What happened on October 7? There are more than 278 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About October 7
October 7 is the 281st day of the year 2024. There are 85 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 41st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Temecula, California 92592 sunrise will occur at 06:46 AM and sunset will occur at 06:25 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Libra. The modern birthstone for this month is Opal while the mystical birthstone is Jasper.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 114 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 25 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For October 7
- 3761 BCThe epoch reference date epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).
- 1477Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year.
- 1513Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
- 1542Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.
- 1571The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.
- 1582Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 1691The English royal charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.
- 1763George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
- 1776Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
- 1777American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.
- 1780American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
- 1800French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d'août.
- 1826The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.
- 1828The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese under General Maison.
- 1840Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
- 1862Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) opens as the first hospital in the Canadian province of British Columbia
- 1864American Civil War: USS Wachusett captures the Ship CSS Confederate raider while in port in Bahia, Brazil.
- 1868Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.
- 1870Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a balloon.
- 1879Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the “Twofold Covenant” and create the Dual Alliance.
- 1912The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
- 1916Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.
- 1919KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
- 1924Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for a short period of time.
- 1929Photios II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1933Air France is inaugurated, after being formed by a merger of 5 French airlines.
- 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.
- 1942World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
- 1944World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down the crematoria.
- 1949The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.
- 1958President 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.
- 1958The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury.
- 1959U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits the first ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
- 1960Nigeria joins the United Nations.
- 1963John F. Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Test Ban Treaty.
- 1971Oman joins the United Nations.
- 1976Hua Guofeng becomes Mao Zedong’s successor as chairman of Communist Party of China.
- 1977The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
- 1982Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
- 1985The Achille Lauro is hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.
- 1985The Mameyes landslide kills close to 300 in the worst landslide in North American history.
- 1991Bombing of Banski dvori in Zagreb.
- 1993The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.
- 1998Matthew 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.
- 2001The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
- 2004King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates, replaced by his son Norodom Sihamoni a week later.
- 2006Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya is shot and killed outside her home in Moscow.
Who Were Born On October 7?
- 1471King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
- 1573William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1645)
- 1576John Marston, English writer (d. 1634)
- 1589Maria Magdalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1631)
- 1713Granville Elliott, British military officer (d. 1759)
- 1728Caesar Rodney, American lawyer (d. 1784)
- 1744Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
- 1746William Billings, American composer (d. 1800)
- 1748King Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
- 1769Solomon Sibley, American politician and former Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan Territory (d. 1846)
- 1786Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
- 1835Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
- 1836Henri Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian jurist and Chief justice of Canada (d. 1911)
- 1841King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
- 1849James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)
- 1866Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
- 1870Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1873)
- 1870Uncle Dave Macon, American banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian (d. 1952)
- 1879Joe Hill, American Labor Activist and Poet (d. 1915)
- 1881Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
- 1884Major Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (d. 1927)
- 1885Claud Ashton Jones, United States Navy rear admiral and Medal of Honor winner (d. 1948)
- 1885Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
- 1888Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
- 1892Dwain Esper, director (d. 1982)
- 1894Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
- 1895Maurice Grevisse, Belgian grammarian (d. 1980)
- 1897Elijah Muhammad, American Black Muslim leader (d. 1975)
- 1898Joe Giard, American baseball player (d. 1956)
- 1900Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official (d. 1945)
- 1905Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1909Anni Blomqvist, Finnish novelist (d. 1990)
- 1909Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany, New York (d. 1983)
- 1910Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (d. 1986)
- 1911Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1995)
- 1911Vaughn Monroe, American singer (d. 1973)
- 1912Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (d. 2002)
- 1913Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and writer (d. 1987)
- 1914Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1914Sarah Churchill, British actress (d. 1982)
- 1917June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1919Georges Duby, French historian (d. 1996)
- 1919Sir Zelman Cowen, Australian academic and Governor-General
- 1920Jack Rowley, English footballer (d. 1998)
- 1921Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (d. 2004)
- 1922Grady Hatton, American baseball player
- 1922William Zinsser, American writer
- 1923Irma Grese, Supervisor at Nazi concentration camps (d. 1945)
- 1923Jean-Paul Riopelle, Québécois member of Les Automatistes (d. 2002)
- 1926Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1927Al Martino, American singer and actor (d. 2009)
- 1927R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (d. 1989)
- 1928Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
- 1929Graeme Ferguson, Canadian filmmaker and executive
- 1929Robert Westall, British author (d. 1993)
- 1931Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (d. 2004)
- 1931Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate
- 1934Amiri Baraka, American writer
- 1934Ulrike Meinhof, German journalist and political activist (d. 1976)
- 1935Thomas Keneally, Australian author
- 1936Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
- 1937Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
- 1939Bill Snyder, American football coach
- 1939Clive James, Australian television presenter and writer
- 1939Harold Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1939John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
- 1940Bruce Vento, American politician and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota (d. 2000)
- 1943José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
- 1943Joy Behar, American television personality
- 1943Oliver North, American former military officer
- 1944Donald Tsang, current Chief executive of Hong Kong
- 1944Judee Sill, American musician (d. 1979)
- 1945Kevin Godley, British musician (10cc)
- 1946Bernard Lavilliers, French singer
- 1946Catherine MacKinnon, American feminist and author
- 1946Pengiran Anak Saleha, Queen of Brunei
- 1947Chris Bambridge, former Australian football referee
- 1948Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist
- 1949Dave Hope, American musician (Kansas)
- 1950Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician
- 1951David J. Halberstam, American radio executive
- 1951John Mellencamp, American singer
- 1952Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
- 1952Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
- 1952Mary Badham, American actress
- 1952Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation
- 1953Tico Torres, musician (Bon Jovi)
- 1954Kenneth Atchley, American composer
- 1955Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist
- 1955Yo-Yo Ma, French-born American cellist
- 1956Brian Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957Jayne Torvill, British figure skater
- 1957Michael W. Smith, American singer
- 1958Judy Landers, American actress
- 1959Dylan Baker, American character actor
- 1959Jean-Marc Fournier, French-Canadian politician
- 1959Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
- 1959Simon Cowell, English recording executive
- 1960Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
- 1960Viktor Lazlo, Belgian singer
- 1961Brian Mannix, Australian singer and actor
- 1961Matthew Roloff, American reality star
- 1961Tony Sparano, American football coach
- 1962Dave Bronconnier, Canadian politician
- 1964Dan Savage, American sex-columnist and author
- 1964Paul Stewart, English footballer
- 1964Sam Brown, English singer-songwriter
- 1965Genji Hashimoto, Japanese racing driver
- 1966Marco Beltrami, Italian-American film composer
- 1966Sherman Alexie, Native American author and comedian
- 1967Luke Haines, English musician (The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder)
- 1967Toni Braxton, American singer
- 1968Thom Yorke, English singer (Radiohead)
- 1969Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1969Bobbie Brown, American actress, model
- 1969Malia Hosaka, Hawaiian professional wrestler
- 1969Maria Whittaker, English model
- 1970Nicole Ari Parker, American actress
- 1971Daniel Boucher, Québécois musician
- 1972Ben Younger, American screenwriter and film director
- 1973Dida, Brazilian footballer
- 1973Priest Holmes, American Football Running Back
- 1973Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer
- 1974Alexander Polinsky, American actor
- 1974Allison Munn, American actress
- 1974Charlotte Nilsson, Swedish singer
- 1975Damian Kulash, American musician (OK Go)
- 1975Jamie Hector, American actor
- 1975Kaspars Znotiņš, Latvian actor
- 1975Terry Gerin, American professional wrestler
- 1975Tim Minchin, Australian comedian and musician
- 1976Charles Woodson, American football player
- 1976Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1976Marc Coma, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1976Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer
- 1976Taylor Hicks, American musician
- 1977Brandon Quinn, American actor
- 1977Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
- 1978Alesha Dixon, British pop singer (Mis-Teeq)
- 1978Jake Humphrey, English television presenter
- 1978Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
- 1979Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
- 1979Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
- 1979Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
- 1979Tang Wei, Chinese actress
- 1980Edison Chen, Canadian actor
- 1980Tim Cresswell, Hong Kong footballer
- 1981Doni Schroader, American avant garde composer,pop musician
- 1982Jermain Defoe, English footballer
- 1982Li Yundi, Chinese classical pianist
- 1982Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
- 1982Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
- 1983Flying Lotus, American electronic music producer
- 1983Scottie Upshall, Canadian Hockey Player
- 1984Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
- 1984Toma Ikuta, Japanese singer and actor
- 1985Evan Longoria, American baseball player
- 1986Bree Olson, American pornographic actress
- 1986Chase Daniel, American football player
- 1986Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
- 1986Lee Nguyen, American soccer player
- 1987Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer
- 1987Sam Querrey, American tennis player
- 1988Stacy DuPree, American musician (Eisley)
- 1990Ayla Kell, American actress
- 1991Nicole Jung, Korean/American singer/actress
- 1995Slade Pearce, American actor
- 2001Princess Senate Seeiso, daughter of King Letsie III of Lesotho
Who Died On October 7?
- 336Pope Mark
- 929King Charles III of France (b. 879)
- 1368Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (b. 1338)
- 1553Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (b. c.1500)
- 1555Louis of Praet, Habsburg diplomat (b. 1488)
- 1577George Gascoigne, English poet
- 1612Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat, (b. 1538)
- 1620Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish military leader (b. 1547)
- 1637Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
- 1651Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (b. 1559)
- 1653Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1581)
- 1708Guru Gobind Singh, tenth Sikh Guru (b. 1666)
- 1772John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (b. 1720)
- 1787Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (b. 1711)
- 1792George Mason, American statesman (b. 1725)
- 1793Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (b. 1718)
- 1796Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (b. 1710)
- 1849Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet (b. 1809)
- 1894Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American writer (b. 1809)
- 1896Emma Wedgwood, English naturalist, wife of Charles Darwin, (b. 1808)
- 1903Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
- 1904Isabella Bird, English explorer, writer, and natural historian (b. 1831)
- 1906Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
- 1911John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
- 1919Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
- 1925Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1880)
- 1926Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist (b. 1856)
- 1939Harvey Cushing, Father of Modern Neurosurgery (b. 1869)
- 1943Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
- 1943Radclyffe Hall, British author (b. 1880)
- 1944Helmut Lent, German night fighter pilot (b. 1918)
- 1956Clarence Birdseye, American inventor (b. 1886)
- 1959Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
- 1966Grigoris Asikis, Greek singer and songwriter. (b. 1890)
- 1966Smiley Lewis, American musician (b. 1913)
- 1967Sir Norman Angell, British politician and Nobel Laureate (b. 1872)
- 1969Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (b. 1888)
- 1970Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest, educator and academic executive (b. 1906)
- 1991Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
- 1992Allan Bloom, American philosopher and educator (b. 1930)
- 1992Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
- 1993Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
- 1994Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born Danish immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
- 1995Ernest Ingenito, American mass murderer (b. 1924)
- 1998Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player a.k.a. Song and Wind (b. 1915)
- 2001Christopher Adams, British-born pro wrestler and judoka (b. 1955)
- 2001Herbert “Herblock” Block, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
- 2001Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist, businessman and corporate director (b. 1913)
- 2002Pierangelo Bertoli, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
- 2003Arthur Berger, American composer (b. 1912)
- 2003Israel Harold “Izzy” Asper, Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate (b. 1932)
- 2003Wally George, American conservative TV commentator (b. 1931)
- 2004Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)
- 2005Charles Rocket, American actor (b. 1949)
- 2006Abraham Afewerki, Eritrean singer (b.1966)
- 2006Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
- 2006Julen Goikoetxea, Spanish Basque cyclist (b. 1985)
- 2007George E. Sangmeister, American politician (b. 1931)
- 2007Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1975)
- 2008Leslie Hardman, Jewish Orthodox rabbi (b. 1913)
- 2009Irving Penn, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2010Milka Planinc, former PM of Yugoslavia (b. 1924)
- 2010T Lavitz, American musician (b. 1956)
- 2011Ramiz Alia, the former communist leader and first president of the Albanian pluralist (b. 1925)
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