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.
[edit] Events
- 3761 BC – The epoch reference date epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).
- 1477 – Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year.
- 1513 – Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
- 1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off of the California coast.
- 1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.
- 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 1691 – The English royal charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.
- 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.
- 1776 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as 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.
- 1800 – French 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.
- 1826 – The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.
- 1828 – Morea Expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese under General Maison.
- 1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
- 1849 – Death of Edgar Allan Poe
- 1862 – Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) opens as the first hospital in the Canadian province of British Columbia
- 1864 – American Civil War: Bahia Incident: USS Wachusett illegally captures the CSS Florida Confederate raider while in port in Bahia, Brazil in violation of Brazilian neutrality.
- 1868 – Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.
- 1870 – Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a balloon.
- 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.
- 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
- 1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.
- 1919 – KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
- 1924 – Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for a short period of time.
- 1929 – Photios II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1933 – Air France is inaugurated, after being formed by a merger of 5 French airlines.
- 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.
- 1942 – World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
- 1944 – World War II: During an uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down the crematoria.
- 1949 – The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.
- 1955 – American poet Allen Ginsberg performs his poem Howl for the first time at the Six Gallery in San Francisco.
- 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 – The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury.
- 1959 – U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits the first ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
- 1960 – Nigeria joins the United Nations.
- 1963 – John F. Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Test Ban Treaty.
- 1971 – Oman joins the United Nations.
- 1976 – Hua Guofeng becomes Mao Zedong's successor as chairman of Communist Party of China.
- 1977 – The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
- 1985 – The Achille Lauro is hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.
- 1985 – The Mameyes landslide kills close to 300 in the worst landslide in North American history.
- 1991 – Bombing of Banski dvori in Zagreb.
- 1993 – The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.
- 1998 – Matthew 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.
- 2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
[edit] Births
- 13 BC – Drusus Julius Caesar, Roman son of Tiberius (d. AD 23)
- 1471 – Frederick I of Denmark (d. 1533)
- 1573 – William Laud, English archbishop (d. 1645)
- 1576 – John Marston, English poet and playwright (d. 1634)
- 1589 – Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria (d. 1631)
- 1713 – Granville Elliott, English military officer (d. 1759)
- 1728 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer and politician, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1784)
- 1744 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
- 1746 – William Billings, American composer (d. 1800)
- 1748 – Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
- 1769 – Solomon Sibley, American politician and jurist, 1st Mayor of Detroit (d. 1846)
- 1786 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
- 1832 – Charles Crozat Converse, American lawyer and composer (d. 1918)
- 1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
- 1836 – Henri Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian jurist, 4th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1911)
- 1841 – Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
- 1849 – James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)
- 1866 – Wlodimir Ledóchowski, Polish-Austrian religious leader, 26th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
- 1870 – Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1873)
- 1870 – Uncle Dave Macon, American singer-songwriter, banjo player, and comedian (d. 1952)
- 1879 – Joe Hill, American poet and activist (d. 1915)
- 1881 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
- 1884 – Harold Geiger, American pilot (d. 1927)
- 1885 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Claud Ashton Jones, American navy admiral, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1948)
- 1888 – Henry A. Wallace, American politician, 33rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
- 1892 – Dwain Esper, American director and producer (d. 1982)
- 1894 – Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
- 1895 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian grammarian (d. 1980)
- 1897 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (d. 1975)
- 1898 – Joe Giard, American baseball player (d. 1956)
- 1900 – Heinrich Himmler, German nazi official (d. 1945)
- 1905 – Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1909 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish author (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian pianist (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany (d. 1983)
- 1910 – Henry Plumer McIlhenny, American philanthropist (d. 1986)
- 1911 – Jo Jones, American drummer (d. 1985)
- 1911 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer, trumpet player, and bandleader (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian politician, 85th President of Peru (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Sarah Churchill, English actress (d. 1982)
- 1914 – Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1917 – June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Zelman Cowen, Australian politician and academic, 19th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Georges Duby, French historian (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Georg Leber, German politician (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Jack Rowley, English footballer (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1922 – William Zinsser, American journalist and critic
- 1923 – Irma Grese, German SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1923 – Michel Joseph Kuehn, French bishop (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Břetislav Pojar, Czech animator and director (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (d. 2002)
- 1926 – Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1927 – R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and author (d. 1989)
- 1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
- 1929 – Graeme Ferguson, Canadian director and producer, co-founded the IMAX Corporation
- 1929 – Robert Westall, English journalist and author (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Curtis Crider, American race car driver (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball player and coach (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 – Joannes Gijsen, Dutch bishop
- 1933 – Harold Dunaway, American race car driver (d. 2012)
- 1934 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, actor, and activist
- 1934 – Ulrike Meinhof, German journalist and activist (d. 1976)
- 1935 – Thomas Keneally, Australian author
- 1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
- 1936 – Michael Hurll, English television producer (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
- 1938 – Fereydoun Farrokhzad, Iranian singer, actor, and poet (d. 1992)
- 1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist and author
- 1939 – Clive James, Australian television host and author
- 1939 – Harold Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1939 – Bill Snyder, American football coach
- 1940 – Bruce Vento, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1942 – Joy Behar, American talk show host and actress
- 1943 – José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
- 1943 – Oliver North, American military officer, author, and television host
- 1944 – Judee Sill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1979)
- 1944 – Donald Tsang, Chinese politician, 2nd Chief Executive of Hong Kong
- 1945 – Kevin Godley, English singer-songwriter and director (10cc, Hotlegs, Godley & Creme, Doctor Father, and The Magic Lanterns)
- 1946 – Bernard Lavilliers, French singer-songwriter and actor
- 1946 – Catharine MacKinnon, American lawyer, activist, and author
- 1946 – Pengiran Anak Saleha, Bruneian wife of Hassanal Bolkiah
- 1947 – Chris Bambridge, Australian football referee
- 1948 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and author
- 1948 – Stephen Rucker, American composer
- 1949 – Dave Hope, American bass player (Kansas)
- 1949 – Kieran Kane, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The O'Kanes)
- 1950 – Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician, 4th President of Tanzania
- 1951 – David J. Halberstam, American sportscaster
- 1951 – John Mellencamp, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1952 – Mary Badham, American actress
- 1952 – Vladimir Putin, Russian politician, 4th President of Russia
- 1952 – Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
- 1952 – Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
- 1953 – Tico Torres, American drummer (Bon Jovi)
- 1954 – Kenneth Atchley, American composer
- 1955 – Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist and author
- 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-American cellist (Silk Road Project)
- 1956 – Brian Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 – Michael W. Smith, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1957 – Jayne Torvill, English figure skater
- 1959 – Dylan Baker, American actor
- 1959 – Simon Cowell, English businessman and producer, created The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent
- 1959 – Lourdes Flores, Peruvian lawyer and politician
- 1959 – Jean-Marc Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1960 – Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist (Boøwy)
- 1960 – Viktor Lazlo, French-Belgian singer
- 1961 – Brian Mannix, Australian singer and actor (Uncanny X-Men)
- 1961 – Matthew Roloff, American farmer and author
- 1961 – Tony Sparano, American football coach
- 1962 – Dave Bronconnier, Canadian politician, 35th Mayor of Calgary
- 1962 – William Johnson, English cricketer
- 1964 – Sam Brown, English singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Dan Savage, American journalist and author
- 1964 – Paul Stewart, English footballer
- 1965 – Genji Hashimoto, Japanese race car driver
- 1966 – Sherman Alexie, American author, poet, and director
- 1966 – Marco Beltrami, Italian-American composer
- 1966 – Janet Shaw, Australian cyclist and author (d. 2012)
- 1967 – Toni Braxton, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (The Braxtons)
- 1967 – Luke Haines, English singer-songwriter, musician, and author (The Auteurs, The Servants, and Black Box Recorder)
- 1967 – Ellen ten Damme, Dutch actress and singer
- 1968 – Thom Yorke, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Radiohead and Atoms for Peace)
- 1969 – Bobbie Brown, American model and actress
- 1969 – Benny Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1969 – Malia Hosaka, American wrestler
- 1969 – Maria Whittaker, English model
- 1970 – Nicole Ari Parker, American actress
- 1971 – Daniel Boucher, Canadian singer and actor
- 1972 – Loek van Wely, Dutch chess player
- 1972 – Ben Younger, American screenwriter and director
- 1973 – Dida, Brazilian footballer
- 1973 – Priest Holmes, American football player
- 1973 – Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer
- 1974 – Allison Munn, American actress
- 1974 – Charlotte Perrelli, Swedish singer (Wizex and Anders Engbergs)
- 1974 – Alexander Polinsky, American actor and singer
- 1975 – Rhino, American wrestler and actor
- 1975 – Jamie Hector, American actor
- 1975 – Damian Kulash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (OK Go)
- 1975 – Tim Minchin, English-Australian comedian, actor, and singer
- 1975 – Kaspars Znotiņš, Latvian actor
- 1976 – Marc Coma, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1976 – Taylor Hicks, American singer-songwriter and actor (Little Memphis Blues Orchestra)
- 1976 – Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer
- 1976 – Charles Woodson, American football player
- 1977 – Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
- 1977 – Brandon Quinn, American actor
- 1978 – Alesha Dixon, English singer-songwriter and dancer (Mis-Teeq)
- 1978 – Jake Humphrey, English journalist
- 1978 – Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
- 1979 – Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
- 1979 – Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
- 1979 – Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
- 1979 – Tang Wei, Chinese actress
- 1980 – Edison Chen, Canadian actor
- 1980 – Tim Cresswell, Hong Kong footballer
- 1982 – Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
- 1982 – Jermain Defoe, English footballer
- 1982 – Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
- 1982 – Li Yundi, Chinese pianist
- 1983 – Archie Bland, English journalist
- 1983 – Flying Lotus, American music producer, founded Brainfeeder
- 1983 – Scottie Upshall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
- 1984 – Toma Ikuta, Japanese actor and singer
- 1984 – Simon Poulsen, Danish footballer
- 1985 – Evan Longoria, American baseball player
- 1986 – Kaitlyn, American wrestler and model
- 1986 – Chase Daniel, American football player
- 1986 – Lee Nguyen, American soccer player
- 1986 – Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
- 1986 – Bree Olson, American porn actress
- 1987 – Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer
- 1987 – Sam Querrey, American tennis player
- 1988 – Diego da Silva Costa, Brazilian footballer
- 1990 – Sebastián Coates, Uruguayan footballer
- 1990 – Ayla Kell, American actress
- 1991 – Nicole Jung, American-South Korean singer and actress (Kara)
- 1991 – Zhang Yixing, Chinese singer (Exo)
- 1995 – Slade Pearce, American actor
- 2001 – Princess Senate Seeiso of Lesotho
[edit] Deaths
- 336 – Pope Mark
- 929 – Charles the Simple, French king (b. 879)
- 1368 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (b. 1338)
- 1553 – Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (b. c.1500)
- 1555 – Louis of Praet, Belgian diplomat (b. 1488)
- 1577 – George Gascoigne, English poet (b. 1535)
- 1612 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet and diplomat (b. 1538)
- 1620 – Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish-Lithuanian military leader (b. 1547)
- 1637 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
- 1651 – Jacques Sirmond, French scholar (b. 1559)
- 1653 – Fausto Poli, Italian cardinal (b. 1581)
- 1772 – John Woolman, American preacher and abolitionist (b. 1720)
- 1780 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier (b. 1744)
- 1787 – Henry Muhlenberg, German-American pastor and missionary (b. 1711)
- 1792 – George Mason, American politician (b. 1725)
- 1793 – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (b. 1718)
- 1796 – Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (b. 1710)
- 1849 – Edgar Allan Poe, American author and poet (b. 1809)
- 1894 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician, author, and poet (b. 1809)
- 1896 – Emma Darwin, English wife of Charles Darwin, (b. 1808)
- 1903 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
- 1904 – Isabella Bird, English explorer and historian (b. 1831)
- 1906 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, 18th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
- 1911 – John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
- 1919 – Alfred Deakin, Australian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
- 1925 – Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1880)
- 1926 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist (b. 1856)
- 1931 – Eugen Schmidt, Danish tug of war competitor (b. 1862)
- 1939 – Harvey Williams Cushing, American surgeon (b. 1869)
- 1943 – Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
- 1943 – Radclyffe Hall, English author and poet (b. 1880)
- 1943 – Archibald Warden, English tennis player (b. 1869)
- 1944 – Helmut Lent, German pilot (b. 1918)
- 1951 – Anton Philips, Dutch businessman, co-founded Philips (b. 1874)
- 1956 – Clarence Birdseye, American businessman (b. 1886)
- 1959 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (b. 1921)
- 1966 – Grigoris Asikis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1890)
- 1966 – Smiley Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1913)
- 1967 – Norman Angell, English journalist and politician and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)
- 1969 – Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (b. 1888)
- 1970 – Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and academic (b. 1906)
- 1991 – Harry W. Brown, American pilot (b. 1921)
- 1991 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
- 1991 – Darren Millane, Australian footballer (b. 1965)
- 1992 – Allan Bloom, American philosopher and educator (b. 1930)
- 1992 – Tevfik Esenç, Turkish last speaker of Ubykh language (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
- 1994 – Niels Kaj Jerne, English-Danish immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1995 – Ernest Ingenito, American murderer (b. 1924)
- 1996 – Lou Lichtveld, Surinamese Dutch politician, playwright, and poet (b. 1903)
- 1998 – Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Cees de Vreugd, Dutch strongman and weightlifter (b. 1952)
- 2001 – Herblock, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Christopher Adams, English wrestler (b. 1955)
- 2001 – Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist and businessman (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Pierangelo Bertoli, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
- 2003 – Izzy Asper, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Arthur Berger, American composer (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Wally George, American talk show host (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Kenneth Bigley, English engineer (b. 1942)
- 2004 – Tony Lanfranchi, British racing driver (b. 1935)
- 2005 – Charles Rocket, American actor (b. 1949)
- 2006 – Julen Goikoetxea, Spanish cyclist (b. 1985)
- 2006 – Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
- 2007 – Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1975)
- 2007 – George E. Sangmeister, American politician (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Leslie Hardman, Welsh rabbi (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Irving Penn, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2010 – T Lavitz, American keyboardist, composer, and producer (Dixie Dregs, Jazz Is Dead, and Widespread Panic) (b. 1956)
- 2010 – Milka Planinc, Yugoslav politician, 7th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Ramiz Alia, Albanian politician, 1st President of Albania (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Mersad Berber, Bosnian painter (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Roman Danylak, Canadian-Ukrainian bishop (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Mervyn M. Dymally, Trinidadian-American politician, 41st Lieutenant Governor of California (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, Mexican drug lord (b. 1974)
- 2012 – Ivo Michiels, Belgian author (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Wiley Reed, American-Australian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1944)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
