October 7th in History

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

1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

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.

1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.

1929 - Photios II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

1944 - World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down the crematoria.


1960 - Nigeria joins the United Nations.

1971 - Oman joins the United Nations.

1976 - Hua Guofeng becomes Mao Zedong's successor as chairman of Communist Party of China.

2001 - The US invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

2004 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates, replaced by his son Norodom Sihamoni a week later.

Famous Birthdays:

1471 - King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway

1589 - Maria Magdalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

1748 - King Charles XIII of Sweden

1841 - King Nicholas I of Montenegro 

1870 - Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine

1885 - Niels Bohr, physicist - foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize

1931 - Desmond Tutu,  Anglican Archbishop and Nobel Laureate

1952 - Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

1959 - Simon Cowell, recording executive

1978 - Alesha Dixon, pop singer and TV talent show judge

1987 - Sam Querrey, tennis player

2001 - HRH Princess Senate Seeiso, eldest daughter of His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho, 2nd in line to the throne of Lesotho