May 7

May 7 in recent years

2024 (Tuesday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Thursday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Saturday)

2015 (Thursday)

May 7 is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 238 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 351 – The Jewish revolt against Gallus breaks out. After his arrival at Antioch, the Jews begin a rebellion in Palestine.
• 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.
• 1274 – In France, the Second Council of Lyons opens to regulate the election of the Pope.
• 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 by fire. It is replaced by the current Royal Palace in the eighteenth century.
• 1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
• 1763 – American Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins – Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.
• 1794 – French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
• 1824 – World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.
• 1832 – The independence of Greece is recognized by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.
• 1840 – The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
• 1846 – The Cambridge Chronicle, America's oldest surviving weekly newspaper, is published for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1847 – The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 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 Popov lightning detector — a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
• 1915 – World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many formerly pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
• 1920 – Kiev Offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kiev only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
• 1920 – Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
• 1920 – The Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, opens the first exhibition by the Group of Seven.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
• 1940 – The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
• 1942 – During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Japanese Imperial Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
• 1945 – World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
• 1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees.
• 1948 – The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
• 1952 – The concept of 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 and a Vietnamese victory (the battle began on March 13).
• 1960 – Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960 – 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.
• 1986 – Canadian Patrick Morrow became the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
• 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 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission (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.
• 1994 – Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after having been stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
• 1998 – Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for $40 billion USD and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
• 1999 – Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
• 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.
• 2000 – Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.
• 2002 – A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
• 2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.
• 2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.
• 2009 – Over 100 New Zealand Police officers begin a 40-hour siege of a lone gunman in Napier, New Zealand.

Births

• 1328 – Louis II, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1365)
• 1530 – Louis, Prince of Condé, French general (d. 1569)
• 1605 – Patriarch Nikon, 7th patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (d. 1681)
• 1643 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician (d. 1700)
• 1700 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch physician (d. 1772)
• 1704 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer and tenor (d. 1759)
• 1711 – David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1776)
• 1724 – Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Austrian general (d. 1797)
• 1740 – Nikolai Arkharov, Russian general (d. 1814)
• 1745 – Carl Stamitz, German composer (d. 1801)
• 1748 – Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and feminist revolutionary (d. 1793)
• 1756 – Thomas Linley the younger, English composer (d. 1778)
• 1763 – Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Polish prince (d. 1813)
• 1767 – Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (d. 1820)
• 1774 – William Bainbridge, American commodore (d. 1833)
• 1787 – Jacques Viger, Canadian politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (d. 1858)
• 1812 – Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)
• 1826 – Varina Davis, American author, First Lady of the Confederate States of America (d. 1906)
• 1833 – Johannes Brahms, German composer (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Joseph Gurney Cannon, American politician (d. 1926)
• 1840 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893)
• 1847 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
• 1857 – William A. MacCorkle, American politician (d. 1930)
• 1860 – Tom Norman, English businessman and showman (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 poet, writer, and Librarian of Congress (d. 1982)
• 1892 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman, 1st President of Yugoslavia (d. 1980)
• 1893 – Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)
• 1909 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation (d. 1991)
• 1911 – Ishirō Honda, Japanese director (d. 1993)
• 1912 – Pannalal Patel, Gujarati author (d. 1989)
• 1914 – Arthur Snelling, English civil servant and diplomat (d. 1996)
• 1916 – Huw Wheldon, English broadcaster and executive (d. 1986)
• 1917 – David Tomlinson, English actor (d. 2000)
• 1919 – La Esterella, Flemish singer (d. 2011)
• 1919 – Eva Perón, Argentine actress and First Lady, wife of Juan Perón (d. 1952)
• 1921 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer (d. 1985)
• 1922 – Lew Anderson, American actor and musician (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Darren McGavin, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Joe O'Donnell, American photographer and journalist (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
• 1924 – Albert Band, American director (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Val Bisoglio, Italian-American actor
• 1927 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German screenwriter
• 1927 – Jim Lowe, American singer-songwriter
• 1928 – John Ingle, American actor
• 1929 – Babe Parilli, American football player
• 1929 – Dick Williams, American baseball player, manager, and coach (d. 2011)
• 1930 – Totie Fields, American comedienne (d. 1978)
• 1931 – Teresa Brewer, American singer (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Gene Wolfe, American author
• 1932 – Jordi Bonet, Catalan-Canadian painter, muralist, and sculptor (d. 1979)
• 1932 – Pete Domenici, American politician
• 1933 – Johnny Unitas, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1933 – Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer and actress
• 1935 – Isobel Warren, Canadian author
• 1936 – Bobby Joe Green, American football player (d. 1993)
• 1937 – Claude Raymond, Canadian baseball player
• 1939 – Sidney Altman, Canadian biologist, Nobel laureate
• 1939 – Ruud Lubbers, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• 1939 – Johnny Maestro, American singer (Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge) (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Jimmy Ruffin, American singer
• 1939 – Ruggero Deodato, Italian director, actor, and screenwriter
• 1940 – Angela Carter, English novelist and journalist (d. 1992)
• 1940 – Dave Chambers, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1940 – Jim Connors, American radio personality (d. 1987)
• 1940 – Vasilis N. Triantafillidis, Greek comedian and actor
• 1941 – Catherine P. Saxton, English-American public relations executive
• 1943 – Terry Allen, American singer and painter
• 1943 – Harvey Andrews, English singer-songwriter and poet
• 1943 – Peter Carey, Australian author
• 1944 – Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Richard O'Sullivan, English actor
• 1945 – Christy Moore, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Planxty and Moving Hearts)
• 1945 – Robin Strasser, American actress
• 1946 – Jerry Nolan, American drummer (The New York Dolls) (d. 1992)
• 1946 – Thelma Houston, American singer-songwriter and actress (Sisters of Glory)
• 1946 – Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer (Grateful Dead, The Other Ones The Dead, 7 Walkers, Rhythm Devils, and BK3)
• 1946 – Brian Turner, English chef
• 1946 – Michael Rosen, English poet
• 1946 – Marv Hubbard, American football player
• 1948 – Susan Atkins, American serial killer (d. 2009)
• 1949 – Kathy Ahern, American golfer (d. 1996)
• 1949 – Marilyn Cole, English model
• 1950 – Randall 'Tex' Cobb, American boxer and actor
• 1950 – Tim Russert, American journalist (d. 2008)
• 1951 – Robert Hegyes, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1951 – Bernie Marsden, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Whitesnake, Paice, Ashton & Lord, and The Snakes)
• 1953 – Pat McInally, American football player
• 1953 – Ian McKay, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1982)
• 1954 – Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist
• 1954 – Amy Heckerling, American director
• 1955 – Clément Gignac, Canadian politician
• 1955 – Ben Poquette, American basketball player
• 1955 – Peter Reckell, American actor
• 1955 – Kevin Reed, American theologian
• 1955 – Axel Zwingenberger, German pianist and songwriter
• 1956 – Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• 1956 – Anne Dudley, English composer
• 1956 – Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and broadcaster
• 1957 – Ray Fernandez, American wrestler (d. 2004)
• 1957 – Ned Bellamy, American actor
• 1958 – Mark G. Kuzyk, American physicist
• 1959 – Barbara Yung Mei-ling, Hong Kong actress (d. 1985)
• 1959 – Michael E. Knight, American actor
• 1960 – Adam Bernstein, American director
• 1960 – Almudena Grandes, Spanish novelist
• 1961 – Hans-Peter Bartels, German politician
• 1961 – Phil Campbell, English guitarist and songwriter (Motörhead and Persian Risk)
• 1962 – Tony Campbell, American basketball player
• 1962 – Dominik Moll, German-French director and screenwriter
• 1963 – Johnny Lee Middleton, American musician and songwriter (Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
• 1964 – Denis Mandarino, Brazilian composer, artist and writer
• 1964 – Doug Benson, American comedian
• 1964 – Ronnie Harmon, American football player
• 1964 – Leslie O'Neal, American football player
• 1965 – Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1999)
• 1965 – Norman Whiteside, Irish footballer
• 1965 – Reuben Davis, American football player
• 1967 – Martin Bryant, Australian serial killer
• 1967 – Joe Rice, American politician
• 1968 – Traci Lords, American actress
• 1968 – Lisa Raitt, Canadian politician
• 1969 – Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter and musician
• 1969 – Jun Falkenstein, American director
• 1969 – Katerina Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
• 1969 – Rick Porras, American film producer
• 1970 – Kim Su-ro, South Korean actor
• 1971 – Horgh, Norwegian drummer (Immortal, Hypocrisy, and Grimfist)
• 1971 – Ivan Sergei, American actor
• 1971 – Dave Karpa, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Peter Dubovský, Slovak footballer (d. 2000)
• 1972 – Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist
• 1973 – Kristian Lundin, Swedish songwriter, composer, and producer
• 1973 – Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist
• 1974 – Breckin Meyer, American actor
• 1974 – Ian Pearce, English footballer
• 1975 – Jason Tunks, Canadian discus thrower
• 1975 – Zee, American rapper and songwriter
• 1975 – Martina Topley-Bird, English singer-songwriter and musician
• 1976 – Calvin Booth, American basketball player
• 1976 – Andrea Lo Cicero, Italian rugby player
• 1976 – Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy SEAL, first Medal of Honor recipient in the Afghanistan War
• 1977 – Lisa Kelly, Irish singer (Celtic Woman)
• 1978 – Stian Arnesen, Norwegian musician and songwriter (The Kovenant, Dimmu Borgir, and Carpe Tenebrum)
• 1978 – Brian Clevinger, American author
• 1978 – Shawn Marion, American basketball player
• 1978 – Stephanie Pohl, German volleyball player
• 1979 – Katie Douglas, American basketball player
• 1980 – Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
• 1980 – Kate Lawler, English model and DJ
• 1981 – Tim Connolly, American ice hockey player
• 1982 – Ákos Buzsáky, Hungarian footballer
• 1983 – DJ Row, Greek-American DJ
• 1984 – James Loney, American baseball player
• 1984 – Alex Smith, American football player
• 1984 – Drew Stanton, American football player
• 1984 – May7ven, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress
• 1985 – Drew Neitzel, American basketball player
• 1985 – Dan Sweetman, Australian television host
• 1986 – Mark Furze, Australian actor
• 1986 – Matt Helders, English drummer (Arctic Monkeys and Mongrel)
• 1987 – Asami Konno, Japanese singer (former member of Morning Musume)
• 1987 – Michael Maidens, English footballer (d. 2007)
• 1987 – Jérémy Ménez, French footballer
• 1987 – Serge Gakpé, Togolese footballer
• 1988 – Natalie Mejia, American singer and dancer (Girlicious)
• 1989 – Master Shortie, English singer-songwriter, rapper, and producer
• 1990 – Yoon Bit-Garam, South Korean footballer
• 1992 – Alexander Ludwig, Canadian actor
• 1999 – Masaki Sato, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 2000 – Maxwell Perry Cotton, American actor
• 2001 – Destiny Whitlock, American actress
• 2001 – Alexander Ludwig, American actor

Deaths

• 973 – Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 912)
• 1092 – Remigius de Fécamp, Benedictine monk, 1st bishop of Lincoln
• 1427 – Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English churchman
• 1523 – Franz von Sickingen, German soldier (b. 1481)
• 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 – 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 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (b. 1728)
• 1805 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English statesman, 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 Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, English statesman, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1778)
• 1876 – William Buell Sprague, American clergyman and author (b. 1795)
• 1887 – C. F. W. Walther, American Lutheran theologian (b. 1811)
• 1896 – H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (b. 1860)
• 1922 – Max Wagenknecht, German composer (b. 1857)
• 1925 – William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician (b. 1851)
• 1937 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German zeppelin captain (b. 1886)
• 1940 – George Lansbury, English politician and editor (b. 1859)
• 1941 – Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (b. 1854)
• 1942 – Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (b. 1863)
• 1946 – Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian politician (b. 1864)
• 1951 – Warner Baxter, American actor (b. 1889)
• 1986 – Jeffrey Mylett, American actor (b. 1949)
• 1987 – Colin Blakely, English actor (b. 1930)
• 1989 – Guy Williams, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1993 – Mary Philbin, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1995 – Ray McKinley, American drummer, singer and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South African physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1941)
• 2000 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (b. 1909)
• 2001 – Jacques de Bourbon Busset, French novelist, essayist, and politician (b. 1912)
• 2002 – Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)
• 2002 – Kevyn Aucoin, American makeup artist and photographer (b. 1962)
• 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 reporter (b. 1943)
• 2006 – Joan C. Edwards, American philanthropist (b. 1918)
• 2006 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (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, founded Nation of Yahweh (b. 1935)
• 2009 – David Mellor, English designer (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Danny Ozark, American baseball coach and manager (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (b. 1957)
• 2011 – Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Allyson Hennessy, Trindadian journalist (b. 1948)
• 2011 – Big George, English musician, composer, bandleader, and broadcaster (b. 1957)
• 2012 – Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Jules Bocandé, Senegalese footballer (b. 1958)
• 2012 – Dennis E. Fitch, American pilot (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Acacius of Byzantium
  • Flavia Domitilla
  • John of Beverley
  • Stanislaus (Roman martyrology)
  • May 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov (Russia, Bulgaria)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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