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Today October 7th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
3761 BC – The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).
336 – Pope Mark dies, leaving the papacy vacant.
1513 – Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.
1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.
1582 – Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
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 Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the English 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional french song Le Trente-et-un du mois d août.
1826 – Granite Railway (first chartered railway in the U.S.) begins operations.
1828 – The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.
1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.
1864 – American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captures the C.S.S. Florida Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.
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 one of the most lopsided college football games in American history.
1919 – KLM of the Netherlands was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
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: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burn down the crematoria.
1949 – German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.
1952 – American Bandstand debuts on a local Philadelphia station.
1955 – Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem Howl for the first time at a poetry reading 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 first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.
1962 – U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.
1963 – John F. Kennedy signs ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.
1977 – The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
1982 – Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
1985 – The Achille Lauro is hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.
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.
2000 – The last ever competitive match at Wembley Stadium is a 1-0 defeat of England to Germany and the last goal was scored by Liverpool s Dietmar Hammann. The match was Tony Adams 60th at Wembley setting the record for most appearances at the stadium.
2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
2003 – Gray Davis is recalled as Governor of California, three years before the official end of his office term. Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor.
2004 – King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates.
Births
1471 – King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
1573 – William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1645)
1576 – John Marston, English writer (d. 1634)
1589 – Maria Magdalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1631)
1713 – Granville Elliott, British military officer (d. 1759)
1728 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer (d. 1784)
1744 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
1748 – King Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
1769 – Solomon Sibley, American politician (d. 1846)
1786 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
1841 – King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
1849 – James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)
1866 – Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
1879 – Joe Hill, American Labor Activist and Poet (d. 1915)
1881 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
1884 – Major Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (d. 1927)
1885 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
1888 – Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
1892 – Dwain Esper, director (d. 1982)
1894 – Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
1897 – Elijah Muhammad, American Black Muslim 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)
1907 – Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician (d. 2001)
1909 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish novelist (d. 1990)
1909 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany, New York (d. 1983)
1910 – Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (d. 1986)
1911 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer (d. 1973)
1911 – Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1995)
1912 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (d. 2002)
1913 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and writer (d. 1987)
1914 – Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
1914 – Sarah Churchill, British actress (d. 1982)
1917 – June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
1919 – Sir Zelman Cowen, Australian politician
1920 – Jack Rowley, English footballer (d. 1998)
1921 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (d. 2004)
1922 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player
1923 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Québécois member of Les Automatistes (d. 2002)
1923 – Irma Grese, Supervisor at Nazi concentration camps (d. 1945)
1926 – Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
1927 – R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (d. 1989)
1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor
1928 – Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
1929 – Robert Westall, British author (d. 1993)
1929 – Graeme Ferguson, Canadian filmmaker and executive
1931 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (d. 2004)
1931 – Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate
1934 – Amiri Baraka, American writer
1934 – Ulrike Meinhof, German terrorist (d. 1976)
1935 – Thomas Keneally, Australian author
1936 – Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
1937 – Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
1939 – Clive James, Australian television presenter and writer
1939 – Harold Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1939 – Bill Snyder, American football coach
1940 – Bruce Vento, American politician (d. 2000)
1943 – Joy Behar, American television personality
1943 – José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
1943 – Oliver North, American former military officer
1944 – Judee Sill, American musician (d. 1979)
1944 – Donald Tsang, current Chief executive of Hong Kong
1945 – Kevin Godley, British musician (10cc)
1946 – Bernard Lavilliers, French singer
1946 – Pengiran Anak Saleha, Queen of Brunei
1948 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist
1949 – Dave Hope, American musician (Kansas)
1950 – Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician
1951 – John Mellencamp, American singer
1951 – David J. Halberstam, American radio executive
1952 – Mary Badham, American actress
1952 – Vladimir Putin, Russian politician
1952 – Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
1952 – Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
1953 – Tico Torres, musician (Bon Jovi)
1954 – Kenneth Atchley, American composer
1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-born American cellist
1955 – Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist
1957 – Michael W. Smith, American singer
1957 – Jayne Torvill, British figure skater
1958 – Judy Landers, American actress
1959 – Dylan Baker, American character actor
1959 – Simon Cowell, English recording executive
1959 – Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
1959 – Jean-Marc Fournier, French-Canadian politician
1960 – Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
1960 – Viktor Lazlo, Belgian singer
1961 – Matthew Roloff, American reality star
1961 – Brian Mannix, Australian singer and actor
1962 – Dave Bronconnier, Canadian politician
1964 – Sam Brown, English singer-songwriter
1964 – Dan Savage, American sex-columnist and author
1964 – Paul Stewart, English footballer
1965 – Genji Hashimoto, Japanese racing driver
1966 – Toni Braxton, American singer
1966 – Marco Beltrami, Italian-American film composer
1967 – Luke Haines, English musician (The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder)
1967 – Takahiro Izutani, Japanese Composer
1968 – Thom Yorke, English singer (Radiohead)
1969 – Javier Álvarez, Spanish singer-songwriter
1969 – Malia Hosaka, Hawaiian professional wrestler
1969 – Maria Whittaker, English model
1969 – Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor and singer
1970 – Nicole Ari Parker, American actress
1971 – Daniel Boucher, Québécois musician
1972 – Ben Younger, American screenwriter and film director
1973 – Dida, Brazilian footballer
1973 – Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer
1973 – Priest Holmes, American Football Running Back
1974 – Allison Munn, American actress
1974 – Charlotte Nilsson, Swedish singer
1974 – Alexander Polinsky, American actor
1975 – Terry Gerin, American professional wrestler
1975 – Damian Kulash, American musician (OK Go)
1975 – Tim Minchin, Australian comedian and musician
1976 – Taylor Hicks, American musician
1976 – Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer
1976 – Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
1976 – Charles Woodson, American football player
1976 – Marc Coma, Spanish motorcycle racer
1977 – Brandon Quinn, American actor
1977 – Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
1978 – Alesha Dixon, British pop singer (Mis-Teeq)
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
1982 – Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
1982 – Jermain Defoe, English footballer
1982 – Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
1982 – Li Yundi, Chinese classical pianist
1984 – Toma Ikuta, Japanese singer and actor
1984 – Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
1985 – Evan Longoria, American baseball player
1986 – Lee Nguyen, American footballer
1986 – Chase Daniel, American football player
1986 – Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
1986 – Bree Olson, American pornographic actress
1987 – Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer
1987 – Sam Querrey, American tennis player
1988 – Stacy DuPree, American musician (Eisley)
1997 – Jacob Hale, Future Home Hotel Manager
2001 – Princess Senate Seeiso, daughter of King Letsie III of Lesotho
Deaths
336 – Pope Mark
929 – Charles the Simple, King of France (b. 879)
1368 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (b. 1338)
1553 – Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (b. c.1500)
1555 – Louis of Praet, Habsburg diplomat (b. 1488)
1577 – George Gascoigne, English poet
1612 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat, (b. 1538)
1620 – Stanislaw Zólkiewski, Polish military leader (b. 1547)
1637 – Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
1651 – Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (b. 1559)
1653 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1581)
1708 – Guru Gobind Singh, tenth Sikh Guru (b. 1666)
1772 – John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (b. 1720)
1787 – Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (b. 1711)
1792 – George Mason, American statesman (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 writer and poet (b. 1809)
1894 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American writer (b. 1809)
1903 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
1906 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
1911 – John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
1919 – Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
1925 – Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1880)
1926 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist (b. 1856)
1943 – Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
1943 – Radclyffe Hall, British author (b. 1880)
1944 – Helmut Lent, German night fighter pilot (b. 1918)
1956 – Clarence Birdseye, American inventor (b. 1886)
1959 – Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
1966 – Grigoris Asikis, Greek singer and songwriter. (b. 1890)
1966 – Smiley Lewis, American musician (b. 1913)
1967 – Norman Angell, British politician and Nobel Laureate (b. 1872)
1969 – Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (b. 1888)
1981 – Albert Cohen, Greek-born Swiss novelist (b. 1895)
1991 – Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
1992 – Allan Bloom, American philosopher and educator (b. 1930)
1992 – Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
1993 – Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
1994 – Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born Danish immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
1998 – Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player a.k.a. Song and Wind (b. 1915)
2001 – Christopher Adams, British-born pro wrestler and judoka (b. 1955)
2001 – Herblock, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
2001 – Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist, businessman and corporate director (b. 1913)
2003 – Izzy Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (b. 1932)
2003 – Arthur Berger, American composer (b. 1912)
2003 – Wally George, American conservative TV commentator (b. 1931)
2004 – Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)
2005 – Charles Rocket, American actor (b. 1949)
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, Jewish Orthodox rabbi (b. 1913)
Holidays and observances
RC Saints – Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary; formerly Saint Justina, Saint Osyth
Feast day of Pope Mark.
Saints Sergius and Bacchus; also see October 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
French Republican Calendar – Sixteenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire
Brazil – Composer Day
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