May 7
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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
- 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders the dome 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 (in the 18th century, it is replaced by the current Royal Palace).
- 1763 - Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins - Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.
- 1824 - World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the deaf composer's supervision.
- 1832 - The independence of Greece is recognized by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.
- 1836 - The settlement of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is elevated to the royal status of villa by the government of Spain.
- 1840 - The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
- 1847 - The American Medical Association (AMA) 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 world's first radio receiver. In the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Day of Radio.
- 1915 - World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks the 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 (1920): 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 (1920): Soviet Russia recognizes independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
- 1927 - Angelos Sikelianos organizes the first Delphic Festival in Delphi to celebrate the ancient Greek Delphic ideal.
- 1937 - Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
- 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 (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.
- 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 - Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its maiden voyage (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.
- 1995 - Finland won the world championship of ice hockey.
- 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 - A jury finds The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros. liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure, after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode. Schmitz later killed Amedure and the jury awarded Amedure's family $25 million USD.
- 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.
- 2002 - A China Southern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
- 2007 - The tomb of Herod the Great is discovered.
Births
- 1328 - Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1365)
- 1530 - Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French Huguenot general (d. 1569)
- 1643 - Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician (d. 1700)
- 1700 - Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-born physician (d. 1772)
- 1724 - Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Austrian general (d. 1797)
- 1740 - Nikolai Arkharov, Russian general (d. 1814)
- 1748 - Olympe de Gouges, playwright and feminist revolutionary (d. 1793)
- 1763 - Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Polish prince (d. 1813)
- 1767 - Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia, Duchess of York and Albany (d. 1820)
- 1774 - William Bainbridge, American Commodore (d. 1833)
- 1787 - Jacques Viger, French Canadian politician, first mayor of Montreal (d. 1858)
- 1812 - Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)
- 1833 - Johannes Brahms, German composer (d. 1897)
- 1840 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893)
- 1847 - Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
- 1857 - William A. MacCorkle, American politician (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 Librarian of Congress (d. 1982)
- 1892 - Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (d. 1980)
- 1893 - Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (d. 1985)
- 1896 - Pavel Sergeevich Alexandrov, Russian mathematician (d. 1982)
- 1901 - Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)
- 1909 - Edwin H. Land, American inventor (d. 1991)
- 1911 - Ishiro Honda, Japanese film director (d. 1993)
- 1914 - Sir Arthur Snelling, British Ambassador (d. 1996)
- 1916 - Huw Wheldon, British broadcaster (d. 1986)
- 1917 - David Tomlinson, English film actor (d. 2000)
- 1919 - Eva Peron, Argentine first lady (d. 1952)
- 1922 - Lew Anderson, American actor and bandleader (d. 2006)
- 1922 - Darren McGavin, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1922 - Joe O'Donnell, American documentary photographer, photojournalist (d. 2007)
- 1923 - Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
- 1924 - Albert Band, American film director (d. 2002)
- 1927 - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German screenwriter
- 1927 - Jim Lowe, American singer
- 1929 - Babe Parilli, American football player
- 1929 - Dick Williams, American baseball player, manager and coach
- 1930 - Totie Fields, American comedienne (d. 1978)
- 1931 - Teresa Brewer, American pop and jazz singer (d. 2007)
- 1932 - Pete Domenici, Republican senator from New Mexico
- 1933 - Johnny Unitas, American football player (d. 2002)
- 1933 - Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer
- 1935 - Isobel Warren, Canadian author
- 1937 - Claude Raymond, Quebec baseball player
- 1939 - Sidney Altman, Canadian molecular biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1939 - Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- 1939 - Johnny Maestro, American pop singer
- 1939 - Jimmy Ruffin, American singer
- 1939 - Ruggero Deodato, Italian film director, actor and screen writer
- 1940 - Angela Carter, English novelist and journalist (d. 1992)
- 1940 - Jim Connors, Legendary Radio personality (d. 1987)
- 1941 - Catherine P. Saxton, British-born American public relations executive
- 1943 - Terry Allen, American country music singer
- 1943 - Harvey Andrews, English singer and songwriter
- 1944 - Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (d. 2006)
- 1944 - Richard O'Sullivan, British actor
- 1945 - Christy Moore, Irish folk artist
- 1945 - Robin Strasser, American TV soap opera actress
- 1946 - Thelma Houston, American singer
- 1946 - Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer (Grateful Dead)
- 1946 - Brian Turner, English celebrity chef
- 1950 - Randall 'Tex' Cobb, American boxer and actor
- 1950 - Tim Russert, American television host
- 1951 - Robert Hegyes, American actor
- 1953 - Pat McInally, former National Football League player
- 1953 - Ian McKay, British soldier (VC recipient) (d. 1982)
- 1954 - Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist
- 1954 - Amy Heckerling, American director
- 1955 - Ben Poquette, American basketball player
- 1955 - Peter Reckell, American actor
- 1955 - Kevin Reed, American theologian
- 1956 - Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- 1956 - Anne Dudley, British composer
- 1956 - Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host
- 1957 - Ray Fernandez, wrestler (d. 2004)
- 1959 - Barbara Yung Mei-ling, Hong Kong actress (d. 1985)
- 1959 - Michael E. Knight, American actor
- 1960 - Adam Bernstein, American music video/television director
- 1960 - Almudena Grandes, Spanish novelist
- 1961 - Phil Campbell, British musician (Motörhead)
- 1963 - Johnny Lee Middleton, American musician (Savatage & Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
- 1965 - Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1999)
- 1965 - Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish Footballer
- 1967 - Joe Rice, legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado
- 1968 - Traci Lords, American actress
- 1969 - Eagle Eye Cherry, Swedish musician
- 1969 - Rick Porras, American co-producer
- 1971 - Horgh, (Reidar Horghagen) Norwegian drummer (Immortal/Hypocrisy)
- 1972 - Felix Da Housecat, a House music DJ and record producer
- 1972 - Frank Trigg, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
- 1973 - Kristian Lundin, Swedish songwriter
- 1973 - Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist
- 1974 - Breckin Meyer, American actor
- 1974 - Ian Pearce, English footballer
- 1975 - Jason Tunks, Canadian track & field athlete
- 1975 - Nicole Sheridan, American porn star
- 1975 - Zee, American hip hop artist
- 1977 - Lisa Kelly, Irish singer
- 1977 - Patrick Johnson, American broadcaster
- 1978 - Brian Clevinger, American author
- 1978 - Stian Arnesen (Nagash/Lex Icon), Norwegian Black Metal musician
- 1978 - Shawn Marion, American basketball player
- 1979 - Katie Douglas, American basketball player
- 1980 - Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
- 1980 - Kate Lawler, English reality television personality and disc jockey
- 1982 - Akos Buzsaky, Hungarian Football player
- 1984 - Alex Smith, American football player
- 1984 - Drew Stanton, American football player
- 1984 - James Loney, American baseball player
- 1985 - Drew Neitzel, American college basketball player
- 1986 - Mark Furze, Australian actor
- 1986 - Matt Helders, Musician, Drummer for Arctic Monkeys
- 1987 - Michael Maidens, English footballer (d. 2007)
Deaths
- 973 - Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 912)
- 1092 - Remigius de Fécamp, first bishop of Lincoln (b. unknown)
- 1427 - Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English churchman
- 1523 - Franz von Sickingen, German soldier (b. 1481)
- 1539 - Guru Nanak Dev, Founder of Sikhism (b. 1469)
- 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 - Tsar 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 - Niccola Piccinni, Italian composer (b. 1728)
- 1805 - William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, 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 Peter Brougham, 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. 1861)
- 1922 - Max Wagenknecht, German composer (b. 1857)
- 1925 - William Hesketh Lever, First Viscount Leverhulme (b. 1851)
- 1940 - George Lansbury, Labour Party Leader (b. 1859)
- 1941 - Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (b. 1854)
- 1942 - Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (b. 1863)
- 1951 - Warner Baxter, American actor (b. 1889)
- 1967 - Lorenzo Bandini, Italian Formula One driver (b. 1935)
- 1986 - Jeffrey Mylett, American actor (b. 1949
- 1987 - Colin Blakely, British actor (b. 1930)
- 1989 - Guy Williams, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1995 - Ray McKinley, American jazz drummer, singer and bandleader (b. 1910)
- 1998 - Allan McLeod Cormack, South African physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1924)
- 1998 - Eddie Rabbitt, American musician (b. 1941)
- 2000 - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (b. 1909)
- 2002 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)
- 2002 - Kevyn Aucoin, 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 news reporter (b.1943)
- 2006 - Joan C. Edwards, American philanthropist (b. 1918)
- 2006 - Machiko Soga, Japanese actress, singer, and tokusatsu legend (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 (b. 1935)
Holidays and observances
- Russia - Radio Day (commemorating the work of Alexander Popov)
- Acacius of Byzantium
- Saint Flavia Domitilla
- John of Beverley