What Happened This Day In History

Today in History
December 7

43BC		Cicero, considered one of the greatest sons of Rome, is assassinated on the orders of Marcus Antonius.
983		Otto III takes the throne after his father’s death in Italy. A power struggle between magnates ensues.
1787		Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
1808		James Madison is elected president in succession of Thomas Jefferson.
1861		USS Santiago de Cuba, under Commander Daniel B. Ridgely, halts the British schooner Eugenia Smith and captures J.W. Zacharie, a New Orleans merchant and Confederate purchasing agent.
1862		Confederate forces surprise an equal number of Union troops at the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
1863		Outlaw George Ives, an alleged member of an outlaw gang known as the "Innocents," robs and then kills Nick Thiebalt in the Ruby Valley of what would become Montana.
1917		The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary with only one dissenting vote in Congress.
1918		Spartacists call for a German revolution.
1931		A report indicates that Nazis would ensure "Nordic dominance" by sterilizing certain races.
1941		Japanese planes raid Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in a surprise attack, bringing the US into WWII.
1942		The U.S. Navy launches USS New Jersey, the largest battleship ever built.
1946		The president of the United Mine Workers, John L. Lewis, orders all striking miners back to work.
1949		The A.F.L. and the C.I.O. organize a non-Communist international trade union.
1970		Poland and West Germany sign a pact renouncing the use of force to settle disputes, recognizing the Oder-Neisse River as Poland’s western frontier, and acknowledging the transfer to Poland of 40,000 square miles of former German territory.
1972		The crew of Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the moon, lifts off at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1981		The Reagan Administration predicts a record deficit in 1982 of $109 billion.
1988		An earthquake in Armenia kills an estimated 100,000 people.
1988		Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
1995		Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter after a 6-year journey.
1999		The Recording Industry Association of America files a copyright infringement suit against the file-sharing website Napster.
2003		A tornado in Kensal Green, North West London, damages about 150 properties.
2006		An earthquake in Armenia kills an estimated 100,000 people.
Born on December 7
1810		Theodor Schwann, German physiologist.
1873		Willa Cather, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (O Pioneers!, My Antonia).
1888		Joyce Cary, Irish-born novelist (The Horse’s Mouth).
1888		Ernst Toch, composer and pianist.
1895		Sir Milton Margay, the first prime minister of Sierra Leone.
1896		Stuart Davis, painter.
1928		Noam Chomsky, writer, linguist and political activist.
1932		Ellen Burstyn, actress; won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974); won Tony for Same Time, Next Year(1975).
1947		Johnny Bench, pro baseball catcher; twice named National League Most Valuable Player, he was dubbed the greatest catcher in baseball history by ESPN.
1949		Tom Waits, singer, songwriter ("Jersey Girl," "Downtown Train"), musician, actor (Down by Law).
1956		Larry Bird, basketball player for the Boston Celtics.
1988		Emily Browning, actress, singer, model; won AFI International Award for Best Actress as Violet Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
2003		Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, heiress apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.