January 7
January 7 is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 358 days remaining (359 in leap years).
Events:
- 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal
- 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England
- 1566 - Pius V becomes Pope
- 1598 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia
- 1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
- 1782 - The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America).
- 1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English Channel by air
- 1789 - First nationwide United States election
- 1894 - W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.
- 1901 - Alferd Packer is released from prison after serving 18 years for cannibalism
- 1904 - The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS."
- 1927 - First international telephone call - New York City to London
- 1927 - The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game
- 1935 - World War II: Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Italo-French agreements.
- 1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins
- 1945 - British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge
- 1953 - President Harry Truman announces development of the hydrogen bomb
- 1959 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
- 1975 - OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%.
- 1979 - Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge are overthrown by Vietnamese troops
- 1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corp.
- 1989 - Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan
- 1990 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- 1996 - One of the worst blizzards in American. history hits eastern states killing more than 100.
- 1999 - The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton begins.
Births:
- 1768 - Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (+ 1844)
- 1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States 1850-1853
- 1831 - Heinrich von Stephan, organizer of the German postal union and founder of the Universal postal union (+ 1897)
- 1834 - Johann Philipp Reis, physicist and inventor (+ 1874)
- 1845 - King Ludwig II of Bavaria (+ 1921)
- 1873 - Adolph Zukor, producer (+ 1976)
- 1890 - Henny Porten, actress (+ 1960)
- 1898 - Rudolf Fernau, actor (+ 1985)
- 1899 - Francis Poulenc, composer (+ 1963)
- 1901? - Zora Neale Hurston, writer (+ 1960)
- 1910 - Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas, segregationist (+ 1994)
- 1911 - Butterfly McQueen, actress (+ 1995)
- 1912 - Charles Addams, cartoonist (+ 1988)
- 1915 - Erwin Wickert, narrator
- 1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal, musician
- 1923 - Pinkas Braun, actor and film director
- 1928 - William Peter Blatty, screenwriter
- 1942 - Paul Revere, singer and musician
- 1948 - Kenny Loggins, singer
- 1956 - David Caruso, actor
- 1957 - Katie Couric, television host
- 1964 - Nicolas Cage, actor
Deaths:
- 1536 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England
- 1872 - James Fisk, entrepreneur
- 1893 - Jožef Stefan, physicist, mathematician and poet
- 1988 - Trevor Howard, actor
- 1989 - Emperor Hirohito of Japan
- 1990 - Bronko Nagurski, American football star
Holidays and observances:
- Catholicism - Feast day of St. Raymond of Penafort.
- Julian Calendar Christmas
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
January 6 - January 8 - December 7 - February 7 - Historical anniversaries