MAY 7

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders the dome rebuilt.

★ 1274 - In France, the Second Council of Lyons opens to regulate the election of the Pope.

★ 1298 - Colocation of the first stone of Barcelona's Cathedral.

★ 1429 - Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning wounded to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years' War.

★ 1664 - Louis XIV of France inaugurates The Palace of Versailles.

★ 1697 - Stockholm's royal castle (dating back to medieval times) is destroyed in a huge fire (in the 18th century, it is replaced with the current Royal Palace).

★ 1763 - Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins - Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.

★ 1824 - World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. Work was conducted by Michael Umlauf, under the deaf composer's supervision.

★ 1832 - Greece is recognised independent by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.

★ 1836 - The settlement of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is elevated to the royal status of villa by the government of Spain.

★ 1840 - The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi, killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

★ 1847 - In Philadelphia, the American Medical Association (AMA) is founded.

★ 1864 - American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.

★ 1895 - In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention - the first in the world radio receiver. In the former Soviet Union this day is celebrated as Day of Radio.

★ 1915 - World War I: a German submarine U-20 sinks the RMS ''Lusitania'', killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turned many formerly pro-Germans in the United States of America against the German Empire.

★ 1920 - Kiev Offensive (1920): Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force captured Kiev only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.

★ 1920 - Treaty of Moscow (1920): Soviet Russia recognizes independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.

★ 1927 - Angelos Sikelianos organizes the first Delphic Festival in Delphi to celebrate the ancient Greek Delphic ideal.

★ 1937 - Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrive in Spain to assist Franco's forces.

★ 1945 - World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document will take effect the next day.

★ 1946 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with about 20 employees.

★ 1947 - ''Kraft Television Theater'' debuts, running for the next 11 years.

★ 1948 - The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.

★ 1952 - The concept for the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.

★ 1954 - Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat (the battle began on March 13).

★ 1960 - Cold War: U-2 Crisis - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.

★ 1964 - Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F-27 airliner, crashes near San Ramon, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a cockpit recorder tape indicates that the pilot and co-pilot had been shot by a suicidal passenger.

★ 1974 - West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns.

★ 1992 - Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.

★ 1992 - Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' is launched on its maiden voyage (STS-49).


★ 1992 - Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first fast-food murder in Canada.

★ 1998 - Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.

★ 1999 - Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope that had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

★ 1999 - A jury finds ''The Jenny Jones Show'' and Warner Bros. liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure, after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode. Schmitz later killed Amedure and the jury awarded Amedure's family US$25 million.

★ 1999 - Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

★ 1999 - In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.

★ 2002 - A China Southern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.

★ 2005 - Former Lebanese Prime Minister, General Michel Aoun returns to Lebanon after 15 years in exile.

★ 2006 - ''Rolling Stone'' magazine publishes its 1000th issue.

★ 2007 - The tomb of Herod the Great is discovered.

★ 2007 - Windows Live Hotmail was launched and replaced MSN Hotmail.

Births

★ 1328 - Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1365)

★ 1530 - Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French Huguenot general (d. 1569)

★ 1643 - Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician (d. 1700)

★ 1700 - Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-born physician (d. 1772)

★ 1724 - Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Austrian general (d. 1797)

★ 1740 - Nikolai Arkharov, Russian general (d. 1814)

★ 1748 - Olympe de Gouges, playwright and feminist revolutionary (d. 1793)

★ 1763 - Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Polish prince (d. 1813)

★ 1774 - William Bainbridge, American Commodore

★ 1787 - Jacques Viger, French Canadian politician, first mayor of Montreal (d. 1858)

★ 1812 - Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)

★ 1833 - Johannes Brahms, German composer (d. 1897)

★ 1840 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893)

★ 1847 - Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)

★ 1857 - William A. MacCorkle, American politician (d. 1930)

★ 1861 - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1941)

★ 1867 - Władysław Reymont, Polish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1925)

★ 1882 - Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (d. 1960)

★ 1885 - George 'Gabby' Hayes, American actor (d. 1969)

★ 1891 - Harry McShane, Scottish socialist (d. 1988)

★ 1892 - Archibald MacLeish, American Librarian of Congress (d. 1982)

★ 1892 - Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (d. 1980)

★ 1893 - Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (d. 1985)

★ 1896 - Pavel Sergeevich Alexandrov, Russian mathematician (d. 1982)

★ 1901 - Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)

★ 1909 - Edwin H. Land, American inventor (d. 1991)

★ 1911 - Ishiro Honda, Japanese film director (d. 1993)

★ 1916 - Huw Wheldon, British broadcaster (d. 1986)

★ 1917 - David Tomlinson, English film actor (d. 2000)

★ 1919 - Eva Peron, Argentine first lady (d. 1952)

★ 1922 - Lew Anderson, American actor and bandleader (d. 2006)

★ 1922 - Darren McGavin, American actor (d. 2006)

★ 1922 - Joe O'Donnell, American documentary photographer, photojournalist (d. 2007)

★ 1923 - Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)

★ 1924 - Albert Band, American film director (d. 2002)

★ 1927 - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German screenwriter

★ 1927 - Jim Lowe, American singer

★ 1929 - Babe Parilli, American football player

★ 1929 - Dick Williams, American baseball player, manager and coach

★ 1930 - Totie Fields, American comedienne (d. 1978)

★ 1931 - Teresa Brewer, American singer

★ 1933 - Johnny Unitas, American football player (d. 2002)

★ 1933 - Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer

★ 1935 - Isobel Warren, Canadian author

★ 1939 - Sidney Altman, Canadian molecular biologist, Nobel laureate

★ 1939 - Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

★ 1939 - Johnny Maestro, American pop singer

★ 1939 - Jimmy Ruffin, American singer

★ 1939 - Ruggero Deodato, Italian film director, actor and screen writer

★ 1940 - Angela Carter, English novelist and journalist (d. 1992)

★ 1941 - Catherine P. Saxton, British-born American public relations executive

★ 1943 - Harvey Andrews, English singer and songwriter

★ 1944 - Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (d. 2006)

★ 1945 - Christy Moore, Irish folk artist

★ 1945 - Robin Strasser, American TV soap opera actress

★ 1946 - Thelma Houston, American singer

★ 1946 - Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer (Grateful Dead)

★ 1946 - Brian Turner, English celebrity chef

★ 1950 - Randall 'Tex' Cobb, American boxer and actor

★ 1950 - Tim Russert, American television host

★ 1951 - Robert Hegyes, American actor

★ 1954 - Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist

★ 1954 - Amy Heckerling, American director

★ 1955 - Ben Poquette, American basketball player

★ 1955 - Tim Richmond, American race car driver.

★ 1955 - Kevin Reed, American theologian

★ 1956 - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

★ 1956 - Anne Dudley, British composer

★ 1956 - Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host

★ 1957 - Ray Fernandez, wrestler (d. 2004)

★ 1959 - Barbara Yung Mei-ling, Hong Kong actress (d. 1985)

★ 1959 - Michael E. Knight, American actor

★ 1960 - Almudena Grandes, Spanish novelist

★ 1961 - Phil Campbell, British musician (Motörhead)

★ 1963 - Johnny Lee Middleton, American musician (Savatage & Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

★ 1965 - Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1999)

★ 1965 - Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish Footballer

★ 1968 - Traci Lords, American actress

★ 1969 - Eagle Eye Cherry, Swedish musician

★ 1969 - Rick Porras, American co-producer

★ 1972 - Frank Trigg, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter

★ 1973 - Kristian Lundin, Swedish songwriter

★ 1973 - Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist

★ 1974 - Breckin Meyer, American actor

★ 1974 - Ian Pearce, English footballer

★ 1975 - Jason Tunks, Canadian track & field athlete

★ 1975 - Nicole Sheridan, American porn star

★ 1975 - Zee, American hip hop artist

★ 1977 - Lisa Kelly, Irish singer

★ 1978 - Brian Clevinger, American author

★ 1978 - Shawn Marion, American basketball player

★ 1979 - Katie Douglas, American basketball player

★ 1980 - Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer

★ 1984 - Alex Smith, American football player

★ 1984 - Drew Stanton, American football player

★ 1985 - Drew Neitzel, American college basketball player

★ 1986 - Mark Furze, Australian actor

★ 1987 - Dennis Mak, Chinese singer (Sun Boy'z)

Deaths

★ 973 - Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 912)

★ 1092 - Remigius de Fécamp, first bishop of Lincoln (b. unknown)

★ 1427 - Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English churchman

★ 1523 - Franz von Sickingen, German soldier (b. 1481)

★ 1539 - Guru Nanak Dev, Founder of Sikhism (b. 1469)

★ 1539 - Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (b. 1466)

★ 1615 - Sanada Yukimura, Japanese samurai (b. 1567)

★ 1617 - David Fabricius, German astronomer (b. 1564)

★ 1667 - Johann Jakob Froberger, German composer (b. 1616)

★ 1682 - Tsar Feodor III of Russia (b. 1661)

★ 1718 - Mary of Modena, wife of James II of England (b. 1658)

★ 1793 - Pietro Nardini, Italian composer (b. 1722)

★ 1800 - Niccola Piccinni, Italian composer (b. 1728)

★ 1805 - William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1737)

★ 1825 - Antonio Salieri, Italian composer (b. 1750)

★ 1840 - Caspar David Friedrich, German painter (b. 1774)

★ 1868 - Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1778)

★ 1896 - H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (b. 1861)

★ 1922 - Max Wagenknecht, German composer (b. 1857)

★ 1925 - William Hesketh Lever, First Viscount Leverhulme (b. 1851)

★ 1940 - George Lansbury, Labour Party Leader (b. 1859)

★ 1941 - Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (b. 1854)

★ 1942 - Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (b. 1863)

★ 1951 - Warner Baxter, American actor (b. 1889)

★ 1967 - Lorenzo Bandini, Italian Formula One pilot (b. 1935

★ 1987 - Colin Blakely, British actor (b. 1930)

★ 1989 - Guy Williams, American actor (b. 1924)

★ 1995 - Ray McKinley, American jazz drummer, singer and bandleader (b. 1910)

★ 1998 - Allan McLeod Cormack, South African physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1924)

★ 1998 - Eddie Rabbitt, American musician (b. 1941)

★ 2000 - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (b. 1909)

★ 2002 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)

★ 2004 - Waldemar Milewicz, Polish reporter (b. 1956)

★ 2005 - Tristan Egolf, American writer (b. 1971)

★ 2005 - Peter W. Rodino, American politician (b. 1909)

★ 2005 - Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1980)

★ 2006 - Richard Carleton, Australian news reporter (b.1943)

★ 2006 - Joan C. Edwards, American philanthropist (b. 1918)

★ 2006 - Machiko Soga, Japanese actress, singer, and tokusatsu legend (b. 1943)

★ 2007 - Diego Corrales, American boxer (b. 1977)

★ 2007 - Octavian Paler, Romanian writer and journalist (b. 1926)

★ 2007 - Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances

★ Russia - Radio Day (commemorating the work of Alexander Popov)

★ Bulgaria - Radio and Television Day (see above)

Liturgical feasts

★ Acacius of Byzantium

★ Saint Domitian of Huy, the apostle of the Meuse valley

★ Saint Flavia Domitilla

★ Blessed Gisela (d. 1060)

★ John of Beverley

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On This Day in Canada
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