
- 1775 – Charles Saunders, British admiral
- 1793 – Joseph Bara, French revolutionary (b. 1780)
- 1815 – Michel Ney, French marshall (b. 1769)
- 1817 – William Bligh, British admiral and HMS Bounty figure (b. 1745)
- 1842 – Thomas Hamilton, Scottish writer (b. 1789)
- 1874 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German biblical scholar (b. 1815)
- 1879 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence movement figure (b. 1811)
- 1894 – Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and entrepreneur (Suez Canal) (b. 1805)
- 1902 – Thomas Nast, German-born American cartoonist (b. 1840)
- 1906 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)
- 1913 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian religious figure (b. 1828)
- 1917 – Léon Minkus, German-born Czech composer and violinist (b. 1826)
- 1938 – Anna Marie Hahn, German-born American serial killer (b. 1906)
- 1941 – Among the 2,400 dead from the attack on Pearl Harbor
-
- 1946 – Sada Yacco, Japanese stage actress (b. 1871)
- 1947 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American university president, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1862)
- 1947 – Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist (b. 1866)
- 1956 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor (b. 1887)
- 1960 – Clara Haskil, Swiss pianist (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player (b. 1897)
- 1969 – Eric Portman, English actor (b. 1903)
- 1970 – Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (b. 1883)
- 1975 – Thornton Wilder, American playwright (b. 1897)
- 1977 – Peter Carl Goldmark, Hungarian-born American engineer (b. 1906)
- 1978 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist (b. 1886)
- 1980 – Darby Crash, American punk-rock musician (b. 1958)
- 1981 – Ava Helen Pauling, American human rights activist (b. 1903)
- 1982 – Will Lee, American actor (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Fanny Cano, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
- 1984 – Charles Ray Hatcher, American serial killer (b. 1929)
- 1984 – Lee Roy Yarbrough, American race car driver (b. 1938)
- 1985 – Robert Graves, British author (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Potter Stewart, American jurist (b. 1915)
- 1989 – William Calhoun, American professional wrestler (b. 1934)
- 1990 – Joan Bennett, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1990 – Jean Duceppe, French-Canadian actor (b. 1923)
- 1990 – Jean Paul Lemieux, French-Canadian artist (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivoirian politician (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- 1994 – J.C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1939)
- 1997 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (b. 1942)
- 1998 – Martin Rodbell, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1925)
- 1998 – John Addison, British composer (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Vladimir Gotovac, Croatian poet and politician (b. 1930)
- 2003 – Carl F. H. Henry American theologian and publisher (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Azie Taylor Morton, Treasurer of the United States (b. 1936)
- 2004 – Frederick Fennell, American conductor (b. 1914)
- 2004 – Jerry Scoggins, American singer (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Jay Van Andel, American entrepreneur (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Bud Carson, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Lucy d'Abreu, Scottish supercentenarian (b. 1892)
- 2005 – Rigoberto Alpizar, Costa Rica-born American airline passenger (b. 1961)
- 2006 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Jay McShann, American musician (b. 1910)
- 2008 – Marky Cielo, Filipino-Igorot dancer and actor (b. 1988)
- 2008 – Herbert Hutner, American banker and attorney (b. 1908)
- 2009 – Mark Ritts, American actor (b. 1946)
- 2010 – Elizabeth Edwards, American lawyer and wife of John Edwards (b. 1949)
- 2010 – Gus Mercurio, American-born Australian actor (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor (b. 1915)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
