October 7th in History

Michael Dobson | October 7
The Battle of Lepanto, 10/7/1571

October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). There are 85 days remaining until the end of the year. (Illustration: The Battle of Lepanto, unknown artist, 1571)

Today in History

  • The Battle of Lepanto, the last major naval battle in the Mediterranean fought entirely between galleys, results in a Holy League victory over the Ottoman Empire (1571 CE)
  • This day does not exist in Italy, Poland, Portugal, or Spain because of the change to the Gregorian calendar (1582 CE)
  • In the most lopsided college football game in American history, Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 (1916 CE)
  • KLM, the oldest airline still operating under its original name, is founded (1919 CE)
  • Five French airlines merge and become Air France (1933 CE)
  • Jewish prisoners rebel at Birkenau concentration camp and burn down the crematoria (1944 CE)
  • The Deutsche Demokratische Republik (East Germany) is founded (1949 CE)
  • Allen Ginsberg performs Howl in public for the first time (1955 CE)
  • Iskander Mirza declares martial law in Pakistan (1958 CE)
  • The US manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury (1958 CE)
  • The Soviet Luna 3 probe transmits the first-ever photographs of the far side of the Moon (1959 CE)
  • Nigeria (1960 CE) and Oman (1971 CE) join the United Nations
  • The PLO hijacks the cruise ship Achille Lauro (1985 CE)
  • Fox News begins broadcasting (1996 CE)
  • Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wisconsin is found dead, beaten, and tied to a fence (1998 CE)
  • The US invasion of Afghanistan begins (2001 CE)
  • A recall election in California removes Governor Gray Davis and installs Arnold Schwarzenegger (2003 CE)

Birthdays

  • Drusus Julius Caesar, son of Emperor Tiberius (13 BCE)
  • John Marston, poet (1576 CE)
  • James Whitcomb Riley, poet (1849 CE)
  • Uncle Dave Mason, banjo player (1870 CE)
  • Joe Hill, labor activist (1879 CE)
  • Niels Bohr, physicist (1885 CE)
  • Alice Dalgliesh, children’s book author (1893 CE)
  • Elijah Muhammad, Nation of Islam leader (1897 CE)
  • Heinrich Himmler, Nazi leader (1900 CE)
  • Andy Devine, cowboy sidekick (1905 CE)
  • Helen MacInnes, espionage writer (1907 CE)
  • Vaughn Monroe, bandleader (1911 CE)
  • Sarah Churchill, actress (1914 CE)
  • June Allyson, actress and Depends spokesperson (1917 CE)
  • Irma Grese, “Beast of Belsen” and “Hyena of Auschwitz” (1923 CE)
  • R. D. Laing, psychiatrist (1927 CE)
  • Al Martino, Godfather crooner (1927 CE)
  • Desmond Tutu, archbishop and Nobel Prize laureate (1931 CE)
  • Amiri Baraka, poet (1934 CE)
  • Ulrike Meinhof, Baader gang partner (1934 CE)
  • Clive James, talk show host (1939 CE)
  • Joy Behar, talk show host (1942 CE)
  • Oliver North, Iran-Contra figure (1943 CE)
  • Catharine MacKinnon, feminist (1946 CE)
  • John Mellencamp, rocker (1951 CE)
  • Влади́мир Пу́тин (Vladimir Putin), president of Russia (1952 CE)
  • Yo-Yo Ma, cellist (1955 E)
  • Brian Sutter, ice hockey player (1956 CE)
  • Jayne Torvill, figure skater (1957 CE)
  • Simon Cowell, talent judge (1959 CE)
  • Dan Savage, sex columnist (1964 CE)
  • Toni Braxton, singer-songwriter (1967 CE)
  • Taylor Hicks, American Idol winner (1976 CE)
  • Charles Woodson, football player (1976 CE)
  • Bree Olsen, porn star and Charlie Sheen goddess (1986 CE)

Deaths

  • Charles the Simple, son of Louis the Stammerer and cousin of Charles the Fat (879 CE)
  • Henry Muhlenberg, patriarch of the Lutheran Church in the United States (1787 CE)
  • George Mason, US founding father (1792 CE)
  • Edgar Allan Poe, poet (1849 CE)
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr, poet and The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1894 CE)
  • Rudolf Lipschitz, mathematician (1903 CE)
  • Christy Mathewson, baseball player (1925 CE)
  • Radclyffe Hall, lesbian poet (1943 CE)
  • Helmut Lent, fighter ace (1944 CE)
  • Anton Philips, co-founder of Koninklijke Philips N.V. (1951 CE)
  • Clarence Birdseye, frozen foods pioneer (1956 CE)
  • Mario Lanza, tenor (1959 CE)
  • Leo Durocher, baseball manager (1991 CE)
  • Allan Bloom, educator (1992 CE)
  • Herblock, editorial cartoonist (2001 CE)
  • Charles Rocket, Saturday Night Live cast member (2005 CE)

Holidays

  • Feast of Osgyth (Christianity)
  • First day of くんち (Kunchi) (Nagasaki, Japan)
  • National Frappe Day (US)
  • Techie Day (US)
  • World Day of Bullying Prevention (International)
  • World Habitat Day (International)
  • You Matter to Me Day (US, unofficial)