Historical Events on August 7
- 322 B.C.: The Battle of Crannon begins between Athens and Macedonia.
- 461 A.D.: Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded.
- 936: King Otto I of Germany is coronated.
- 1782:S President George Washington creates the Badge of Military Merit. It would later be renamed the Purple Heart.
- 1789: The U.S Department of War is created.
- 1791: During the Northwest Indian War, American troops destroy the town of Kenapacomaqua in Indiana.
- 1794: United States President George Washington invokes the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania.
- 1938: Construction on the Mauthausen concentration camp began in Austria.
- 1940: Nazi Germany annexes Alsace-Lorraine.
- 1942: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins.
- 1964: The United States Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers to engage in warfare against the North Vietnamese.
- 1974: Philippe Petit walks on a high wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center at a height of over 1300 feet in the air.
- 1976: Viking 2 enters its orbit around the planet Mars.
- 1978: United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal because of all of the toxic waste that was disposed of in the area.
- 1979: Woodstock, Canada is struck by several tornadoes.
- 1985: Three people are chosen for Japan’s space program: Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are Japan’s first astronauts.
Famous Birthdays on August 7
- Cuban librarian Blas Giraldo Reyes RodrÃguez is born in 1955.
- Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin is born in 1955.
- American guitarist Sharon Isbin is born in 1956.
- American actor, director, writer and producer David Duchovny is born in 1960.
- English actor and singer Brian Conley is born in 1961.
- American Actor Chico Benymon is born in 1974.
- American actor Michael Shannon is born in 1974.
- American actor, screenwriter and director Eric Johnson is born in 1979.