July 7th in History

The first Ziegfeld Follies premiered in the rooftop theater above the Jardin de Paris in New York City, July 7, 1907

Today in History

  • The Farren Riots, four nights of anti-abolition riots, begin (1834)
  • The United States imposes its first military draft; exemptions cost $300 (1863)
  • The first Ziegfeld Follies open (1907)
  • Sliced bread goes on sale for the first time (1928)
  • Construction of the Hoover Dam begins (1937)
  • An XF-11 piloted by Howard Hughes crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood (1946)
  • The Roswell Incident, a supposed UFO crash, takes places in New Mexico (1947)
  • Elvis makes his radio debut (1954)
  • Sandra Day O’Connor is named the first woman Supreme Court justice (1981)
  • Schoolgirl Samantha Smith flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Yuri Andropov (1983)
  • Boris Becker becomes the youngest person to win at Wimbleton (1986)

Birthdays

  • Gustav Mahler, composer (1860)
  • George Cukor, director (1899)
  • Vittorio De Sica, director (1901)
  • Satchel Paige, baseball player (1906)
  • Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer (1907)
  • Gian Carlo Menotti, composer (1911)
  • Pinetop Perkins, singer (1913)
  • John Pertwee, actor who starred in Doctor Who (1919)
  • Mary Ford, singer and guitarist (1924)
  • Doc Severinsen, bandleader (1927)
  • David Eddings, fantasy writer (1931)
  • David McCullough, historian (1933)
  • Ringo Starr, Beatle (1940)
  • Joel Siegel, critic (1943)
  • Joe Spano, actor (1946)
  • Shelley Duvall, actress and producer (1949)

Deaths

  • Henri Nestlé, businessman (1890)
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author (1930)
  • Ub Iwerks, animator (1971)
  • Veronica Lake, actress (1973)
  • Eduard Shevardnadze, politician (2014)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Caprotinia (ancient Rome)
  • Independence Day (Solomon Islands)
  • Ivan Kupala Day (Belarus, Poland, Russia, Ukraine)
  • Saba Saba Day (Tanzania)
  • Tanabata (Japan)
Informal and made-up holidays include Chocolate Day, Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day, Global Forgiveness Day, National Strawberry Sundae Day, and Tell the Truth Day.
• • •
July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years). There are 177 days remaining until the end of the year.
• • •
The terms 7th July, July 7th, and 7/7 (pronounced “Seven-seven”) have been widely used in the Western media as a shorthand for the 7 July 2005 bombings on London’s transport system. In the Chinese language, this term is used to denote the Battle of Lugou Bridge started on July 7, 1937, marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.