December 7th in History

Michael Dobson | December 7

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.