7 October

Events

Pre-1600

* 3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar.
*1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon.
*1477 – Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year.
*1513 – War of the League of Cambrai: Spain defeats Venice.
*1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat.

1601–1900

* 1691 – The charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.
*1763 – King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing Indigenous lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements.
*1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat British forces under general John Burgoyne in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, compelling Burgoyne's eventual surrender.
*1780 – American Revolutionary War: American militia defeat royalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, often regarded as the turning point in the war's Southern theater.
*1800 – French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship ''La Confiance'', captures the British 38-gun ''Kent''.
*1826 – The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.
*1828 – Morea expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force.
*1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
* 1864 – American Civil War: A US Navy ship captures a Confederate raider in a Brazilian seaport.
*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: Léon Gambetta escapes the siege of Paris in a hot-air balloon.
* 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.

1901–present

* 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
*1913 – Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving vehicle assembly line.
*1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.
*1919 – KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
*1924 – Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes prime minister of Greece for a short period of time.
*1929 – Photius II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 1933 – Air France is inaugurated, after being formed by a merger of five French airlines.
*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.
*1944 – World War II: During an uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down Crematorium IV.
* 1949 – The communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.
*1950 – Mother Teresa establishes the Missionaries of Charity.
*1958 – The 1958 Pakistani coup d'état inaugurates a prolonged period of military rule.
* 1958 – The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed to Project Mercury.
*1959 – The Soviet probe Luna 3 transmits the first-ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.
*1961 – A Douglas Dakota IV operated by Derby Aviation (later renamed to British Midland International) crashes in Canigou, France, killing 34 people.
*1963 – President Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
*1963 – Buddhist crisis: Amid worsening relations, outspoken South Vietnamese First Lady Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu arrives in the US for a speaking tour, continuing a flurry of attacks on the Kennedy administration.
*1977 – The Fourth Soviet Constitution is adopted.
*1985 – The Mameyes landslide kills almost 200 people in Puerto Rico.
* 1985 – Four men from the Palestine Liberation Front hijack the off the coast of Egypt.
*1987 – Sikh nationalists declare the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized.
*1988 – A hunter discovers three gray whales trapped under the ice near Alaska; the situation becomes a multinational effort to free the whales.
*1991 – Croatian War of Independence: Bombing of Banski dvori in Zagreb, Croatia.
*1993 – The flood of '93 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.
* 1996 – Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.
*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. He dies five days later.
*2000 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Hezbollah militants capture three Israeli Defense Force soldiers in a cross-border raid.
* 2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground, starting the longest war in American history.
* 2002 – The Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' launches on STS-112 to continue assembly of the International Space Station.
*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.
* 2008 – Qantas Flight 72 experiences an in-flight upset near Learmonth, Victoria, Australia, injuring 112.
*2016 – In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rises to over 800.
*2022 – 10 people die and 8 are injured in an explosion at petrol station in Creeslough.
*2022 – Ales Bialiatski, along with two organisations; Memorial & Center for Civil Liberties are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Births

Pre-1600

* 14 BC – Drusus Julius Caesar, Roman politician (d. 23 AD)
* 1301 – Grand Prince Aleksandr Mikhailovich of Tver (d. 1339)
*1409 – Elizabeth of Luxembourg (d. 1442)
*1471 – Frederick I of Denmark (d. 1533)
*1474 – Bernhard III, Margrave of Baden-Baden (d. 1536)
*1482 – Ernest, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (d. 1553)
* 1573 – William Laud, English archbishop and academic (d. 1645)
*1576 – John Marston, English poet and playwright (d. 1634)
*1586 – Isaac Massa, Dutch diplomat (d. 1643)
*1589 – Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria (d. 1631)
*1591 – Pierre Le Muet, French architect (d. 1669)
*1597 – Captain John Underhill, English settler and soldier (d. 1672)

1601–1900

*1635 – Roger de Piles, French painter (d. 1709)
*1713 – Granville Elliott, English general (d. 1759)
*1728 – Caesar Rodney, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 4th Governor of Delaware (d. 1784)
* 1744 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and politician, War Governor of Saint Petersburg (d. 1819)
*1746 – William Billings, American composer and educator (d. 1800)
*1748 – Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
*1769 – Solomon Sibley, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, 1st Mayor of Detroit (d. 1846)
*1786 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
*1798 – Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, French instrument maker and businessman (d. 1875)
*1819 – Ann Eliza Smith, American author and patriot (d. 1905)
*1821 – Richard H. Anderson, American general (d. 1879)
*1832 – Charles Crozat Converse, American lawyer and composer (d. 1918)
*1835 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and educator (d. 1913)
*1836 – Henri Elzéar Taschereau, Canadian scholar and jurist, 4th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1911)
*1841 – Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
*1849 – James Whitcomb Riley, American poet and author (d. 1916)
*1860 – Leonidas Paraskevopoulos, Greek general and politician (d. 1936)
*1866 – Wlodimir Ledóchowski, Polish-Austrian religious leader, 26th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
*1870 – Uncle Dave Macon, American old-time country banjo player, singer-songwriter, and comedian (d. 1952)
*1876 – Louis Tancred, South African cricketer (d. 1934)
* 1879 – Joe Hill, Swedish-born American labor activist and poet (d. 1915)
*1881 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Ukrainian-Russian general (d. 1918)
*1884 – Harold Geiger, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1927)
* 1885 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
* 1885 – Claud Ashton Jones, American admiral, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1948)
*1887 – Jack Russell, English cricketer and coach (d. 1961)
*1888 – Henry A. Wallace, American agronomist and politician, 33rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
* 1888 – Edna Meade Colson, American educator and activist (d. 1985)
*1889 – Robert Z. Leonard, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1968)
*1892 – Dwain Esper, American director and producer (d. 1982)
*1893 – Alice Dalgliesh, Trinidadian-American author and publisher (d. 1979)
*1895 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian linguist and author (d. 1980)
*1896 – Paulino Alcántara, Spanish Filipino football player and manager (d. 1964)
*1897 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (d. 1975)
* 1897 – Thakin Mya, Burmese lawyer and politician (d. 1947)
*1900 – Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician (d. 1945)

1901–present

*1904 – Armando Castellazzi, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1968)
*1905 – Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
*1907 – Helen MacInnes, Scottish-American librarian and author (d. 1985)
*1909 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish author (d. 1990)
* 1909 – Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian-American pianist and educator (d. 1995)
* 1909 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American soldier and politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany (d. 1983)
*1910 – Henry Plumer McIlhenny, American art collector and philanthropist (d. 1986)
*1911 – Vaughn Monroe, American singer, trumpet player, and bandleader (d. 1973)
* 1912 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian architect and politician, 85th President of Peru (d. 2002)
* 1912 – Peter Walker, English race car driver (d. 1984)
*1913 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1987)
* 1913 – Raimond Valgre, Estonian pianist, guitarist, and composer (d. 1949)
*1914 – Begum Akhtar, Indian actress (d. 1974)
* 1914 – Sarah Churchill, English actress (d. 1982)
* 1914 – Alfred Drake, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
* 1914 – Herman Keiser, American golfer (d. 2003)
*1915 – Walter Keane, American plagiarist (d. 2000)
*1917 – June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
* 1918 – Harry V. Jaffa, American historian, philosopher, and academic (d. 2015)
*1919 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2006)
* 1919 – Zelman Cowen, Australian academic and politician, 19th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2011)
* 1919 – Georges Duby, French historian and author (d. 1996)
* 1920 – Georg Leber, German soldier and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
* 1920 – Jack Rowley, English footballer and manager (d. 1998)
* 1921 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian footballer and coach (d. 2004)
*1922 – Grady Hatton, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2013)
* 1922 – William Zinsser, American journalist and critic (d. 2015)
*1923 – Irma Grese, German SS officer (d. 1945)
* 1923 – Břetislav Pojar, Czech animator and director (d. 2012)
* 1923 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (d. 2002)
*1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor (d. 2009)
* 1927 – R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and author (d. 1989)
* 1927 – Demetrio González, Spanish-Mexican film actor and singer (d. 2015)
*1928 – José Messias, Brazilian composer, singer, writer, host and critic (d. 2015)
* 1928 – Ali Kafi, Pakistani politician (d. 2013)
* 1928 – Lorna Wing, English autism researcher (d. 2014)
*1929 – Graeme Ferguson, Canadian director and producer, co-founded the IMAX Corporation (d. 2021)
* 1929 – Mariano Gagnon, American Catholic priest and author (d. 2017)
* 1929 – Robert Westall, English journalist and author (d. 1993)
*1930 – Curtis Crider, American race car driver (d. 2012)
*1931 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball player and coach (d. 2004)
* 1931 – Tommy Lewis, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
* 1931 – R. Sivagurunathan, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and academic (d. 2003)
* 1931 – Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2021)
*1932 – Joannes Gijsen, Dutch bishop (d. 2013)
* 1933 – Harold Dunaway, American race car driver and pilot (d. 2012)
*1934 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (d. 2014)
* 1934 – Ulrike Meinhof, German far-left terrorist, co-founder of the Red Army Faction, journalist (d. 1976)
* 1934 – Julian Thompson, English general and historian
* 1935 – Thomas Keneally, Australian novelist, playwright, and essayist
*1936 – Michael Hurll, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
* 1937 – Christopher Booker, English journalist and author (d. 2019)
* 1937 – Chet Powers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)
* 1937 – Maria Szyszkowska, Polish academic and politician
* 1938 – Yvonne Brewster, Jamaican actress and theatre director
* 1938 – Ann Jones, English tennis player and sportscaster
* 1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist and author
* 1939 – Clive James, Australian television host, author, and critic (d. 2019)
* 1939 – Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
* 1939 – Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Congolese cardinal (d. 2021)
* 1939 – Bill Snyder, American football player and coach
*1942 – Joy Behar, American talk show host, comedian and television personality
*1943 – José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player and coach
* 1943 – Oliver North, American colonel, journalist, and author
*1944 – Judee Sill, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1979)
* 1944 – Donald Tsang, Chinese civil servant and politician, 2nd Chief Executive of Hong Kong
*1945 – Kevin Godley, English singer-songwriter and director
* 1945 – David Wallace, Scottish physicist and academic
* 1946 – John Brass, Australian rugby player and coach
* 1946 – Catharine MacKinnon, American lawyer, activist, and author
* 1947 – Chris Bambridge, Australian footballer and referee
* 1948 – Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist
* 1948 – John F. B. Mitchell, English climatologist and author
* 1948 – Stephen Rucker, American composer
* 1949 – Dave Hope, American bass player and priest
*1950 – Dick Jauron, American football player and coach
* 1950 – Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian colonel, economist, and politician, 4th President of Tanzania
*1951 – Enki Bilal, French comic book creator, comics artist and film director
* 1951 – John Mellencamp, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
*1952 – Vladimir Putin, Russian colonel and politician, 4th President of Russia
* 1952 – Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
* 1952 – Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
*1953 – Linda Griffiths, Canadian actress and playwright (d. 2014)
* 1953 – Margus Lepa, Estonian journalist and actor
* 1953 – Tico Torres, American drummer
* 1955 – Ralph Johnson, American computer scientist and author
* 1955 – Bill Henson, Australian photographer
* 1955 – Yo-Yo Ma, French-American cellist and educator
*1956 – Steve Bainbridge, English rugby player
* 1956 – Mike Shipley, Australian-English sound engineer and producer (d. 2013)
* 1956 – Brian Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
*1957 – Joey Marquez, Filipino basketball player, actor, and politician
* 1957 – Michael W. Smith, American singer-songwriter and actor
* 1957 – Jayne Torvill, English figure skater
*1959 – Dylan Baker, American actor
* 1959 – Simon Cowell, English businessman and producer
* 1959 – Lourdes Flores, Peruvian lawyer and politician
* 1959 – Jean-Marc Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician
* 1959 – Brazo de Oro, Mexican wrestler (d. 2017)
*1960 – Kevin Boyle, American historian and author
*1961 – Brian Mannix, Australian singer-songwriter
* 1961 – Tony Sparano, American football player and coach (d. 2018)
*1962 – Dave Bronconnier, Canadian businessman and politician, 35th Mayor of Calgary
* 1962 – Micky Flanagan, English comedian
* 1962 – William Johnson, German-English cricketer
*1964 – Sam Brown, English singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
* 1964 – Dan Savage, American LGBT rights activist, journalist and television producer
* 1964 – Paul Stewart, English footballer
* 1965 – Genji Hashimoto, Japanese race car driver
* 1965 – Kumiko Watanabe, Japanese voice actress
* 1966 – Sherman Alexie, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and filmmaker
* 1966 – Marco Beltrami, Italian-American composer and conductor
* 1966 – Janet Shaw, Australian cyclist and author (d. 2012)
*1967 – Michelle Alexander, American law professor, author and activist
* 1967 – Peter Baker, English golfer
* 1967 – Toni Braxton, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
*1968 – Thom Yorke, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1969 – Bobbie Brown, American model and actress
* 1969 – Malia Hosaka, American wrestler
* 1971 – Daniel Boucher, Canadian singer and actor
*1972 – Marlou Aquino, Filipino basketball player
* 1972 – Ben Younger, American director, producer, and screenwriter
*1973 – Dida, Brazilian footballer
* 1973 – Priest Holmes, American football player
* 1973 – Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer and manager
* 1973 – Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Georgian politician and diplomat, 7th Prime Minister of Georgia
* 1974 – Rune Glifberg, Danish skateboarder
* 1974 – Ruslan Nigmatullin, Russian footballer
* 1974 – Charlotte Perrelli, Swedish singer
*1975 – Giorgos Karadimos, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1975 – Damian Kulash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1975 – Tim Minchin, English-Australian comedian, actor, and singer
*1976 – Marc Coma, Spanish motorcycle racer
* 1976 – Taylor Hicks, American singer-songwriter
* 1976 – Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
* 1976 – Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer and manager
* 1976 – Charles Woodson, American football player
*1977 – Antoine Revoy, French comics writer and illustrator
* 1978 – Alison Balsom, English trumpet player and educator
* 1978 – Alesha Dixon, English singer-songwriter and dancer
* 1978 – Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
*1979 – Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
* 1979 – Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
* 1979 – Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
*1981 – Austin Eubanks, American motivational speaker (d. 2019)
* 1982 – Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer
* 1982 – Jermain Defoe, English footballer
* 1982 – Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
* 1982 – Li Yundi, Chinese pianist
* 1982 – Lockett Pundt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1983 – Archie Bland, English journalist and author
* 1983 – Dwayne Bravo, Trinidadian cricketer
* 1983 – Flying Lotus, American rapper, DJ, and producer
* 1983 – Scottie Upshall, Canadian ice hockey player
*1984 – Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
* 1984 – Toma Ikuta, Japanese actor and singer
* 1984 – Simon Poulsen, Danish footballer
* 1984 – Zachary Wyatt, American soldier and politician
*1985 – Evan Longoria, American baseball player
*1986 – Chase Daniel, American football player
* 1986 – Lee Nguyen, American soccer player
* 1986 – Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
* 1986 – Bree Olson, American actress, model, and former porn actress
* 1986 – Amy Satterthwaite, New Zealand cricketer
*1987 – Jeremy Brockie, New Zealand footballer
* 1987 – Aiden English, American wrestler
* 1987 – Sam Querrey, American tennis player
*1988 – Diego da Silva Costa, Brazilian footballer
*1989 – Trent Merrin, Australian rugby league player
*1990 – Sebastián Coates, Uruguayan footballer
*1991 – Nicole Jung, American singer
*1991 – Lay Zhang, Chinese singer-songwriter and actor
* 1992 – Mookie Betts, American baseball player
*1995 – Lyndon Dykes, Australian professional footballer
* 1995 – Lloyd Jones, English professional footballer
* 1995 – Bram van Vlerken, Dutch professional football player
* 1995 – Mathias Dyngeland, Norwegian footballer
* 1996 – Lewis Capaldi, Scottish singer-songwriter
*1996 – Choi Jeong, South Korean Go player
*1998 – Trent Alexander-Arnold, English professional footballer
* 2001 – Princess Senate Seeiso, Princess of Lesotho

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 336 – Mark, pope of the Catholic Church
* 858 – Montoku, Japanese emperor (b. 826)
* 929 – Charles the Simple, French king (b. 879)
* 950 – Li, Chinese empress consort
* 951 – Shi Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (b. 919)
* 951 – Xiao, Chinese Khitan empress dowager
* 951 – Zhen, Chinese Khitan empress consort
* 988 – Qian Chu, king of Wuyue (b. 929)
*1242 – Juntoku, Japanese emperor (b. 1197)
* 1259 – Ezzelino III da Romano, Italian ruler
*1363 – Eleanor de Bohun, English noblewoman (b. 1304)
* 1368 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Belgian-English politician (b. 1338)
*1461 – Jean Poton de Xaintrailles, follower of Joan of Arc (b. c. 1390)
*1468 – Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Italian nobleman (b. 1417)
*1553 – Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (b. 1500)
*1571 – Sufi Ali Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, Ottoman Governor of Egypt
* 1571 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, Danish queen consort of Christian III of Denmark (b. 1511)
*1577 – George Gascoigne, English soldier, courtier, and poet (b. 1535)

1601–1900

*1612 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, playwright, and diplomat (b. 1538)
*1620 – Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish-Lithuanian commander (b. 1547)
*1637 – Victor Amadeus I

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