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This day in history

This day in history: 7 October

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day254 · 111

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Key facts

421 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 7 October.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
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.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Henry Muhlenberg (some Lutheran Churches, Episcopal Church of the USA)

Christian feast day: Justina of Padua

Christian feast day: October 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Osgyth

Christian feast day: Our Lady of the Rosary

Christian feast day: Pope Mark

Christian feast day: Sergius and Bacchus

Teachers' Day (Laos)

Events

1940World War II: The McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1864American Civil War: A US Navy ship captures a Confederate raider in a Brazilian seaport.

2023Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launch an attack into Israel, which results in the deaths of around 1,200, mostly civilians, and the taking of 251 hostages, including civilians and soldiers.

1950Mother Teresa establishes the Missionaries of Charity.

1868Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

2000Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Hezbollah militants capture three Israeli Defense Force soldiers in a cross-border raid.

1777American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat British forces under general John Burgoyne in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, compelling Burgoyne's eventual surrender.

1949The communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.

1826Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Akkerman Convention, under which the Ottomans accept Russian territorial demands in the Balkans, Caucasus and the Danubian river basin.

1913Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving vehicle assembly line.

1996Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.

-3761The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar.

2001The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground, starting the longest war in American history.

1919KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1961A Douglas Dakota IV operated by Derby Aviation (later renamed to British Midland International) crashes in Canigou, France, killing 34 people.

1571The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat.

1987Sikh nationalists declare the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized.

1840Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.

1916Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.

1958The U.S. crewed space-flight project is renamed to Project Mercury.

2008Qantas Flight 72 experiences an in-flight upset near Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia, injuring 112.

1691The charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.

1780American Revolutionary War: American militia defeat royalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, often regarded as the turning point in the war's Southern theater.

1763King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing Indigenous lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements.

2016In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rises to over 800.

2002The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-112 to continue assembly of the International Space Station.

1477Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year.

1985Four men from the Palestine Liberation Front hijack the MS Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt.

1993The flood of '93 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.

1963Buddhist crisis: Amid worsening relations, outspoken South Vietnamese First Lady Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu arrives in the US for a speaking tour, continuing a flurry of attacks on the Kennedy administration.

1963President Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

1870Franco-Prussian War: Léon Gambetta escapes the siege of Paris in a hot-air balloon.

1959The Soviet probe Luna 3 transmits the first-ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.

1879Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.

1800French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent.

1944World War II: The Sonderkommando Revolt in Auschwitz was an uprising of prisoners (especially the Sonderkommando) at the Auschwitz concentration camp, they burnt down Crematorium IV.

1912The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.

2022Ales Bialiatski, along with two organisations, Memorial & Center for Civil Liberties, are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1977The Fourth Soviet Constitution is adopted.

1988A hunter discovers three gray whales trapped under the ice near Alaska; the situation becomes a multinational effort to free the whales.

Born on this day

1998Trent Alexander-Arnold, English footballer

1998Ryan Trahan, American YouTuber

1999Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Turkish footballer

2002Joaquín Panichelli, Argentine footballer

2001Princess Senate Seeiso, Princess of Lesotho

1997Kira Kosarin, American actress and singer

1997Nicole Maines, American actress, writer, and activist

1996Choi Jeong, South Korean Go player

1996Guglielmo Vicario, Italian footballer

1996Lewis Capaldi, Scottish singer-songwriter

1995Bram van Vlerken, Dutch professional football player

1995Lloyd Jones, English professional footballer

1995Lyndon Dykes, Australian professional footballer

1995Mathias Dyngeland, Norwegian footballer

1993Nic Stauskas, Canadian basketball player

1992Mookie Betts, American baseball player

1991Lay Zhang, Chinese singer-songwriter and actor

1991Mike Foltynewicz, American baseball player

1991Nicole Jung, American singer

1991Oscar Fantenberg, Swedish ice hockey player

1990Sebastián Coates, Uruguayan footballer

1989Trent Merrin, Australian rugby league player

1988Diego da Silva Costa, Brazilian footballer

1987Aiden English, American wrestler

1987Alex Cobb, American baseball player

1987Damion James, American basketball player

1987Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer

1987Sam Querrey, American tennis player

1986A. J. Price, American basketball player

1986Amber Stevens West, American actress

1986Amy Satterthwaite, New Zealand cricketer

1986Bree Olson, American actress, model, and former pornographic actress

1986Chase Daniel, American football player

1986Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer

1986Holland Roden, American actress

1986Lee Nguyen, American soccer player

1985Evan Longoria, American baseball player

1984Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer

1984Simon Poulsen, Danish footballer

1984Toma Ikuta, Japanese actor and singer

Died on this day

2024Arie L. Kopelman, American businessman (born 1938)

2024Cissy Houston, American singer (born 1933)

2024Lore Segal, American novelist (born 1928)

2024Zaw Myint Maung, Burmese politician, physician and former political prisoner (born 1951)

2023Israelis murdered or fell in the line of duty during the October 7 attacks

2023Terence Davies, English filmmaker

2022Arun Bali, Indian actor (born 1942)

2020Mario Molina, Mexican chemist (born 1943)

2016Ross Higgins, Australian actor, comedian (born 1930)

2015Harry Gallatin, American basketball player and coach (born 1927)

2015Hossein Hamadani, Iranian general (born 1951)

2015Jurelang Zedkaia, Marshallese politician, 5th President of the Marshall Islands (born 1950)

2014Iva Withers, Canadian-American actress and singer (born 1917)

2014Nika Kiladze, Georgian footballer (born 1988)

2014Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (born 1926)

2013David E. Jeremiah, American admiral (born 1934)

2013Joe Rogers, American lawyer and politician, 45th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado (born 1964)

2013Leandro Mendoza, Filipino police officer and politician, 36th Executive Secretary of the Philippines (born 1946)

2013Mick Buckley, English footballer (born 1953)

2013Patrice Chéreau, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1944)

2013Terry Burnham, American actress (born 1949)

2012Ivo Michiels, Belgian-French author and poet (born 1923)

2012Mervyn M. Dymally, Trinidadian-American politician, 41st Lieutenant Governor of California (born 1926)

2012Wiley Reed, American-Australian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1944)

2011Andrew Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (born 1926)

2011Ramiz Alia, Albanian politician, 1st President of Albania (born 1925)

2010Milka Planinc, Croatian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (born 1924)

2010T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (born 1956)

2009Irving Penn, American photographer (born 1917)

2007George E. Sangmeister, American lawyer and politician (born 1931)

Quote of the day

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”

Alan Watts

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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