April 7 Events

529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.
1348 - Charles University is founded in Prague.
1521 - Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
1541 - Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
1655 - Fabio Chigi becomes Pope Alexander VII.
1795 - France adopts the metre as the basic measure of length.
1798 - The Mississippi Territory is organized from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina and is later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain.
1805 - Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.
1805 - First public performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony (Eroica).
1827 - John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match. He had invented it in the previous year.
1829 - Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commences translation of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe.
1856 - Foundation of Nelson College, Nelson, New Zealand.
1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends - Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeat the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
1906 - Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
1906 - The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
1908 - Herbert Henry Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
1922 - Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior leases Teapot Dome petroleum reserves in Wyoming.
1927 - First long distance public television broadcast (Washington, DC to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
1933 - The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, the first law meant to discriminate specifically against Jews is passed by the National Socialist regime in Germany.
1933 - Prohibition was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight (or 4% by volume), eight months before the ratification of XXI amendment.
1934 - The U.S. Congress passes the Jones-Connally Farm-Relief Act.
1939 - World War II: Italy invades Albania.
1940 - Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
1943 - First synthesis of LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, by Albert Hoffman.
1945 - World War II: The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles north of Okinawa while in-route to a suicide mission.
1945 - Kantaro Suzuki becomes the 42nd Prime Minister of Japan.
1946 - Syria's independence from France is officially recognised.
1948 - The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
1953 - Dag Hammarskjöld is elected United Nations Secretary General.
1954 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
1955 - Anthony Eden, Conservative Party, becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1956 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
1963 - Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a Socialist republic and Josip Broz Tito is named President for life.
1964 - IBM announces the System/360.
1967 - Six-Day War: Israeli fighters shoot down seven Syrian MIG-21s.
1968 - Formula One racer Jim Clark is killed in an accident during a Formula 2 race in Hockenheim, Germany.
1969 - The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1.
1977 - German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light.
1977 - Toronto Blue Jays play their first-ever game of baseball against the Chicago White Sox.
1980 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
1983 - During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk (duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes).
1989 - Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway after a fire. 42 sailors die.
1990 - Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal (the conviction was reversed on appeal).
1992 - Republika Srpska announces its independence.
1994 - Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda.
2001 - Mars Odyssey is launched.
2003 - US troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later.

April 7 Births

1506 - Saint Francis Xavier, Spanish founder of the Society of Jesus (d. 1552)
1613 - Gerhard Douw, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
1644 - François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier (d. 1730)
1648 - John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (d. 1721)
1652 - Pope Clement XII (d. 1740)
1718 - Hugh Blair, Scottish preacher and man of letters (d. 1800)
1727 - Michel Adanson, French botanist (d. 1806)
1763 - Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer
1770 - William Wordsworth, English poet (d. 1850)
1772 - Charles Fourier, French philosopher (d. 1837)
1803 - Flora Tristan, French feminist and socialist philosopher (d. 1844)
1803 - James Curtiss, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1859)
1848 - Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1930)
1860 - Will Keith Kellogg, American cereal manufacturer (d. 1951)
1867 - Holger Pedersen, Danish linguist (d. 1953)
1870 - Gustav Landauer, German anarchist and revolutionary (d. 1919)
1873 - John McGraw, baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
1883 - Gino Severini, Italian painter (d. 1966)
1886 - Ed Lafitte, Baseball player (d. 1971)
1889 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1890 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist and writer (d. 1998)
1891 - Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish inventor (d. 1958)
1893 - Allen Dulles, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d. 1969)
1897 - Walter Winchell, American broadcaster and journalist (d. 1972)
1899 - Robert Casadesus, French pianist (d. 1972)
1908 - Percy Faith, Canadian composer and musician (d. 1976)
1915 - Billie Holiday, American singer (d. 1959)
1915 - Henry Kuttner, American writer (d. 1958)
1917 - R.G. Armstrong, American actor
1918 - Bobby Doerr, baseball player
1919 - Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer
1920 - Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player
1922 - Mongo Santamaria, Cuban musician (d. 2003)
1924 - Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer
1927 - Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian drummer (d. 2003)
1928 - James Garner, American actor
1928 - Alan J. Pakula, American producer and director (d. 1998)
1928 - James White, Northern Irish science fiction writer (d. 1999)
1929 - Bob Denard, French soldier
1930 - Andrew Sachs, British actor
1931 - Donald Barthelme, American author
1933 - Wayne Rogers, American actor
1934 - Ian Richardson, British actor
1935 - Bobby Bare, American musician
1936 - Jean-Pierre Changeux, French neuroscientist
1938 - Jerry Brown, American politician
1938 - Freddie Hubbard, American jazz trumpeter
1939 - Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
1939 - Sir David Frost, English broadcaster and television host
1944 - Julia Phillips, American film producer and writer (d. 2002)
1944 - Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
1945 - Joël Robuchon, French chef
1945 - Magnús <THORN>ór Jónsson (Megas), Icelandic vocalist, songwriter and writer
1946 - Colette Besson, French runner
1949 - John Oates, American musician (Hall and Oates)
1951 - Janis Ian, American singer and songwriter
1954 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong actor
1954 - Tony Dorsett, American football player
1955 - Werner Stocker, German actor (d. 1993)
1956 - Charles Carreon, American lawyer and author
1956 - Christopher Darden, American O.J. Simpson prosecuter
1961 - Pascal Olmeta, French footballer
1962 - Hugh O'Connor, American actor (d. 1995)
1962 - Alain Robert, French rock and urban climber
1964 - Russell Crowe, New Zealand actor
1965 - Bill Bellamy, American actor and comedian
1965 - Alison Lapper, British artist
1966 - Gary Wilkinson, English snooker player
1969 - Ricky Watters, American Football running back
1970 - Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist
1971 - Guillaume Depardieu, French actor, son of Gérard Depardieu
1973 - Carole Montillet, French skier
1975 - Tiki Barber, New York Giants Running Back (American Football)
1975 - Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cornerback (American Football)
1979 - Tony Malone, British designer and activist
1982 - Sonjay Dutt, Indian proffesional wrestler

April 7 Deaths

858 - Pope Benedict III
1307 - Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I of England (b. 1271)
1498 - King Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)
1614 - El Greco, Greek-born artist (b. 1541)
1638 - Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese ruler of Satsuma (b. 1576)
1651 - Lennart Torstenson, Swedish soldier and engineer (b. 1603)
1658 - Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Spanish mystic (b. 1595)
1661 - Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet, English soldier and politician (b. 1604)
1663 - Francis Cooke, Mayflower pilgrim (b. c. 1583)
1668 - William Davenant, English poet (b. 1606)
1719 - Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French saint (b. 1651)
1739 - Dick Turpin, English highwayman (hanged) (b. 1706)
1747 - Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshall (b. 1676)
1761 - Thomas Bayes, English mathematician (b. 1702)
1766 - Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (b. 1685)
1767 - Franz Sparry, composer (b. 1715)
1782 - Taksin, King of Thailand (b. 1734)
1789 - Abd-ul-Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1725)
1789 - Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (b. 1722)
1801 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (b. 1724)
1823 - Jacques Charles, French chemist (b. 1746)
1833 - Antoni Radziwi??, Polish politician (b. 1775)
1836 - William Godwin, English political writer (b. 1756)
1850 - William Lisle Bowles, English poet and critic (b. 1762)
1858 - Anton Diabelli, Austrian music publisher, editor, and composer (b. 1781)
1871 - Alexander Lloyd, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
1885 - Carl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (b. 1804)
1891 - P. T. Barnum, American circus impresario (b. 1810)
1928 - Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician and philosopher (b. 1873)
1939 - Joseph Lyons, tenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1879)
1943 - Jovan Ducic, Serbian poet
1943 - Alexandre Millerand, President of France (b. 1859)
1947 - Henry Ford, American automobile manufacturer and industrialist (b. 1863)
1950 - Walter Huston, Canadian-born actor (b. 1884)
1955 - Theda Bara, American film actress (b. 1885)
1968 - Jimmy Clark, Scottish race car driver (b. 1936)
1981 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
1984 - Frank Church, U.S. Senator from Idaho (b. 1924)
1986 - Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1912)
1990 - Ronald Evans, astronaut (b. 1933)
1994 - Albert Gu<eth>mundsson, Icelandic professional football player and politician (b. 1923)
1994 - Golo Mann, German historian (b. 1909)
1994 - Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Prime Minister of Rwanda (b. 1953)
1997 - Witto Aloma, baseball player (b. 1923)
1997 - Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut (b. 1935)
1997 - Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese movie producer (Godzilla) (b. 1910)
1998 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist and environmentalist (b. 1890)
2001 - David Graf, American actor (b. 1950)
2001 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (b. 1914)
2002 - John Agar, American actor (b. 1921)
2003 - Cecile de Brunhoff, French storyteller (b. 1903)
2005 - Bob Kennedy, baseball player and manager (b. 1920)

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