On this day: April 7

Events on April 7

• 451 Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town. Wikipedia
• 1541 Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies. Wikipedia
• 1798 The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and the Spanish Empire. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812. Wikipedia
• 1805 German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Wikipedia
• 1906 The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco. Wikipedia
• 1906 Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples. Wikipedia
• 1926 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini survived an assassination attempt by Irishwoman Violet Gibson. Wikipedia
• 1926 Violet Gibson attempts to assassinate Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. Wikipedia
• 1933 Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.) Wikipedia
• 1939 Benito Mussolini declares an Italian protectorate over Albania and forces King Zog I into exile. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: U.S. forces sank the Japanese battleship Yamato during Operation Kikusui I in the East China Sea. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato, one of the two largest ever constructed, is sunk by United States Navy aircraft during Operation Ten-Go. Wikipedia
• 1946 The Soviet Union annexes East Prussia as the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Wikipedia
• 1948 The United Nations established the World Health Organization to act as a coordinating authority on international public health. Wikipedia
• 1948 The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1956 Francoist Spain agrees to surrender its protectorate in Morocco. Wikipedia
• 1965 Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate in Washington, D.C., against the termination of the Colville tribe. Wikipedia
• 1969 The Internet's symbolic birth date: Publication of RFC 1. Wikipedia
• 2009 Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces. Wikipedia
• 2009 Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent. Wikipedia
• 2011 A gunman opens fire at an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing twelve children and injuring 22 others before committing suicide. Wikipedia
• 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump orders the 2017 Shayrat missile strike against Syria in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack. Wikipedia
• 2017 A hijacker deliberately drove a truck into crowds along Drottninggatan in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people. Wikipedia
• 2017 A man deliberately drives a hijacked truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people and injuring fifteen others. Wikipedia
• 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: China ends its lockdown in Wuhan. Wikipedia
• 2021 COVID-19 pandemic: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant has become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. Wikipedia

Born on April 7

• 1506 Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint, co-founded the Society of Jesus (died 1552) Wikipedia
• 1652 Pope Clement XII (died 1740) Wikipedia
• 1770 William Wordsworth, English poet (died 1850) Wikipedia
• 1772 Charles Fourier, French philosopher (died 1837) Wikipedia
• 1786 William R. King, American lawyer and politician, 13th Vice President of the United States (died 1853) Wikipedia
• 1882 Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (died 1934) Wikipedia
• 1889 Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957) Wikipedia
• 1891 Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded the Lego Group (died 1958) Wikipedia
• 1893 Allen Dulles, American lawyer and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (died 1969) Wikipedia
• 1915 Billie Holiday, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 1959) Wikipedia
• 1920 Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1928 James Garner, American actor, singer, and producer (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1938 Jerry Brown, American lawyer and politician, 34th and 39th Governor of California Wikipedia
• 1939 Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1944 Gerhard Schröder, German lawyer and politician, 7th Chancellor of Germany Wikipedia
• 1946 Robert Metcalfe, American engineer and entrepreneur Wikipedia
• 1954 Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1964 Russell Crowe, New Zealand-Australian actor Wikipedia
• 1983 Franck Ribéry, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1985 Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician Wikipedia
• 1987 Martín Cáceres, Uruguayan footballer Wikipedia
• 1991 Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter Wikipedia

Died on April 7

• 30 Jesus Christ (possible date of the crucifixion) (born circa 4 BC) Wikipedia
• 821 George the Standard-Bearer, archbishop of Mytilene (born c. 776) Wikipedia
• 1498 Charles VIII of France (born 1470) Wikipedia
• 1606 The Jesuit Edward Oldcorne (born 1561) is executed at Worcester in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot. Wikipedia
• 1614 El Greco, Greek-Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1541) Wikipedia
• 1789 Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (born 1725) Wikipedia
• 1804 Toussaint Louverture, Haitian general (born 1743) Wikipedia
• 1836 William Godwin, English journalist and author (born 1756) Wikipedia
• 1891 P. T. Barnum, American businessman and politician, co-founded The Barnum & Bailey Circus (born 1810) Wikipedia
• 1943 Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1947 Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (born 1863) Wikipedia
• 1985 Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (born 1888) Wikipedia
• 1986 Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2009 Dave Arneson, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (born 1947) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast days: Aibert of Crespin Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Alexander Rawlins Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Edward Oldcorne and Blessed Ralph Ashley Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Brynach Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Hegesippus Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Henry Walpole Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Hermann Joseph Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Jean-Baptiste de La Salle Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow (Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: April 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Flag Day (Slovenia) Wikipedia
• Women's Day (Mozambique) Wikipedia
• World Health Day (International observance) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 7” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.