Historical Events on October 7

  • 1582: Due to the Gregorian Calendar being recently implemented, this day in 1582 is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
  • 1691: The Province of Massachusetts Bay is established thanks to an English Royal Charter.
  • 1763: Aboriginal lands in North America – north and west of the Alleghenies – are closed to white settlements thanks to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 issued by King George III of the U.K.
  • 1777: British forces are defeated at the Second Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War by American forces. This battle is also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.
  • 1780: Loyalist irregulars led by British Major Patrick Ferguson are defeated by American Patriot milita at the Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1826: The first charted railway in the United States – the Granite Railway – starts operations on this day.
  • 1864: The CSS Florida – a cruiser of the Confederate Navy – was illegally captured by Union vessel the USS Wachusett in what has become known as the Bahia Incident during the American Civil War.
  • 1868: Opening day ceremonies are held by Cornell University.
  • 1940: The McCollum Memo is issued on this day. Also known as the Eight Action Memo, this memor outlined ways the U.S could provoke a Japanese attack so the United States could be brought into the war in Europe.
  • 1944: Jewish prisoners burn down Crematorium IV at the Birkenau Concentration Camp during World War II.

Famous Birthdays on October 7

  • Danish physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Niels Bohr is born in 1885.
  • American admiral and Medal of Honor recipient, Claud Ashton Jones in born in 1885.
  • American actor, director and screenwriter, Robert Z. Leonard is born in 1889.
  • South African archbishop, activist and Nobel Prize laureate, Desmond Tutu is born in 1931.
  • American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp is born in 1951.
  • 4th President of Russia, Vladimir Putin is born in 1952.
  • American drummer Tico Torres is born in 1953.