December 7th in History
Burning ships at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
Today in History
- Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the new US Constitution (1787)
- Jesse James robs his first bank (1869)
- The first TV commercial in the US is broadcast (1930)
- The Imperial Japanese Navy makes a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1941)
- The first instant replay in sportscasting takes place (1963)
- The final mission in the US lunar program, Apollo 17, is launched (1972)
- ياسر عرفات (Yasser Arafat) recognizes Israel’s right to exist (1988)
- The Galileo spacecraft reaches Jupiter (1995)
- The Recording Industry Association sues Napster (1999)
Births
- Lord Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots (1545)
- Deacon White, baseball player (1847)
- Richard Sears, department store co-founder (1863)
- Willa Cather, author (1873)
- Rudolf Friml, composer (1879)
- Clarence Nash, voice of Donald Duck (1904)
- Gerard Kuiper, astronomer (1905)
- Louis Prima, singer-songwriter (1910)
- Leigh Brackett, author and screenwriter (1915)
- Eli Wallach, actor (1915)
- Ted Knight, actor (1923)
- Noam Chomsky, linguist and philosopher (1928)
- Allan Calhamer, game designer who created Diplomacy (1931)
- Ellen Burstyn (1932)
- Thad Cochran, US Senator (1937)
- Harry Chapin, singer-songwriter (1942)
- Alex Johnson, baseball player (1942)
- Susan Isaacs, author (1943)
- Johnny Bench, baseball player (1947)
- Tom Waits, singer-songwriter (1949)
- Larry Bird, basketball layer (1956)
- C. Thomas Howell, actor (1966)
Deaths
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, orator and politician (43 BCE)
- Michel Ney, French field marshal (1815 CE)
- William Bligh, commander of HMS Bounty (1817)
- Ferdinand de Lesseps, developer of the Suez Canal (1894)
- Rube Goldberg, cartoonist (1970)
- Robert Graves, mythologist, author, poet (1985)
- Potter Stewart, US Supreme Court justice (1985)
- Joan Bennett, actress (1990)
- Jerry Scoggins, sang “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” (2004)
- Jeane Kirkpatrick, US diplomat (2006)
- Harry Morgan, actor (2011)
Holidays and Celebrations
- Armed Forces Flag Day (India)
- Day of the Little Candles (Colombia)
- Ear Muff Day
- International Civil Aviation Day (ICAO)
- National Cotton Candy Day (US food holidays)
- Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (US)
- Quema del Diablo (Guatemala)
- Skywarn Recognition Day (US National Weather Service)
- Spitak Remembrance Day (Armenia)
- روز دانشجو (Student Day) (Iran)
December 7 is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years). There are 24 days remaining until the end of the year.