What Happened on December 7th in History
30 historical events on this date
Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton becomes the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game that is played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a 22-yard pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced...
World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (For Japan's near-simultaneous attacks on Eastern Hemisphere targets, see December 8.)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: British commandos conduct Operation Frankton, a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
Operation Frankton was a commando raid on ships in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during World War II. The raid was carried out by a small unit of Royal Marines...
An earthquake along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture in Japan causes a tsunami which kills 1,223 people.
The 1944 Tōnankai earthquake occurred at 13:35 local time on 7 December. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.1 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum felt intensity of greater than 5 Shindo. It...
A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people, the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history.
The Winecoff Hotel fire, of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in...
Chinese Civil War: The Government of the Republic of China moves from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermittently from 1...
Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.
Rainier III was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years.
Instant replay makes its debut during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred, both shot and broadcast live.
Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
Pope Paul VI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which...
The Battle of Sylhet is fought between the Pakistani military and the Indian Army.
The Battle of Sylhet was a major battle fought between the advancing Indian Army, Bangladesh Forces and the defending Pakistan Army at Sylhet during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The battle took...
Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a coalition government with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Deputy Prime Minister.
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim...
Apollo 17, the last Apollo Moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison...
In Texas, Charles Brooks Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.
Texas is the most populous state in the Southern United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and an international...
The Senior Road Tower collapses in less than 17 seconds. Five workers on the tower are killed and three workers on a building nearby are injured.
The Senior Road Tower is a guyed mast for FM and TV broadcasting, measuring 1,971 feet (601 m) tall, located in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County near Missouri City, Texas, United States.
An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxiing down the runway at Madrid–Barajas Airport, killing 93 people.
Iberia, legally incorporated as Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal, is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international...
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, a British Aerospace 146-200A, crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and steers the plane into the ground.
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. On December 7, 1987, the British Aerospace 146-200A, registration N350PS, was...
The 6.8 Ms Armenian earthquake shakes the northern part of the country with a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating), killing 25,000–50,000 and injuring 31,000–130,000.
The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake, occurred on 7 December at 11:41 local time with a surface-wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating). The...
Long Island Rail Road shooting: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.
On December 7, 1993, a mass shooting occurred aboard a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train in Garden City Park, New York, United States. As the train arrived at the Merillon Avenue station, passenger...
The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
Galileo was an American robotic space probe that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as the asteroids Gaspra and Ida. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, it consisted...
Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 crashes into the Bo-Dzhausa Mountain, killing 98.
Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 was a Russian domestic passenger flight from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Khabarovsk, that crashed on 7 December 1995 local time, killing all ninety-eight people...
An Air Saint Martin (now Air Caraïbes) Beechcraft 1900 crashes near the Haitian commune of Belle Anse, killing 20.
Air Caraïbes is a French West Indian airline, with its headquarters in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe. The airline's main base of operations is at Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in Guadeloupe, with a...
The Conservative Party of Canada is officially registered, following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
The Conservative Party of Canada, sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. The party sits at the centre-right to right of the Canadian political spectrum, with...
Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of U.S. federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.
Rigoberto Alpizar was a Costa Rican-born United States citizen who was fatally shot at Miami International Airport by two United States Federal Air Marshals.
The annual furry convention Midwest FurFest is targeted in an unsolved chlorine gas attack.
A furry convention is a formal gathering of members of the furry fandom – people who are interested in the concept of fictional non-human animal characters with human characteristics. These...
The JAXA probe Akatsuki successfully enters orbit around Venus five years after the first attempt.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the operator of the Japanese space program and Japan's national aeronautics research agency. It was formed in 2003 through the merger of the...
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661, a domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, operated by an ATR-42-500 crashes near Havelian, killing all 47 on board.
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661 was a Pakistani domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, operated by Pakistan's flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines. On 7 December...
Aztec High School shooting: William Atchison kills two students at his former high school.
On December 7, 2017, a school shooting occurred at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico, United States. The perpetrator, William Atchison, a 21-year-old former student of Aztec High, entered the...
Battle of Damascus (2024): Syrian opposition forces enter the Rif Dimashq Governorate, reaching within 20 km of the capital Damascus.
On 7 December 2024, the Syrian opposition group known as the Southern Operations Room, in co-ordination with the Military Operations Command, led forces that entered the Rif Dimashq region of Syria...
British racing driver Lando Norris wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2025 with McLaren.
Lando Norris is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for McLaren. Norris won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2025 with McLaren, and has won 11 Grands Prix across eight...
An attempted coup takes place in Benin, but is thwarted, and order restored.
On 7 December 2025, several soldiers of the Benin Armed Forces (FAB) led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri announced on national television the overthrow of Patrice Talon, the president of Benin,...