Thursday, 7th May 2026 in Prag

Welcome to your daily snapshot of Prag! It's World Athletics Day. Explore 55 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day in Prag. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Today's weather in Prag brings rainy with temperatures between 12°C and 22°C. Tonight's moon is in its waxing crescent phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Taurus. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this Thursday, 7th May in Prag, CZ.

Dietmar Rabich – CC BY-SA 4.0Wikimedia Commons

What the Weather Had in Store for Prag on 7th May 2026

Rain

Sunrise 05:29
Sunset 20:28
Sunshine duration 11:27 hours
Daylight duration 14:58 hours

Maximum temperature 22.5°C
Minimum temperature 12.4°C

Wind speed 16.5km/h from WSW
Precipitation 7.9mm

Understanding blooms in the space between certainty and doubt.

Fortune of the Day

7th May in the Stars – Star Sign Taurus

Today, the zodiac sign Taurus celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on May 7th embody remarkable steadiness combined with creative flair. These Taureans blend patience with genuine artistry—they naturally build beauty into their world. Their grounded presence feels reassuring to everyone around them.

Strengths & Weaknesses Core strengths include unwavering reliability, artistic sensibility, and practical wisdom. Weaknesses emerge through rigidity and resistance to necessary change. Sometimes their creativity gets locked into familiar patterns.

Love May 7th natives thrive in deeply sensual, stable partnerships built on genuine affection. They seek partners who appreciate beauty and provide real security. Physical intimacy and loyalty form the foundation of their love.

Caree & Finance These individuals flourish in artistic, craft, or design-oriented professions. Financial success comes through patient, methodical building rather than risk-taking. They create steady wealth through reliable effort.

Health May 7th people need regular movement balanced with comfort and indulgence. Wellness thrives through massage, quality nutrition, and nature connection. Emotional stability naturally supports their physical wellbeing.


That night, the moon was in its waxing crescent phase.


Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).

Fun Facts About 7th May

Name Days in Your Language: Ahern, Cooper, Dexter, Gisela, Gisella, Giselle, Gisselle, Hearne, Herne, Heron


Someone born on this day would be just 25 days old today — roughly 617 hours, 37,039 minutes, or 2,222,364 seconds spent on Earth so far.


It's the 127. day of the year. In 2026, 7th May falls on a Thursday.


There are 238 days still to come.


We’re currently in Week 19 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 7th May

On this day, 134 notable people were born on 7th May — spanning from 1488 to 2004. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

07/05/2004

Ashlyn Krueger, American tennis player

Ashlyn Rose Krueger is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 29, achieved on 14 July 2025, and a doubles ranking of world No. 62, achieved in August 2024. Krueger has won one singles title and one doubles title on the WTA Tour.


Minji, South Korean singer

Kim Min-ji, known mononymously as Minji, is a South Korean singer. Minji made her debut as a member of the South Korean girl group NewJeans, under the record label ADOR on July 22, 2022.


07/05/2002

Jake Bongiovi, American model and actor

Jacob Hurley Bongiovi is an American model and actor. He is the son of rock musician Jon Bon Jovi.


Andrew Barth Feldman, American actor and singer

Andrew Barth Feldman is an American actor and singer. He began his acting career in musical theater by participating in local productions as a child. Feldman won a Jimmy Award for his high school's production of the musical Catch Me If You Can in 2018. In 2019, he played the title role in the musical Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway.


07/05/1999

Tommy Fury, English boxer

Thomas Michael John Fury is a British reality television personality and professional boxer. He took time off from his boxing career in 2019 to star in the fifth series of the ITV2 dating reality television show Love Island. Along with his current partner, Molly-Mae Hague, he finished as a runner-up of the series. He is the younger brother of former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.


Cody Gakpo, Dutch footballer

Cody Mathès Gakpo is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left winger or centre forward for Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.


07/05/1998

MrBeast, American YouTuber

James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, media personality, businessman, and philanthropist. The founder of Beast Industries, a conglomerate that holds various media channels, MrBeast Burger, Feastables, Lunchly, and more, he produces high-paced YouTube videos built around elaborate challenges and grandiose philanthropic efforts, that are noted for their high production values. With more than 490 million subscribers, his main channel is the most subscribed on YouTube. He is also the third most followed account on TikTok.


Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer

Daniel Olmo Carvajal is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.


Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player

Jesse Puljujärvi is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a winger for Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL).


07/05/1997

Daria Kasatkina, Russian tennis player

Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association, achieved in October 2022. Kasatkina has won eight WTA Tour singles titles and one title in doubles. Her best results at the majors are reaching the semifinals at the 2022 French Open and the quarterfinals of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.


Youri Tielemans, Belgian footballer

Youri Marion A. Tielemans is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa and captains the Belgium national team.


Cameron Young, American golfer

Cameron David Young is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, where he has won three titles.


07/05/1996

Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, South Korean League of Legends pro gamer

Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. Debuting in 2013, he has played as the mid-laner for T1 for his entire career. He has won a record 10 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles, two Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) titles, and a record six World Championship titles. Faker is widely regarded as the greatest League of Legends player in history and has drawn comparison analogizing him to basketball player Michael Jordan for his esports success.


07/05/1995

Seko Fofana, Ivorian international footballer

Seko Mohamed Fofana is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto, on loan from Ligue 1 club Rennes. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team.


07/05/1993

Will Ospreay, English wrestler

William "Will" Peter Charles Ospreay is an English professional wrestler. As of November 2023, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former two-time AEW International Champion. He also makes appearances for partner promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of United Empire and is one-third of the reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions alongside stablemates Henare and Great-O-Khan in their first reign as a team and as individuals. He also works for Pro-Wrestling: EVE as a producer and a member of the creative team. Known for his in-ring ability, he is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world.


Ajla Tomljanovic, Australian tennis player

Ajla Tomljanović is a Croatian-Australian professional tennis player. On 3 April 2023, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32. On 5 January 2015, she peaked at No. 47 in the doubles rankings. She has won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In November 2023, she won her first WTA 125 tournament, in Florianópolis, and in October 2024 her second WTA 125 title, in Hong Kong.


07/05/1992

Alexander Ludwig, Canadian actor and musician

Alexander Richard Ludwig is a Canadian actor and country musician. He first began his career as a child, and then received recognition as a teenager for starring in the films The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009) and he is also known for starring as Cato in The Hunger Games (2012).


07/05/1990

Sydney Leroux, Canadian-American footballer

Sydney Rae Leroux is a Canadian-born American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Leroux represented Canada at various youth levels before joining the United States women's national under-20 soccer team in 2008. She joined the U.S. senior national team in 2012. Leroux has earned over 75 caps with the national team and was part of the winning squads at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.


07/05/1989

Earl Thomas, American football player

Earl Winty Thomas III is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and received consensus All-American honors and played in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game. He left after his redshirt sophomore year and he was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. During his time with the Seahawks, he made six Pro Bowls and five All-Pro teams as he was a core member of the Legion of Boom defense, winning Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos and starting in Super Bowl XLIX. After nine seasons with Seattle, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent and played one season while earning his seventh Pro Bowl invite.


07/05/1987

Aidy Bryant, American actress and comedian

Aidy Bryant is an American actress and comedian. Bryant is most notable for being a cast member on the NBC late-night sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for ten seasons, joining the show for its 38th season in 2012, and leaving at the end of its 47th season in 2022. For her work on the series, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, including two nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.


Mark Reynolds, Scottish footballer

Mark Reynolds is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Highland League club Banks o' Dee. He began his career at Motherwell and has also played for Sheffield Wednesday, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Cove Rangers.


07/05/1986

Matt Helders, English drummer

Matthew Helders is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, who is the drummer and occasional singer of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. He has also released a studio album and collaborated with artists such as Dean Fertita, Josh Homme and Iggy Pop.


07/05/1985

J Balvin, Colombian singer-songwriter and producer

José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer. He is one of the best-selling Latin artists, with 35 million records sold worldwide. Balvin was born in Medellín. At age 17, he moved to the United States to learn English, living in both Oklahoma and New York. He then returned to Medellín and gained popularity performing at clubs in the city.


07/05/1984

James Loney, American baseball player

James Anthony Loney is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Mets, and in the KBO League for the LG Twins.


Kevin Owens, Canadian wrestler

Kevin Yanick Steen is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Kevin Owens.


Alex Smith, American football player

Alexander Douglas Smith is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American honors and winning MW Offensive Player of the Year in 2004. Smith was selected first overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL draft.


07/05/1979

Katie Douglas, American basketball player

Kathryn Elizabeth Douglas is an American former professional basketball player. Her primary position was shooting guard, her secondary was small forward. She was known league-wide as one of the most prominent two-way players for her long-range shooting and high scoring abilities on offense as well as her defensive abilities.


07/05/1978

Dette Escudero, Filipino politician

Marie Bernadette "Dette" Guevara Escudero-Quirante is a Filipino politician who has served as the representative of Sorsogon's 1st district in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 2022. She was reelected to the position in 2025. Escudero has also served as the House deputy majority leader since 2025, having previously served as assistant majority leader from 2022 to 2025.


Shawn Marion, American basketball player

Shawn Dwayne Marion is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He finished his career as a four-time NBA All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA Team and a one-time NBA champion, helping the Dallas Mavericks win their maiden title in 2011. Nicknamed "The Matrix" by former NBA player Kenny Smith during the preseason of his rookie year, Marion was widely regarded as one of the most versatile players in the league because of his athleticism and ability to play and defend many positions. He was also known for his unorthodox shooting form.


07/05/1976

Calvin Booth, American basketball player and executive

Calvin Lawrence Booth is a former NBA basketball player and team executive who most recently served as the general manager of the Denver Nuggets. He played 10 seasons for various NBA teams as a center after playing college basketball for the Penn State Nittany Lions. After his playing career concluded, he served in front office positions for the New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets, eventually being named general manager of the Nuggets in 2020, a position he held until 2025.


Stacey Jones, New Zealand rugby league player

Stacey William Jones is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of New Zealand at international level. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced.


Michael P. Murphy, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2005)

Michael Patrick Murphy was a United States Navy SEAL officer who was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the War in Afghanistan. He was the first member of the United States Navy (USN) to receive the award since the Vietnam War. His other posthumous awards include the Silver Star Medal and the Purple Heart.


Ayelet Shaked, former Israeli Minister of Justice

Ayelet Shaked is an Israeli former politician, activist, and software engineer. She served as Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2022 and as Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2019. Between 2013 and 2021, she was a representative in the Knesset as a member of The Jewish Home from 2013 to 2018, and then as a founding member of the New Right from 2018 to 2019 and again from 2019 to 2020. Shaked also served as the leader of the defunct right-wing electoral alliance Yamina. Despite her tenure in The Jewish Home, a religious political party, she has identified as a secularist.


07/05/1975

Martina Topley-Bird, English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist

Martina Gillian Topley-Bird is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye (1995). She also worked with him on his subsequent albums, Nearly God and Pre-Millennium Tension. In 2003, Topley-Bird released her debut solo album, Quixotic, which was critically praised and earned her a Mercury Prize nomination.


07/05/1974

Breckin Meyer, American actor, writer, and producer

Breckin Meyer is an American actor and podcaster. He is best known for his work on the Adult Swim animated sketch series Robot Chicken, which has earned him two Annie Awards and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations.


07/05/1972

Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist and wrestler

Frank Trigg is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee and TV host. Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, BAMMA, and the World Fighting Alliance, where he was the promotion's only Welterweight champion. He has professional wrestling appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.


07/05/1971

Thomas Piketty, French economist

Thomas Piketty is a French economist who is a professor of economics at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, associate chair at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and Centennial Professor of Economics in the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics (LSE).


07/05/1969

Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter

Eagle-Eye Lanoo Cherry is a Swedish singer and stage performer. His 1998 single "Save Tonight" achieved commercial success in Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom. Cherry is the son of American jazz artist Don Cherry and Swedish artist and designer Moki Cherry.


07/05/1968

Traci Lords, American actress and singer

Traci Elizabeth Lords is an American actress and singer. She has starred in TV series such as Tales from the Crypt, Roseanne, Profiler, and First Wave. She has also appeared in films such as Skinner (1993), Virtuosity (1995), Blade (1998), Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), and Excision (2012), which earned her a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress, Fright Meter Award, and a CinEuphoria Award.


Lisa Raitt, Canadian lawyer and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Transport

Lisa Sarah MacCormack Raitt is a former Canadian politician who served as a federal Cabinet minister and member of Parliament (MP) from 2008 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, Raitt was elected to the House of Commons in the 2008 election, representing Halton. Shortly after her election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named her minister of natural resources, holding the role until 2010, when she became minister of labour. In 2013, she became minister of transport, remaining in the role until the Conservatives were defeated by the Liberal Party in the 2015 election. Raitt was re-elected in the newly formed riding of Milton. She contested the Conservative leadership in 2017, losing to Andrew Scheer, who made her deputy party leader and deputy opposition leader, a role she would hold until she was defeated in the 2019 election. Since leaving politics, she has been the vice chair of Global Investment Banking at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).


07/05/1967

Roberto d'Amico, Belgian politician

Roberto d'Amico is a Belgian trade unionist, politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of the Workers' Party of Belgium, he has represented Hainaut since June 2019.


Martin Bryant, Australian mass murderer

Martin John Bryant is an Australian mass murderer who shot and killed 35 people and injured 23 others in the Port Arthur massacre on 28 and 29 April 1996. He is currently serving 35 life sentences, and 1,652 years without the possibility of parole, at Risdon Prison in Hobart, Tasmania.


Joe Rice, American colonel and politician

Joe Rice is a former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado, an Iraq War veteran, and a former mayor of Glendale, Colorado.


07/05/1965

Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (died 1999)

Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He received most of his success in the WWF, where he wrestled under both his own name and the ring names The Blue Angel and The Blue Blazer.


Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager

Norman Whiteside is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and forward.


07/05/1961

Sue Black, Scottish anthropologist and academic

Susan Margaret Black, Baroness Black of Strome is a Scottish forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic. She was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University and is past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She is President of St John's College, Oxford.


07/05/1960

Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham, Iraqi-English surgeon and academic

Ara Warkes Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham is an Armenian-British surgeon, academic, and politician.


Almudena Grandes, Spanish author (died 2021)

María de la Almudena Grandes Hernández was a Spanish writer. Author of 14 novels and three short-story collections, her work has been translated into twenty languages and frequently adapted to film. She won the National Literature Prize for Narrative and the Prix Méditerranée among other honors. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called her "one of the most important writers of our time."


07/05/1958

Anne Marie Rafferty, English nurse and academic

Anne Marie Rafferty, Baroness Rafferty is a British nurse, academic and researcher. She is the professor of nursing policy and the former dean of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King's College London. She served as President of the Royal College of Nursing from 2019 to 2021.


William Ridenour, American politician

William "Bill" Ridenour is an American politician serving as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 100th district.


07/05/1956

Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch jurist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr., commonly known as Jan Peter Balkenende, is a Dutch jurist and politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010.


Anne Dudley, English pianist and composer

Anne Jennifer Dudley is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genres, as a film composer, and was one of the core members of the synth-pop band Art of Noise. In 1998, Dudley won an Oscar for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for The Full Monty. In addition to over twenty other film scores, in 2012 she served as music producer for the film version of Les Misérables, also acting as arranger and composing some new additional music.


Nicholas Hytner, English director and producer

Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English theatre and film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include Miss Saigon, The History Boys and One Man, Two Guvnors. He is also known for directing films such as The Madness of King George (1994), The Crucible (1996), The History Boys (2006), and The Lady in the Van (2015). Hytner was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II.


Jean Lapierre, Canadian talk show host and politician (died 2016)

Jean-Charles Lapierre was a Canadian politician and television and radio broadcaster. After retiring from the government in 2007, he served as a political analyst in a variety of venues.


07/05/1954

Amy Heckerling, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Amy Heckerling is an American writer, producer, and director. Heckerling started her career after graduating from New York University and entering the American Film Institute, making small student films. Heckerling is a recipient of AFI's Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal celebrating her creative talents and artistic achievements. She struggled to break out into big films up until the release of Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).


07/05/1950

John Dowling Coates, Australian lawyer, sports administrator and businessman

John Dowling Coates is an Australian lawyer, sports administrator and businessman. He is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) having been a vice president from 2013 to 2017 and again since 2020, and is the former president of the Australian Olympic Committee and chair of the Australian Olympic Foundation. Alongside these roles Coates is also the president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the International Council of Arbitration for Sport.


Tim Russert, American television journalist and lawyer (died 2008)

Timothy John Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News and Washington bureau chief, and also hosted an eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball. Russert covered several presidential elections, and he presented the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Time magazine included Russert in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. Russert was posthumously revealed as a 30-year source for syndicated columnist Robert Novak.


07/05/1946

Thelma Houston, American R&B/disco singer and actress

Thelma Houston is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.


Marv Hubbard, American football player (died 2015)

Marvin Ronald Hubbard was an American professional football fullback who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Oakland Raiders.


Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer

William Kreutzmann Jr. is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to perform with former members of the Grateful Dead in various lineups, and with his own bands BK3, 7 Walkers and Billy & the Kids.


Michael Rosen, English author and poet

Michael Wayne Rosen is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has written more than 200 books for children and adults. Select books include We're Going on a Bear Hunt (1989) and Sad Book (2004). He served as Children's Laureate from June 2007 to June 2009. He won the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize, awarded by English PEN, for his "fearless" body of work.


07/05/1945

Christy Moore, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts and has had significant success as a solo artist. His first album, Paddy on the Road, was recorded with Dominic Behan in 1969. Moore is best known for his political and social commentary and left-wing, Irish republican views. In 2007, he was named as Ireland's greatest living musician in RTÉ's People of the Year Awards. Moore is most known for his unique style, including driving rhythms on six-string acoustic guitar and bodhrán as well as slower ballads.


Robin Strasser, American actress

Robin Victory in Europe Strasser is an American actress, best known for her role as Dorian Lord on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live.


07/05/1943

Terry Allen, American singer and painter

Terry Allen is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist from Lubbock, Texas. Allen's musical career spans several albums in the Texas country and outlaw country genres, and his visual art includes painting, conceptual art, performance, and sculpture, with a number of notable bronze sculptures installed publicly in various cities throughout the United States. He currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.


John Bannon, Australian academic and politician, 39th Premier of South Australia (died 2015)

John Charles Bannon was an Australian politician and academic. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition back to government at the 1982 election.


Peter Carey, Australian novelist and short story writer

Peter Philip Carey is an Australian novelist who has lived in New York City for more than three decades.


07/05/1940

Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (died 1992)

Angela Olive Pearce, who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realist, and picaresque works. She is mainly known for her book The Bloody Chamber (1979). In 1984, her short story "The Company of Wolves" was adapted into a film of the same name. In 2008, The Times ranked Carter tenth in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In 2012, Nights at the Circus was selected as the best ever winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.


07/05/1939

Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)

Sidney Altman was a Canadian-American molecular biologist, who was the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. Cech for their work on the catalytic properties of RNA.


Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2022)

Ruggero Deodato was an Italian film and television director, screenwriter, and occasional actor.


Ruud Lubbers, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2018)

Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2001 to 2005. He was a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP), which later merged to become the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party.


Johnny Maestro, American pop/doo-wop singer (died 2010)

John Peter Mastrangelo, known as Johnny Maestro, was an American pop singer. He was the lead vocalist for the doo-wop group The Crests, whose 1958 song "16 Candles" achieved number two on the Billboard Hot 100. He later led The Brooklyn Bridge, who are best known for their cover of the 1968 Jimmy Webb song "Worst That Could Happen".


07/05/1936

Tony O'Reilly, Irish rugby player and businessman (died 2024)

Sir Anthony John Francis O'Reilly was an Irish businessman and international rugby union player. He was known for his try scoring in rugby, his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009, and as CEO and chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company. He was the leading shareholder of Waterford Wedgwood and a founder and major supporter of The Ireland Funds. A citizen of both Ireland and the United Kingdom, he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor for his services to Northern Ireland.


07/05/1935

Michael Hopkins, English architect (died 2023)

Sir Michael John Hopkins was an English architect.


07/05/1933

Johnny Unitas, American football player and sportscaster (died 2002)

John Constantine Unitas was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Nicknamed "Johnny U." and "the Golden Arm", Unitas was considered the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback and is regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.


07/05/1932

Pete Domenici, American lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Albuquerque (died 2017)

Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in the Senate, making him the longest-tenured U.S. Senator in the state's history. To date, Domenici is the last Republican to be elected to the Senate from New Mexico. He was succeeded by Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Udall.


Derek Taylor, English journalist and author (died 1997)

Derek Wyn Taylor was a British journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one of several associates to earn the moniker "the Fifth Beatle". Before returning to London to head the publicity for the Beatles' Apple Corps organisation in 1968, he worked as the publicist for California-based bands such as the Byrds, the Beach Boys and the Mamas and the Papas. Taylor was known for his forward-thinking and extravagant promotional campaigns, exemplified in taglines such as "The Beatles Are Coming" and "Brian Wilson Is a Genius". He was equally dedicated to the 1967 Summer of Love ethos and helped stage that year's Monterey Pop Festival.


07/05/1931

Teresa Brewer, American singer (died 2007)

Teresa Brewer was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, rock 'n roll, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording around 600 songs.


Gene Wolfe, American author (died 2019)

Gene Rodman Wolfe was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose, his fascination with memory and the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and novelist who won many literary awards. He was honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.


07/05/1930

Babe Parilli, American football player and coach (died 2017)

Vito "Babe" Parilli was an American professional football quarterback and coach who played for 18 seasons. Parilli played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), 10 in the American Football League (AFL), and three in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, twice receiving consensus All-American honors and winning two consecutive bowl games.


07/05/1929

Dick Williams, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2011)

Richard Hirschfeld Williams was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball (MLB). Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1969 and from 1971 to 1988, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of nine managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins. Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 following his election by the Veterans Committee.


07/05/1927

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (died 2013)

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was a British and American novelist and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of film director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant.


07/05/1923

Anne Baxter, American actress (died 1985)

Anne Baxter was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and seven Photoplay Awards, and was nominated for an Emmy and two Laurel Awards.


07/05/1922

Darren McGavin, American actor and director (died 2006)

Darren McGavin was an American actor.


07/05/1920

Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (died 1985)

Raden Soekarno, better known as Rendra Karno, was an Indonesian actor. Born in Kutoarjo, Central Java, Soekarno entered the film industry in 1941, making his debut appearance in Union Films' Soeara Berbisa. Over the next forty years he appeared in more than fifty films. He was also involved in the theatre during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies and the Indonesian National Revolution. For his role in 1962's Bajangan di Waktu Fadjar, he was named best supporting actor at the 1963 Asian Film Festival in Tokyo.


07/05/1919

Eva Perón, Argentinian actress, 25th First Lady of Argentina (died 1952)

María Eva Duarte de Perón, better known as Eva "Evita" Perón, was an Argentine politician, activist, and actress who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until her death in July 1952, as the wife of Argentine President Juan Perón. She was born into poverty in the rural village of Los Toldos, in the Pampas, as the youngest of five children. In 1934, at the age of 15, she moved to the nation's capital of Buenos Aires to pursue a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. She married Perón in 1945, when he was still an army colonel, and was propelled onto the political stage when he became President of Argentina in 1946. She became a central figure of Peronism and Argentine culture because of the Eva Perón Foundation, a charitable organization perceived by many Argentinians as highly impactful.


07/05/1917

Domenico Bartolucci, Italian cardinal and composer (died 2013)

Domenico Bartolucci was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the former director of the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and was recognised in the field of music both as a director and a prolific composer. Considered among the most authoritative interpreters of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Bartolucci led the Sistine Chapel Choir in performances worldwide, and also directed numerous concerts with the Choir of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, including a tour of the former Soviet Union.


Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (died 2020)

Sir Cyrus Lenox Simson Hewitt was an Australian public servant. His career in the Commonwealth Public Service spanned from 1939 to 1980, and included periods as a senior adviser and departmental secretary. His most prominent position was as secretary of the Prime Minister's Department during the Gorton government (1968–1971). He worked closely with Prime Minister John Gorton, although his initial appointment in place of John Bunting was seen as unconventional. Hewitt was also influential as secretary of the Department of Minerals and Energy during the Whitlam government (1972–1975), working under minister Rex Connor. He later served as chairman of Qantas (1975–1980).


David Tomlinson, English actor (died 2000)

David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson was an English stage, film and television actor, singer and comedian. Having been described as both a leading actor and a character actor, he is primarily remembered for his roles with The Walt Disney Company as the patriarch father George Banks in Mary Poppins (1964), hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug (1968) and the friendly con man Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Tomlinson was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 2002.


07/05/1913

Simon Ramo, American physicist and engineer (died 2016)

Simon Ramo was an American engineer, businessman, and author. He led development of microwave and missile technology and is sometimes known as the father of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). He also developed General Electric's electron microscope and played prominent roles in the formation of two Fortune 500 companies, Ramo-Wooldridge (TRW) and Bunker Ramo Corporation.


07/05/1911

Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, with his films having a significant influence on the film industry. Despite directing many drama, war, documentary, and comedy films, Honda is best remembered for directing and co-creating the kaiju genre with special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya.


07/05/1909

Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (died 1991)

Edwin Herbert Land, ForMemRS, FRPS, Hon.MRI was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. He invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and the retinex theory of color vision. His Polaroid instant camera went on sale in 1948 and made it possible for a picture to be taken and developed in one minute or less.


Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino, Native American teacher (died 2005)

Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino was a Comanche teacher from Oklahoma. As a child, she won a landmark education judgment against the Cache Consolidated School District of Comanche County, Oklahoma for Native American children to attend public schools rather than government-mandated Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools. It was a precursor case to both the Alice Piper v. Pine School District (1924) which allowed Native American children to attend school in California and Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which decided separate schooling based on race was unconstitutional. Language from her judgment was incorporated into the Indian Citizenship Act (1924). Having won the right to attend public school, she went on to earn credentials as a special education teacher and taught for over forty years. In 1997, she was the first Native American and the first Oklahoman to be inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.


07/05/1905

Philip Baxter, Welsh-Australian chemical engineer (died 1989)

Sir John Philip Baxter was a British-Australian chemical engineer. He was the second director of the University of New South Wales from 1953, continuing as vice-chancellor when the position's title was changed in 1955. Under his administration, the university grew from its technical college roots into the "fastest growing and most rapidly diversifying tertiary institution in Australia". Philip Baxter College is named in his honour.


07/05/1903

Nikolay Zabolotsky, Russian-Soviet poet and translator (died 1958)

Nikolay Alekseyevich Zabolotsky was a prominent Soviet and Russian poet and translator.


07/05/1901

Gary Cooper, American actor (died 1961)

Gary Cooper was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He was one of the top-10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at number 11 on its list of the 50 greatest screen legends. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952) and an Academy Honorary Award in 1961.


07/05/1899

Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (died 1998)

Alfred Horace "Gerry" Gerrard RBS was an English modernist sculptor. He was head of the sculpture department at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1925 and professor of sculpture there from 1949 to 1968, where he taught a number of well-known sculptors.


07/05/1896

Kathleen McKane Godfree, English tennis and badminton player (died 1992)

Kathleen "Kitty" McKane Godfree was a British tennis and badminton player and the second most decorated female British Olympian, joint with Katherine Grainger.


07/05/1893

Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager (died 1985)

Francis Joseph Aloysius Selke was a Canadian professional ice hockey executive in the National Hockey League. He was a nine-time Stanley Cup champion with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens and a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee.


07/05/1892

Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (died 1982)

Archibald MacLeish was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action during the First World War and lived in Paris in the 1920s. On returning to the United States, he contributed to Henry Luce's magazine Fortune from 1929 to 1938. For five years, MacLeish was the ninth Librarian of Congress, a post he accepted at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. From 1949 to 1962, he was Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard. He was awarded three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.


Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (died 1980)

Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who led Yugoslavia as prime minister from 1943 to 1963 and as president from 1953 until his death in 1980. He was the longtime leader of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, supreme commander of the Yugoslav Partisans during World War II, and was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement. The political ideology and policies associated with his rule are known as Titoism.


07/05/1891

Harry McShane, Scottish engineer and activist (died 1988)

Harry McShane was a Scottish socialist, and a close colleague of John Maclean.


07/05/1889

Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (died 1943)

Viktor Puskar VR I/1 was an Estonian military commander (Colonel) during the Estonian War of Independence.


07/05/1885

George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (died 1969)

George Francis "Gabby" Hayes was an American actor. He began as something of a leading man and a character player, but he was best known for his numerous appearances in B-Western film series as the bewhiskered, cantankerous, but ever-loyal and brave comic sidekick of the cowboy stars William Boyd, Roy Rogers and John Wayne.


07/05/1882

Willem Elsschot, Belgian author and poet (died 1960)

Alphonsus Josephus de Ridder was a Belgian writer and poet who wrote under the pseudonym Willem Elsschot. One of the most prominent Flemish authors, his most famous work, Cheese (1933) is the most translated Dutch-language novel from Flanders of all time.


07/05/1881

George E. Wiley, American cyclist (died 1954)

George Elsworth Wiley was an American racing cyclist who competed in the early twentieth century.


07/05/1880

Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (died 1972)

Pandurang Vaman Kane was an Indian academic, historian, lawyer, Indologist, and Sanskrit scholar. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award in 1963.


07/05/1875

Bill Hoyt, American pole vaulter (died 1951)

William Welles Hoyt was an American track and field athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut.


07/05/1867

Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)

Władysław Stanisław Reymont was a Polish novelist and the laureate of the 1924 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel Chłopi.


07/05/1861

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)

Rabindranath Thakur, also known by his pseudonym Bhanusimha was a Bengali polymath of the Bengal Renaissance period. In 1913, Tagore became the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any category, and also the first lyricist and non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. A significant moulder of culture within the Indian subcontinent, he wrote and composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.


07/05/1860

Tom Norman, English businessman (died 1930)

Tom Norman, born Thomas Noakes, was an English businessman, showman and the last exhibitor of Joseph Merrick who was otherwise known as the "Elephant Man". Among his later exhibits were a troupe of little people, a "Man in a Trance", "John Chambers, the armless Carpenter", and the "World's Ugliest Woman".


07/05/1857

William A. MacCorkle, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of West Virginia (died 1930)

William Alexander MacCorkle, was an American teacher, lawyer, prosecutor, the ninth governor of West Virginia and state legislator of West Virginia, and financier. His residence in Charleston, known as Sunrise, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


07/05/1847

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1929)

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of his father in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl of Rosebery, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.


07/05/1845

Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (died 1926)

Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States. In 1879, Mahoney was the first African American to graduate from an American school of nursing.


07/05/1840

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (died 1893)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the classical repertoire, including the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, the opera Eugene Onegin, and the ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.


07/05/1837

Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (died 1875)

Karl Gottlieb Mauch was a German explorer and geographer of Africa. He reported on the archaeological ruins of Great Zimbabwe in 1871 during his search for the biblical land of Ophir.


07/05/1836

Joseph Gurney Cannon, American lawyer and politician, 40th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1926)

Joseph Gurney Cannon was an American politician from Illinois and a leader of the Republican Party. Cannon represented parts of Illinois in the United States House of Representatives for twenty-three non-consecutive terms between 1873 and 1923; upon his retirement, he was the longest serving member of the United States Congress ever. From 1903 to 1911, he presided as Speaker of the House, becoming one of the most powerful speakers in United States history.


07/05/1833

Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (died 1897)

Johannes Brahms was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. His music features expressive counterpoint, freer dissonance, rhythmic vitality, and traditional forms. His works include four symphonies, four concertos, a Requiem, much chamber music, and hundreds of folk-song arrangements and Lieder.


07/05/1812

Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (died 1889)

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterisation, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax.


07/05/1787

Jacques Viger, Canadian archaeologist and politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (died 1858)

Jacques Viger was an antiquarian, archaeologist, and the first mayor of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.


07/05/1774

William Bainbridge, American commodore (died 1833)

Commodore William Bainbridge was a United States Navy officer. During his long career in the young American navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. He commanded several famous naval ships, including the USS Constitution, and saw service in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. Bainbridge was also in command of the USS Philadelphia when she grounded off the shores of Tripoli, Libya in North Africa, resulting in his capture and imprisonment for many months. In the latter part of his career he became the U.S. Naval Commissioner.


07/05/1767

Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (died 1820)

Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia was a Prussian princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was the eldest daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia and the wife of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son of King George III of the United Kingdom.


07/05/1763

Józef Poniatowski, Polish general (died 1813)

Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski was a Polish military officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.


07/05/1751

Stephen Badlam, American artisan and military officer (died 1815)

Stephen Badlam was an American artisan and military officer. Raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Badlam was orphaned as a young child following the death of his father, a tavern-keeper and cabinetmaker. Badlam worked as a surveyor prior to the American Revolutionary War, where he served as an artillery commander in engagements in New York, Canada, and Vermont, serving as a major in General Richard Montgomery's ill-fated 1775 invasion of Quebec. After serving at Fort Stanwix, he fell gravely ill and was forced to return home with his wife to Dorchester.


07/05/1748

Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and philosopher (died 1793)

Olympe de Gouges was a French playwright and political activist. She is best known for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen and other writings on women's rights and abolitionism.


07/05/1740

Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police officer and general (died 1814)

Nikolai Petrovich Arkharov was a Russian chief of police best known for having given his name to the Russian term arkharovtsy, an ironic appellation of policemen.


07/05/1724

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (died 1797)

Dagobert Sigmund, Count von Wurmser was an Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years' War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mounted several successful campaigns in the Rhineland in the initial years of the French Revolutionary Wars, he is probably most remembered for his unsuccessful operations against Napoleon Bonaparte during the 1796 campaign in Italy.


07/05/1711

David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (died 1776)

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist who is known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beginning with A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40), Hume strove to create a naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. Hume followed John Locke in rejecting the existence of innate ideas, concluding that all human knowledge derives solely from experience; this places him amongst such empiricists as Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Locke and George Berkeley.


07/05/1701

Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (died 1759)

Carl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.


07/05/1700

Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (died 1772)

Gerard van Swieten was a Dutch physician who from 1745 was the personal physician of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and transformed the Austrian health service and medical university education. He was the father of Gottfried van Swieten, patron of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.


07/05/1643

Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (died 1700)

Stephanus van Cortlandt was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor's executive council from 1691 to 1700. He was the first resident of Sagtikos Manor in West Bay Shore on Long Island, which was built around 1697. A number of his descendants married English military leaders and Loyalists active in the American Revolution, and their descendants became prominent members of English society.


07/05/1605

Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (died 1681)

Nikon, born Nikita Minin was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from 1652 to 1666. He was renowned for his eloquence, energy, piety and close ties to Tsar Alexis of Russia. Nikon introduced many reforms, including liturgical reforms that were unpopular among conservatives. These divisions eventually led to a lasting schism known as Raskol (schism) in the Russian Orthodox Church. For many years, he was a dominant political figure, often equaling or even overshadowing the Tsar. In December 1667, Nikon was tried by a synod of church officials, deprived of all his sacerdotal functions, and reduced to the status of a simple monk.


07/05/1553

Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (died 1618)

Albert Frederick was the Duke of Prussia, from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.


07/05/1530

Louis, Prince of Condé (died 1569)

Louis de Bourbon, 1st Prince of Condé was a prominent Huguenot leader and general, the founder of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Coming from a position of relative political unimportance during the reign of Henri II, Condé's support for the Huguenots, along with his leading role in the conspiracy of Amboise and its aftermath, pushed him to the centre of French politics. Arrested during the reign of Francis II then released upon the latter's premature death, he would lead the Huguenot forces in the first three civil wars of the French Wars of Religion before being executed after his defeat at the Battle of Jarnac in 1569.


07/05/1488

John III of the Palatinate, archbishop of Regensburg (died 1538)

John III of the Palatinate was the 48th Archbishop of Regensburg. He reigned from 1507 until his death.


Lives Remembered on 7th May

On 7th May, 88 remarkable people passed away — from 721 to 2024. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

07/05/2024

Steve Albini, American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist (born 1962)

Steven Frank Albini was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989), and Shellac (1992–2024), and engineered acclaimed albums such as the Pixies' Surfer Rosa (1988), PJ Harvey's Rid of Me, Nirvana's In Utero, and Manic Street Preachers' Journal for Plague Lovers (2009).


07/05/2023

Aase Foss Abrahamsen, Norwegian writer (born 1930)

Aase Foss Abrahamsen was a Norwegian writer. She primarily wrote for children and young adults, but also books for adults.


07/05/2015

Frank DiPascali, American businessman (born 1956)

Frank DiPascali Jr. was an American fraudster and financier who was a key lieutenant of Bernie Madoff for three decades. He referred to himself as the company's "director of options trading" and as "chief financial officer". For a number of years, he played a key part in the daily operation of the Madoff investment scandal, later recounting how he helped manipulate billions of dollars in account statements so clients would believe that they were creating wealth for them.


John Dixon, Australian-American author and illustrator (born 1929)

John Dixon was an Australian comic book artist and writer, best known for his comic strip creation, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors.


07/05/2014

Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (born 1923)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Neville Patrick McNamara, was a senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), the RAAF's highest-ranking position, from 1979 until 1982, and as Chief of the Defence Force Staff (CDFS), Australia's top military role at the time, from 1982 until 1984. He was the second RAAF officer to hold the rank of air chief marshal.


Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (born 1943)

Colin Trevor Pillinger, was an English planetary scientist. He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at The Open University in Milton Keynes; he was also the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and worked on a group of Martian meteorites.


Dick Welteroth, American baseball player (born 1927)

Richard John Welteroth was an American right-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played from 1948 to 1950 for the Washington Senators.


07/05/2013

Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (born 1948)

Ferruccio Mazzola was an Italian former professional footballer and manager, who played as a midfielder. He was the son of former footballer Valentino Mazzola, and the younger brother of retired footballer Sandro Mazzola.


George Sauer, Jr., American football player (born 1943)

George Henry Sauer Jr. was an American professional football player and coach who was a wide receiver for six seasons with the American Football League (AFL)'s New York Jets, and later played in the World Football League (WFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns. His father, George Henry Sauer Sr., played for the Green Bay Packers from 1935 through 1937.


07/05/2012

Sammy Barr, Scottish trade union leader (born 1931)

Samuel Alexander Barr was a British shipyard worker, trade unionist and Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) work-in veteran. Barr was an "inspiring speaker" and organiser who was a "widely respected shop steward" of the Boilermakers' Society at the time of the "historic work-in" at the UCS in 1971. Barr was credited with coming up with the idea for a work-in, which gained a lot of publicity and forced the UK Government into a reversal, saving 6,000 jobs at the shipyard. Barr was a lifelong friend to fellow UCS activists Jimmy Airlie and Sammy Gilmore. Throughout his life he displayed "considerable political commitment" to the right to work, and protection for the rights of young working people, and also particularly to the protection of the Clyde shipyards.


Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist and politician (born 1943)

Ferenc Bartha was a Hungarian economist who served as the last governor of the Hungarian National Bank during the Communist regime.


Dennis E. Fitch, American captain and pilot (born 1942)

United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, United States. On July 19, 1989, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 serving the flight crash-landed at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine due to an unnoticed manufacturing defect in the engine's fan disk, which resulted in the loss of all flight controls. Of the 296 passengers and crew on board, 112 died during the accident, while 184 people survived. Thirteen passengers were uninjured.


07/05/2011

Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (born 1957)

Severiano Ballesteros Sota was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 international tournaments in his career, including five major championships between 1979 and 1988; The Open Championship three times and the Masters Tournament twice. He gained attention in the golfing world in 1976, when at the age of 19, he finished second at The Open. He played a leading role in the re-emergence of European golf, helping the European Ryder Cup team to five wins both as a player and captain.


Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)

Willard Sterling Boyle was a Canadian applied physicist who shared one half of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics with George E. Smith for their invention of the charge-coupled device.


Big George, English songwriter, producer, and radio host (born 1957)

George Webley, better known by the stage name Big George, was a British musician, composer, bandleader and broadcaster who has been described as one of Britain's most successful theme music writers.


Victor Nosach, Soviet historian (born 1929)

Victor Ivanovich Nosach was a Soviet and Russian historian, Doctor of Historian Sciences, Member of the Academy of Humanitarian Sciences, Honored Scientist of Russian Federation.


07/05/2010

Adele Mara, American actress, singer and dancer (born 1923)

Adele Mara was an American actress, singer, and dancer, who appeared in films during the 1940s and 1950s and on television in the 1950s and 1960s.


Wally Hickel, American politician, Governor of Alaska and Secretary of the Interior (born 1919)

Walter Joseph Hickel was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994, as well as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1969 to 1970. He worked as a construction worker and eventually became a construction company operator during Alaska's territorial days. Following World War II, Hickel became heavily involved with real estate development, building residential subdivisions, shopping centers and hotels. Hickel entered politics in the 1950s during Alaska's battle for statehood and remained politically active for the rest of his life.


07/05/2009

David Mellor, English designer (born 1930)

David Rogerson Mellor was an English designer, manufacturer, craftsman and retailer.


Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1923)

Daniel Leonard Ozark was an American professional coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB).


07/05/2007

Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (born 1958)

Isabella Blow was an English magazine editor. She was mentor to Philip Treacy, and is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl, and fashion designer Alexander McQueen, beginning when she bought the entirety of his graduate show inspired by Jack the Ripper.


Diego Corrales, American boxer (born 1977)

Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super featherweight title from 1999 to 2000; the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super featherweight title in 2004; the WBO lightweight title from 2004 to 2006; and the World Boxing Council (WBC), and Ring magazine lightweight titles from 2005 to 2006.


Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (born 1926)

Octavian Paler was a Romanian writer, journalist, politician in Communist Romania, and civil society activist in post-1989 Romania.


Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (born 1935)

Yahweh ben Yahweh was an American religious leader and founder of the black separatist and black supremacist Nation of Yahweh, a new religious movement headquartered in Florida that, at its peak, had thousands of black American devotees. He preached that Jesus was black and that "white devils" temporarily rule over black people, and was seen as teaching hate. Yahweh was indicted on three counts of federal racketeering and extortion charges, of which he was found not guilty. However, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.


07/05/2006

Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (born 1943)

Richard George Carleton was a multiple Logie Award–winning Australian television journalist.


Joan C. Edwards, American singer and philanthropist (born 1918)

Joan Cavill Edwards was a New Orleans jazz singer and well-known West Virginia-based philanthropist.


07/05/2005

Tristan Egolf, American author and activist (born 1971)

Tristan Egolf was an American novelist, author, and political activist.


Peter Rodino, American captain and politician (born 1909)

Peter Wallace Rodino Jr. was an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1989. A liberal Democrat, he represented parts of Newark, New Jersey and surrounding Essex and Hudson. He was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey until passed by Chris Smith in 2021.


Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (born 1980)

Otilino George Tenorio Bastidas was an Ecuadorian professional footballer who played as a forward.


07/05/2004

Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (born 1956)

Waldemar Milewicz was a Polish journalist and war correspondent.


07/05/2001

Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (born 1912)

Jacques de Bourbon, Count of Busset was a French novelist, essayist and politician. He was elected to the Académie française on 4 June 1981. He was a senior member of the House of Bourbon-Busset.


07/05/2000

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (born 1909)

Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was an American actor, producer, and United States Navy officer. He was a leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, notably in adventure and swashbuckling roles like in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Gunga Din (1939), and The Corsican Brothers (1941). He was the son of Douglas Fairbanks and the stepson of Mary Pickford. Fairbanks, Jr. "picked up his father's swashbuckling style and later cut a dash in high society and royal circles." His first marriage was to actress Joan Crawford.


07/05/1998

Allan McLeod Cormack, South African-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)

Allan MacLeod Cormack was a South African and American physicist, academic, and Nobel Laureate. He was Professor of Physics at Tufts University and won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray computed tomography (CT), a significant and unusual achievement since Cormack did not hold a doctoral degree in any scientific field.


Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)

Edward Thomas Rabbitt was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night", "Drivin' My Life Away" and "Every Which Way but Loose". His duets "Both to Each Other " with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.


07/05/1995

Ray McKinley, American drummer, singer, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (born 1910)

Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader. He played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe. He also led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956.


07/05/1994

Clement Greenberg, American art critic (born 1909)

Clement Greenberg, occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formalist aesthetician. He is best remembered for his association with the art movement abstract expressionism and the painter Jackson Pollock.


07/05/1990

Sam Tambimuttu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (born 1932)

Samuel Pennington Thavarasa Tambimuttu was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.


07/05/1987

Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor (born 1930)

Colin George Edward Blakely was a Northern Irish stage and screen actor. He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Sidney Lumet's Equus (1977), and was nominated twice for a Best Actor in Television. He was also an Olivier Award nominee.


Paul Popham, American soldier and activist, co-founded Gay Men's Health Crisis (born 1941)

Paul Graham Popham was an American gay rights activist who was a founder of the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and served as its president from 1981 until 1985. He also helped found and was chairman of the AIDS Action Council, a lobbying organization in Washington, D.C. He was the basis for the character of Bruce Niles in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, which was one of the first plays to address the HIV/AIDS crisis.


07/05/1986

Haldun Taner, Turkish playwright and author (born 1915)

Haldun Taner was a well-known Turkish playwright and short story writer.


07/05/1978

Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (born 1915)

Mortimer Weisinger was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' Superman during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books. He also co-created such features as Aquaman, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, and the original Vigilante, served as story editor for the Adventures of Superman television series, and compiled the often-revised paperback 1001 Valuable Things You Can Get Free.


07/05/1976

Alison Uttley, English children's book writer (born 1884)

Alison Jane Uttley was an English writer of over 100 books. She is best known for a children's series about Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig. She is also remembered for a pioneering time slip novel for children, A Traveller in Time, about the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots.


07/05/1967

Margaret Larkin, American writer and poet (born 1899)

Margaret Larkin was an American writer, poet, singer-songwriter, researcher, journalist and union activist.


07/05/1958

Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (born 1880)

Mihkel Lüdig was an Estonian composer, organist and choir conductor. As a composer, he particularly worked on a cappella choral songs. Lüdig is considered one of the major organisers of large-scale musical events in 20th century Estonia. He was born in Vaskrääma, studied at both Moscow and St. Petersburg conservatories, and was a student of Nicolai Soloviev.


07/05/1951

Warner Baxter, American actor (born 1889)

Warner Leroy Baxter was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film In Old Arizona, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 2nd Academy Awards. He frequently played womanizing, charismatic Latin bandit types in Westerns, and played the Cisco Kid or a similar character throughout the 1930s, but had a range of other roles throughout his career.


07/05/1946

Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian journalist and politician (born 1864)

Olayinka Herbert Samuel Heelas Badmus Macaulay was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, surveyor, engineer, architect, journalist, and musician. Macaulay is considered by many as founder of Nigerian nationalism.


07/05/1943

Fethi Okyar, Turkish colonel and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1880)

Ali Fethi Okyar was a Turkish diplomat and politician, who also served as a military officer and diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire. He was also the second Prime Minister of Turkey (1924–1925) and the second Speaker of the Turkish Parliament after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.


07/05/1942

Felix Weingartner, Croatian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1863)

Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.


07/05/1941

James George Frazer, Scottish-English anthropologist and academic (born 1854)

Sir James George Frazer was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.


07/05/1940

George Lansbury, English journalist and politician (born 1859)

George Lansbury was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spent his political life campaigning against established authority and vested interests, his main causes being the promotion of social justice, women's rights, and world disarmament.


07/05/1938

Octavian Goga, Romanian politician, former Prime Minister (born 1881)

Octavian Goga was a Romanian far-right politician, poet, and writer who served as Prime Minister of Romania.


07/05/1937

Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and author (born 1886)

Captain Ernst August Lehmann was a German Zeppelin captain. He was one of the most famous and experienced figures in German airship travel. The Pittsburgh Press called Lehmann the best airship pilot in the world; although, he was criticized by Hugo Eckener for often making dangerous maneuvers that compromised the airships. He was a victim of the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.


07/05/1925

William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, English businessman and politician (born 1851)

William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools, he joined his father's wholesale grocery business in Bolton at the age of fifteen. Following an apprenticeship and a series of appointments in the family business, which he successfully expanded, he began manufacturing Sunlight Soap, building a substantial business empire with many well-known brands such as Lux and Lifebuoy. In 1886, together with his brother, James, he established Lever Brothers, which was one of the first companies to manufacture soap from vegetable oils, and which is now part of the British multinational Unilever. In politics, Lever briefly sat as a Liberal MP for Wirral and later, as Lord Leverhulme, in the House of Lords as a peer. He was an advocate for expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa and Asia, which supplied palm oil, a key ingredient in Lever's product line. His firm had become associated with activities in the Belgian Congo by 1911.


07/05/1924

Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (born 1897/1898)

Alluri Sitarama Raju was an Indian revolutionary who waged an armed rebellion against the British colonial rule in India. He engaged in guerilla campaigns against the British forces across the border regions of present-day Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, and led the Rampa rebellion in 1922. He was known by the title "Manyam Veerudu" to the local people.


07/05/1922

Max Wagenknecht, German pianist and composer (born 1857)

Max Otto Arnold Wagenknecht was a German composer of organ and piano music.


07/05/1919

Eva Schiroky, Czech anarchist and cook (born 1840)

Eva Schiroky, nicknamed Eva Chirowska, was a Czech anarchist and cook. She is best known for having been suspected of being a member of the Ortiz gang, an illegalist group named after her eldest son, Léon Ortiz.


07/05/1917

Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (born 1896)

Albert Ball, was a British fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories, and remained its fourth-highest scorer behind Edward Mannock, James McCudden and George McElroy.


07/05/1902

Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (born 1818)

Agostino Roscelli, also known as Augustine Roscelli, and Augustin Roscelli, was an Italian priest who inspired social change in Genoa, Italy for children and disadvantaged women. He was canonized a saint in the Catholic Church in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.


07/05/1896

H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (born 1861)

Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes, was an American con artist and serial killer active between 1891 and 1894. By the time of his execution in 1896, Holmes had engaged in a lengthy criminal career that included insurance fraud, forgery, swindling, three or four bigamous marriages, horse theft, and murder. Known as the Beast of Chicago, the Devil in the White City, or the Torture Doctor, his most notorious crimes took place in Chicago around the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.


07/05/1887

C. F. W. Walther, German-American religious leader and theologian (born 1811)

Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther was a German-American Lutheran minister. He was the first president of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) and one of its most influential theologians. He is commemorated by that church on its Calendar of Saints on May 7. He has been described as a man who gave up his homeland for the freedom to speak freely, to believe freely, and to live freely, by emigrating from Germany to the United States.


07/05/1876

William Buell Sprague, American clergyman, historian, and author (born 1795)

William Buell Sprague was an American Congregational and Presbyterian clergyman and compiler of Annals of the American Pulpit, a comprehensive biographical dictionary of the leading American Protestant Christian ministers who died before 1850.


07/05/1872

Alexander Loyd, American carpenter and politician, 4th Mayor of Chicago (born 1805)

Alexander Loyd served one term as mayor of Chicago, Illinois from 1840 until 1841 for the Democratic Party.


07/05/1868

Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1778)

Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, was a British statesman who became Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and played a prominent role in passing the Reform Act 1832 and Slavery Abolition Act 1833.


07/05/1840

Caspar David Friedrich, German painter and educator (born 1774)

Caspar David Friedrich was a German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti-classical work, conveys a subjective, emotional response to the natural world. Friedrich's paintings often set contemplative human figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. Art historian Christopher John Murray described their presence, in diminished perspective, amid expansive landscapes, as reducing the figures to a scale that directs "the viewer's gaze towards their metaphysical dimension".


07/05/1825

Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor (born 1750)

Antonio Salieri was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy.


07/05/1815

Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (born 1739)

Jabez Bowen Sr. was an American shipper, slave trader and politician. He was a militia colonel during the American Revolutionary War, and served as Deputy Governor of Rhode Island and chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.


07/05/1805

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1737)

William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Anglo-Irish Whig statesman who was the first home secretary in 1782 and then prime minister in 1782–83 during the final months of the American War of Independence. He succeeded in securing peace with America and this feat remains his most notable legacy.


07/05/1800

Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (born 1728)

Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of the Classical period.


07/05/1793

Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (born 1722)

Pietro Nardini was an Italian composer and violinist, a transitional musician who worked in both the Baroque and Classical era traditions.


07/05/1718

Mary of Modena (born 1658)

Mary of Modena was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James VII and II. A devout Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the younger brother and heir presumptive of Charles II. She was devoted to James and their children, two of whom survived to adulthood: the Jacobite claimant to the thrones, James Francis Edward Stuart, and Louisa Maria Stuart.


07/05/1685

Bajo Pivljanin (born 1630)

Bajo Pivljanin, born Dragojlo Nikolić, was a Serbian hajduk commander mostly active in the Ottoman territories of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia. Born in Piva, a Serbian Herzegovinian tribe, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire, he was an oxen trader who allegedly left his village after experiencing Ottoman injustice. Mentioned in 1654 as a brigand during the Venetian–Ottoman war, he entered the service of the Republic of Venice in 1656. The hajduks were used to protect Venetian Dalmatia. He remained a low-rank hajduk for the following decade, participating in some notable operations such as the raid on Trebinje. Between 1665 and 1668 he quickly rose through the ranks to the level of harambaša. After the war, which ended unfavourably for the Venetians, the hajduks were moved out of their haven in the Bay of Kotor under Ottoman pressure. Between 1671 and 1684 Pivljanin, along with other hajduks and their families, were refugees in Dalmatia. Upon renewed conflict, he was returned to the Bay of Kotor and placed in charge of defending the frontier; in 1685 he and his band fell in battle against the advancing Ottoman governor of Scutari. Regarded as one of the most distinguished hajduks of his time, he is praised in Serbian epic poetry.


07/05/1682

Feodor III of Russia (born 1661)

Feodor III or Fyodor III Alekseyevich was Tsar of all Russia from 1676 until his death in 1682. Despite poor health from childhood, he managed to pass reforms on improving meritocracy within the civil and military state administration as well as founding the Slavic Greek Latin Academy.


07/05/1667

Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (born 1616)

Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. Among the most famous composers of the era, he was influential in developing the musical form of the suite of dances in his keyboard works. His harpsichord pieces are highly idiomatic and programmatic.


07/05/1617

David Fabricius, German astronomer and theologian (born 1564)

David Fabricius was a Frisian pastor who made two major discoveries in the early days of telescopic astronomy, jointly with his eldest son, Johannes Fabricius (1587–1615).


07/05/1539

Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (born 1466)

Ottaviano Petrucci was an Italian printer. His Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, a collection of chansons printed in 1501, is commonly misidentified as the first book of sheet music printed from movable type. Actually, that distinction belongs to the Roman printer Ulrich Han's Missale Romanum of 1476. Nevertheless, Petrucci's later work was extraordinary for the complexity of his white mensural notation and the smallness of his font, and he did in fact print the first book of polyphony using movable type. He also published numerous works by the most highly regarded composers of the Renaissance, including Josquin des Prez and Antoine Brumel.


07/05/1523

Franz von Sickingen, German knight (born 1481)

Franz von Sickingen was a knight of the Holy Roman Empire who, with Ulrich von Hutten, led the so-called "Knights' War". He is posthumously known as the "Last Knight", an epithet shared with his contemporaries Chevalier de Bayard and Emperor Maximilian.


07/05/1494

Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (born 1471)

Eskender was Emperor of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Constantine II. The son of Emperor Baeda Maryam I by his wife Queen Romna, his early years would see the jostling for power between the nobility and the ecclesiastical elite.


07/05/1427

Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English priest (born 1352)

Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr was an English nobleman, the second son of Roger la Warr, 3rd Baron De La Warr and Elizabeth de Welle, daughter of Adam, 3rd Baron Welles.


07/05/1243

Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel

Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel was the last in the Aubigny male line to hold Arundel Castle.


07/05/1234

Otto I, Duke of Merania (born c. 1180)

Otto I, a member of the House of Andechs, was Duke of Merania from 1204 until his death. He was also Count of Burgundy from 1208 to 1231, by his marriage to Countess Beatrice II, and Margrave of Istria and Carniola from 1228 until his death.


07/05/1205

Ladislaus III of Hungary (born 1201)

Ladislaus III was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1204 and 1205. He was the only child of King Emeric. Ladislaus was crowned king upon the orders of his ill father, who wanted to secure his infant son's succession. The dying king made his brother, Andrew, regent for the period of Ladislaus's minority. However, Duke Andrew ignored the child's interests. As a result, Ladislaus's mother, Constance of Aragon, fled to Austria, taking Ladislaus with her. Ladislaus died unexpectedly in Vienna.


07/05/1202

Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey

Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, was an Anglo-Angevin nobleman, being an elder half-brother of the first Plantagenet English monarch King Henry II.


07/05/1166

William I of Sicily

William I, called the Bad or the Wicked, was the second king of Sicily, ruling from his father's death in 1154 to his own in 1166. He was the fourth son of Roger II and Elvira of Castile.


07/05/1092

Remigius de Fécamp, English monk and bishop

Remigius de Fécamp was an 11th-century religious leader. He was a Benedictine monk who was a supporter of William the Conqueror and was appointed Bishop of Dorchester and Bishop of Lincoln.


07/05/1014

Bagrat III, 1st King of Georgia (born 960)

Bagrat III, also known as Bagrat the Unifier, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the king (mepe) of the Kingdom of Abkhazia from 978 and king of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1008 until his death in 1014. Through dynastic inheritance, military conquest, and diplomatic efforts, he successfully united these realms, effectively founding the Kingdom of Georgia. Prior to his coronation as king, Bagrat III also ruled in the Saeristavo of Kartli as co-ruler with his father, Gurgen of Iberia, from 976 to 978.


07/05/0973

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 912)

Otto I, known as Otto the Great or Otto of Saxony, was East Frankish (German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim.


07/05/0833

Ibn Hisham, Egyptian Muslim historian

Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām ibn Ayyūb al-Ḥimyarī, known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt.


07/05/0721

John of Beverley, bishop of York

John of Beverley was an English bishop active in the kingdom of Northumbria. He was the bishop of Hexham and then the bishop of York, which was the most important religious designation in the area. He went on to found the town of Beverley by building the first structure there, a monastery. John was associated with miracles during and after his lifetime and was canonised a saint by the Catholic Church in 1037. As this is prior to the Great East–West Schism of 1054, he is also recognised as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church.


Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 7th May

Christian feast day: Agathius of Byzantium

Saint Acacius, also known as Agathius of Byzantium, Achatius, or Agathonas to Christian tradition, was a Cappadocian Greek centurion of the imperial army, martyred around 304. A church existed in Constantinople associated with Acacius and possibly named after him: the Church of St Acacius.


Christian feast day: Agostino Roscelli

Agostino Roscelli, also known as Augustine Roscelli, and Augustin Roscelli, was an Italian priest who inspired social change in Genoa, Italy for children and disadvantaged women. He was canonized a saint in the Catholic Church in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.


Christian feast day: Anthony of Kiev

Anthony of Kiev, also called Anthony of the Caves, was a monk and the founder of the monastic tradition in Kievan Rus'. Together with Theodosius of Kiev, he co-founded the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.


Christian feast day: Pope Benedict II

Pope Benedict II was the bishop of Rome from 26 June 684 to his death on 8 May 685. Pope Benedict II's feast day is 7 May.


Christian feast day: Flavia Domitilla

Flavia Domitilla was a Roman noblewoman of the 1st century AD. She was a granddaughter of Emperor Vespasian and a niece of Emperors Titus and Domitian. She married her second cousin, the consul Titus Flavius Clemens, a grand-nephew of Vespasian through his father Titus Flavius Sabinus.


Christian feast day: Gisela of Hungary

Gisela of Hungary was the first queen consort of Hungary by marriage to Stephen I of Hungary, and the sister of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. She has been beatified by the Catholic Church.


Christian feast day: Harriet Starr Cannon (Episcopal Church (USA))

Harriet Starr Cannon was a nun who founded the Sisterhood of St. Mary, one of the first orders of Augustinian nuns in the Anglican Communion and which remains dedicated to social service.


Christian feast day: John of Beverley

John of Beverley was an English bishop active in the kingdom of Northumbria. He was the bishop of Hexham and then the bishop of York, which was the most important religious designation in the area. He went on to found the town of Beverley by building the first structure there, a monastery. John was associated with miracles during and after his lifetime and was canonised a saint by the Catholic Church in 1037. As this is prior to the Great East–West Schism of 1054, he is also recognised as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church.


Christian feast day: Rose Venerini

Rose Venerini, also called Rosa Venerini, was an Italian Roman Catholic saint and virgin who founded the first public schools for girls and young women in Italy. According to the Vatican document published on the occasion of Venerini's canonization in 2006, "Wherever a new school sprang up, in a short time a moral improvement could be noted in the youth". Her confraternity of teachers, after her death, was raised to a religious congregation called the Religious Teachers Venerini, which worked with Italian immigrants in the U.S. and Switzerland established the first day care centers in the Northeastern U.S., and worked throughout the world. Her feast day is May 7.


Christian feast day: May 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

May 6 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 8


Defender of the Fatherland Day (Kazakhstan)

Defender of the Fatherland Day is a national holiday celebrated annually on May 7, commemorating the founding of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan. The event is marked by military parades, fireworks and ceremonies all around the country. The holiday is perceived in society as "a men’s day" and is considered to be the Kazakh analogue to the International Women’s Day.


Dien Bien Phu Victory Day (Vietnam)

Public holidays in Vietnam are days when workers get the day off work. Prior to 2007, Vietnamese workers observed 8 days of public holiday a year, among the lowest in the region. On 28 March 2007 the government added the traditional holiday commemorating the mythical Hùng kings to its list of public holidays, increasing the number of days to 10. From 2019, Vietnamese workers have 13 public holidays a year. As in most other nations, if a holiday falls during the weekend, it is observed on the following Monday.


Radio Day, commemorating the work of Alexander Popov (Russia, Bulgaria)

Radio Day, Communications Workers' Day or Radio and Television Day is a commemoration of the development of radio in Russia. It takes place on 7 May, the day in 1895 on which Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrated a radio based lightning detector.


What Happened on 7th May?

55 significant events took place on Sunday, 7th May — stretching from 351 to 2025. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

07/05/2025

The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conduct surgical strikes code-named Operation SINDOOR on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam Attack that killed 26 people.

The Indian Army (IA) is the land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS). The Indian Army was established on 1 April 1895 alongside the long established presidency armies of the East India Company, which too were absorbed into it in 1903. Some princely states maintained their own armies which formed the Imperial Service Troops which, along with the Indian Army formed the land component of the Armed Forces of the Crown of India, responsible for the defence of the Indian Empire. The Imperial Service Troops were merged into the Indian Army after independence. The units and regiments of the Indian Army have diverse histories and have participated in several battles and campaigns around the world, earning many battle and theatre honours before and after Independence.


07/05/2023

Tanur boat disaster: At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India.

On 7 May 2023, the recreational boat Atlantic capsized in Tanur Beach in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India. The incident, on a boat carrying 37 people, caused 22 deaths and 10 injuries, including 11 children.


07/05/2004

American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamist militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.

Nicholas Evan Berg was an American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq. He was abducted and beheaded according to a video released in May 2004 by Islamist militants in response to the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse involving the United States Army and Iraqi prisoners. The CIA claimed Berg was murdered by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The decapitation video was released on the internet, reportedly from London to a Malaysian-hosted homepage by the Islamist organization Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad.


07/05/2002

An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.

EgyptAir Flight 843 was a flight from Cairo International Airport to Tunis–Carthage International Airport. On 7 May 2002, the Boeing 737-566 on the route crashed into a hill near Tunis–Carthage International Airport. Of the 6 crew members and 56 passengers, 3 crew members and 11 passengers died, making a total of 14 fatalities.


A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.

China Northern Airlines Flight 6136 (CBF6136/CJ6136) was a Chinese domestic passenger flight from Beijing Capital International Airport to Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport. On 7 May 2002, the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 operating the flight crashed into the bay near Dalian shortly after the pilot reported fire on board, killing all 103 passengers and 9 crew members. The cause of the fire was later determined to be arson.


07/05/2000

Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. He has been described as the de facto leader of Russia since 1999.


07/05/1999

Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX.


Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian separatist militia known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The conflict ended when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened by beginning air strikes in March 1999 which resulted in Yugoslav forces withdrawing from Kosovo.


In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.

Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers 36,125 square kilometres (13,948 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,080,000. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.


07/05/1998

Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.

Mercedes-Benz, commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG is based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Mercedes-Benz AG manufactures luxury vehicles and light commercial vehicles, all branded under the Mercedes-Benz name. From November 2019 onwards, the production of Mercedes-Benz-branded heavy commercial vehicles has been managed by Daimler Truck, which separated from the Mercedes-Benz Group to form an independent entity at the end of 2021.


07/05/1994

Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work The Scream has become one of the most iconic and acclaimed images in all of Western art.


07/05/1992

Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.

Michigan is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio to the southeast, and the Canadian province of Ontario to the east, northeast and north. With a population of 10.14 million and an area of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km2), Michigan is the tenth-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by total area east of the Mississippi River. The state capital is Lansing, while its most populous city is Detroit. The Metro Detroit region in Southeast Michigan is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. Other important metropolitan areas include Grand Rapids, Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, the Tri-Cities, and Muskegon.


Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was canceled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.


Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first "fast-food murder" in Canada.

McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food restaurant chain. As of 2024, it is the second-largest by number of locations in the world, behind the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.


07/05/1991

A fire and explosion occurs at a fireworks factory at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, killing 26.

On 7 May 1991 at 3:45 pm MST in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia, a massive explosion at the Bright Sparklers fireworks factory caused 26 deaths, 103 injuries, and the destruction of 46 homes, damaging 149 others. The blast, audible 7–8 km away, was nicknamed the "Hiroshima of Sungai Buloh" by local media due to its devastating impact. The disaster led to significant regulatory changes, including the temporary closure of fireworks factories and the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.


07/05/1986

Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.

Patrick Allan Morrow, is a Canadian photographer and mountain climber. In 1986 he was the first person to climb the Seven Summits in the Carstensz-Version.


07/05/1964

Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44.

Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 was a Fairchild F27A Friendship airliner that crashed on May 7, 1964, near San Ramon, California, a suburb in the East Bay, east of Oakland. The crash was most likely the first instance in the United States of an airliner's pilots being shot by a passenger as part of a murder–suicide. Francisco Paula Gonzales, 27, shot both pilots before turning the gun on himself, causing the plane to crash, killing all 44 aboard.


07/05/1960

Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.


07/05/1954

Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).

The First Indochina War, known alternatively internationally as the French Indochina War, was fought in French Indochina between France and the Viet Minh and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 11 August 1954. Most of the engagements of this conflict occurred in Vietnam.


07/05/1952

The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.

An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a compact assembly of electronic circuits formed from various electronic components, such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors, and their interconnections. These components are fabricated onto a thin, flat piece ("chip") of semiconductor material, most commonly silicon. Integrated circuits are integral to a wide variety of electronic devices performing functions such as data processing, control, and storage. They have transformed the field of electronics by enabling device miniaturization, improving performance, and reducing cost.


07/05/1948

The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.

The Council of Europe is an international organisation which aims to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, representing 46 European member states. The council is an official United Nations observer. It operates with an annual ordinary budget of 656 million euros.


07/05/1946

Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded.

Sony Group Corporation, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including electronics, imaging and sensing, film and television, music, video games, and others.


07/05/1945

World War II: Last German U-boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.

U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, especially during World War I and World War II. The term is an anglicized form of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot. Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also known as U-boats.


07/05/1942

World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle was the first naval action in which the opposing fleets neither sighted nor fired upon one another, attacking over the horizon from aircraft carriers instead. It was also the first military battle between aircraft carriers.


07/05/1940

World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.


07/05/1937

Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 of what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or between fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.


07/05/1931

The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.

Francis Crowley was an American murderer. His crime spree lasted nearly three months, ending in a two-hour shootout with the New York City Police Department on May 7, 1931, that was witnessed by 15,000 bystanders and received national attention. In 1932 he was executed in New York's electric chair.


07/05/1930

The 7.1 Mw  Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Up to three-thousand people were killed.

The 1930 Salmas earthquake occurred on 7 May at 01:34:26 IRST in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. The earthquake, which was among Iran's largest, measured 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Prior to the earthquake a strong foreshock was felt fifteen hours earlier. Reports from seismologists and seismological organizations indicate that up to 3,000 fatalities may have occurred in northwest Iran and southeast Turkey.


07/05/1920

Polish–Soviet War: Kyiv offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kyiv only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.

The Polish–Soviet War was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution.


Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.

The Treaty of Moscow, signed between Soviet Russia (RSFSR) and the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) in Moscow on 7 May 1920, granted de jure recognition of Georgian independence in exchange for promising not to grant asylum on Georgian soil to troops of powers hostile to Bolshevik Russia.


07/05/1915

World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.


The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan's control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.

The Beiyang government was the internationally recognized government of the Republic of China between 1912 and 1928, based in Beijing. It was dominated by Yuan Shikai and the other generals of his Beiyang Army, hence the name.


07/05/1895

In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.

Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (Петроград) and later Leningrad (Ленинград), is the second-largest city in Russia, after Moscow, the nation's capital. Situated on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, its area of 1,439 square kilometers (556 sq mi) renders it the smallest administrative division of Russia by area. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As the former capital of the Russian Empire, and a historically strategic Baltic port, it is governed as a federal city.


07/05/1864

American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.


The world's oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.

A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century.


07/05/1840

The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.

The Great Natchez Tornado was a deadly tornado that hit Natchez, Mississippi, on Thursday, May 7, 1840. The tornado, while officially unrated, was the second-deadliest tornado in United States history; at least 317 people were killed and at least 109 were injured. Its 35-mile-long (56 km), 1,000-yard-wide path was marked by severe damage and uncertain estimates of casualties, though many enslaved Africans—possibly numbering in the hundreds—reportedly died on plantations in Louisiana. Tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis retroactively rated the tornado F4 on the Fujita scale, while another report ranked it F5.


07/05/1832

Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.

The London Conference of 1832 was an international conference convened to establish a stable government in Greece. Negotiations among the three Great Powers resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece under a Bavarian prince. The decisions were ratified in the Treaty of Constantinople later that year. The treaty followed the Akkerman Convention which had previously recognized another territorial change in the Balkans, the suzerainty of the Principality of Serbia.


07/05/1824

World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Mentored during the Classical period, Beethoven's musical style was a key driver of the transition to Romantic music, and the expansion of popular forms such as the symphony and string quartet. His compositions have attracted casual and scholarly interest, and remain among the most performed in the world.


07/05/1798

French Revolutionary Wars: A French force attempting to dislodge a small British garrison on the Îles Saint-Marcouf is repulsed with heavy losses.

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries. The wars are divided into two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered territories in the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries, and the Rhineland with its very large and powerful military which had been totally mobilized for war against most of Europe with mass conscription of the vast French population. French success in these conflicts ensured military occupation and the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe.


07/05/1794

French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.

The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799. Many of the revolution's ideas are considered fundamental principles of liberal democracy, and its values remain central to modern French political discourse. It was caused by a combination of social, political, and economic factors which the existing regime proved unable to manage.


07/05/1765

HMS Victory is launched at Chatham Dockyard, Kent. She is not commissioned until 1778.

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line. With 248 years of service as of 2026, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission. She was ordered for the Royal Navy in 1758, during the Seven Years' War, and laid down in 1759. That year saw British victories at Quebec, Minden, Lagos and Quiberon Bay and these may have influenced the choice of name when it was selected in October the following year. In particular, the action in Quiberon Bay had a profound effect on the course of the war; severely weakening the French Navy and shifting its focus away from the sea. There was therefore no urgency to complete the ship and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763 meant that when Victory was finally floated out in 1765, she was placed in ordinary. Her construction had taken 6,000 trees, 90% of them oak.


07/05/1763

Pontiac's War begins with Pontiac's attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.

Pontiac's War was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–1763). Warriors from numerous nations joined in an effort to drive British soldiers and settlers out of the region. The war is named after Odawa leader Pontiac, the most prominent of many Indigenous leaders in the conflict.


07/05/1718

The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.

New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 census, New Orleans is the most populous city in Louisiana, the second-most populous in the Deep South, and the twelfth-most populous in the Southeastern United States; the New Orleans metropolitan area, with about 1 million residents, is the 59th-most populous metropolitan area in the United States. New Orleans serves as a major port and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region. The city is coextensive with Orleans Parish.


07/05/1697

Stockholm's medieval castle Tre Kronor is destroyed by fire. It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.

Stockholm is the capital and most populous city of Sweden, as well as the largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately 1 million people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. The city serves as the county seat of Stockholm County.


07/05/1685

Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.

The Battle on Vrtijeljka was fought on the hill of Vrtijeljka near Cetinje between a Venetian irregular force and an advancing Ottoman force on 7 May 1685 at the start of the Morean War. The Venetian force was made up of fighters from the neighbouring areas, including the band of acclaimed hajduk Bajo Pivljanin, and several Christian tribes. The large Ottoman force was led by sanjak-bey Süleyman of Scutari.


07/05/1664

Inaugural celebrations begin at Louis XIV's new Palace of Versailles.

Louis XIV was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. He is a symbol of the Age of Absolutism in Europe for styling himself as "The Sun King", which portrayed him as supreme leader. He presided over a great expansion of the French colonial empire and a patronage of arts in his court at the Palace of Versailles that defined the Baroque style of French architecture. His reign of 72 years and 110 days remains the longest of any sovereign monarch in history.


07/05/1625

State funeral of James VI and I (1566–1625) is held at Westminster Abbey.

James VI and I (1566–1625), King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, died on 27 March 1625 at Theobalds, and was buried at Westminster Abbey on 7 May 1625.


07/05/1544

The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.

The Burning of Edinburgh in 1544 by an English army was the first major action of the war of the Rough Wooing. The Provost of Edinburgh was compelled to allow the English to sack Leith and Edinburgh, and the city was burnt on 7 May. However, the Scottish artillery within Edinburgh Castle harassed the English forces, who had neither the time nor the resources to besiege the Castle. The English fleet sailed away loaded with captured goods, and with two ships that had belonged to James V of Scotland.


07/05/1487

The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.

The 1487 siege of Málaga was an action during the Reconquest of Spain in which the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Mālaqa from the Emirate of Granada. The siege lasted about four months. It was the first conflict in which ambulances, or dedicated vehicles for the purpose of carrying injured persons, were used. Geopolitically, the loss of the emirate's second largest city—after Granada itself—and its most important port was a major loss for Granada. Most of the surviving population of the city were enslaved or put to death by the conquerors.


07/05/1342

In Avignon, France, Cardinal Pierre Roger is elected Pope and takes the name Clement VI.

Avignon is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune has a population of 92,188 (2023), with about 16,000 living in the ancient town centre enclosed by its medieval walls. The Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Avignon, a cooperation structure of 16 communes, had 197,102 inhabitants in 2022.


07/05/1274

In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens; it ratified a decree to regulate the election of the Pope.

The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arles, in 1274. Pope Gregory X presided over the council, called to act on a pledge by Byzantine emperor Michael VIII to reunite the Eastern church with the West. The council was attended by about 300 bishops, 60 abbots and more than a thousand prelates or their procurators among whom were the representatives of the universities. Due to the great number of attendees, those who had come to Lyon without being specifically summoned were given "leave to depart with the blessing of God" and of the Pope. Among others who attended the council were James I of Aragon, the ambassador of the Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos with members of the Greek clergy and the ambassadors of Abaqa Khan of the Ilkhanate. Thomas Aquinas had been summoned to the council, but died en route at Fossanova Abbey. Bonaventure was present at the first four sessions but died at Lyon on 15 July 1274. As at the First Council of Lyon, Thomas Cantilupe was an English attendee and a papal chaplain.


07/05/1190

The Crusader army of emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeats an army of the Rum Seljuks in the battle of Philomelion.

Frederick Barbarossa, also known as Frederick I, was the Holy Roman emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome. Two years later, the term sacrum ("holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his empire. He was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. His nickname of Barbarossa "was first used by the Florentines only in 1298 to differentiate the emperor from his grandson, Frederick II ... and was never employed in medieval Germany". In German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which in English means "Emperor Redbeard". The prevalence of the Italian nickname, even in later German usage, reflects the centrality of the Italian campaigns under his reign, and "remains to this day one of the [most] powerful historical monikers."


07/05/1104

The Seljuk emirs of Mosul and Mardin defeat the Crusader States of Antioch and Edessa.

The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, Turko-Persian empire established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. The empire spanned a total area of 3.9 million square kilometres from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and it spanned the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194.


07/05/0558

In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.

Constantinople was the historical name for the city of Istanbul up until 1930, located on a peninsula at the southeastern tip of Thrace in Europe; with the Bosporus strait and the ancient cities of Chalcedon and Chrysopolis in Bithynia, Anatolia to the east; the Golden Horn and the citadel of Galata (Pera) to the north; the Sea of Marmara to the south; and the Princes' Islands to the southeast. Constantinople served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires between its consecration in 330 and the formal abolition of the Ottoman sultanate in 1922.


07/05/0351

The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.

In 351–352, the Jews of the Roman province of Syria Palaestina revolted against the rule of Constantius Gallus, brother-in-law of Emperor Constantius II and caesar of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The revolt, which occurred during the Roman civil war of 350–353, was crushed by Gallus' general Ursicinus.