Historical EventsToday: 07 October

Events

• 3761 BC - The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).


• 336 - Pope Mark dies, leaving the papacy vacant.


• 1513 - Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.


• 1542 - Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off California coast.


• 1571 - The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.


• 1763 - George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.


• 1776 - Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.


• 1777 - American Revolutionary War: Americans beat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.


• 1780 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.


• 1825 - Miramichi Fire, disaster in New Brunswick


• 1826 - Granite Railway (first chartered railway in the U.S.) begins operations.


• 1828 - The city of Patras, Greece is liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.


• 1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.


• 1864 - Battle of Darbytown Road (American Civil War): the Confederate forces' attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.


• 1864 - American Civil War: U.S.S. "Wachusett" captures the C.S.S. "Florida" Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.


• 1868 - Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the most at any American university to that date.


• 1870 - Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a balloon.


• 1879 - Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.


• 1912 - The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.


• 1919 - KLM of the Netherlands was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.


• 1940 - World War II: the McCollum memo proposes bringing the U.S. into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.


• 1942 - World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.


• 1944 - World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burn down crematoria.


• 1949 - German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.


• 1952 - "American Bandstand" debuts on a local Philadelphia station.


• 1955 - Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.


• 1958 - President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspends the 1956 constitution, imposes martial law, and cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959.


• 1958 - U.S. manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury.


• 1959 - U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the Far side of the Moon.


• 1962 - U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.


• 1963 - John F. Kennedy signs ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.


• 1977 - The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.


• 1982 - Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.


• 1985 - The "Achille Lauro" is hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.


• 1993 - The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.


• 1998 - Gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming.


• 2000 - The last ever competitive match at Wembley Stadium is a 1-0 defeat of England to Germany and the last goal was scored by Liverpool's Dietmar Hammann. The match was Tony Adams' 60th at Wembley setting the record for most appearances at the stadium.


• 2001 - The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.


• 2003 - Gray Davis is recalled as Governor of California, three years before the official end of his office term. Film star Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor.


• 2004 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates.