October 7

What happened that day?

• 2016: In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rises to 800.
• 2008: Asteroid 2008 TC3 impacts the Earth over Sudan, the first time an asteroid impact is detected prior to its entry into earth's atmosphere.
• 2003: The governor of California, Gray Davis, is recalled in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• 2001: The Global War on Terrorism begins as a result of the September 11 attacks. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan initiates with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
• 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.
• 1996: Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.
• 1993: The flood of '93 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.
• 1991: Croatian War of Independence: Bombing of Banski dvori in Zagreb, Croatia.
• 1988: An Iñupiat hunter discovers three gray whales trapped under the ice in Barrow, Alaska, US; the situation becomes a multinational effort to free the whales.
• 1987: Sikh nationalists declares the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized.
• 1985: The Mameyes landslide kills almost 200 people in Puerto Rico.
• 1977: The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
• 1963: John F. Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• 1959: U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits the first ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
• 1958: The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury.
• 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.
• 1950: Mother Teresa establishes the Missionaries of Charity.
• 1949: The communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.
• 1944: World War II: During an uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down Crematorium IV.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1933: Air France is inaugurated, after being formed by a merger of five French airlines.
• 1929: Photius II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
• 1924: Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for a short period of time.
• 1919: KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
• 1918: The Regency Council of the Kingdom of Poland declares independence from the German Empire and forms the Republic of Poland.
• 1916: Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.
• 1912: The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
• 1879: Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.
• 1870: Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris: Léon Gambetta flees Paris in a hot-air balloon.
• 1868: Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.
• 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.
• 1862: Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) opens as the first hospital in the Colony of British Columbia
• 1840: Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
• 1828: Morea expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese under General Maison.
• 1826: The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.
• 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.
• 1780: American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain: American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
• 1777: American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.
• 1763: King George III of the United Kingdom issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements.
• 1691: The English royal charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.
• 1582: Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1571: The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat.
• 1542: Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off of the California coast.
• 1513: Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
• 1477: Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year.
• 1406: French troops comprising 1,000 men at arms landed on Jersey and fought a battle against 3,000 defenders.
• 1403: Battle of Modon: Genoese fleet under Jean Le Maingre (Marshal Boucicaut) is defeated by the Republic of Venice at Modon in the Peloponnese.
• 3761 BC: The epoch reference date epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).