On this day: December 7

Events on December 7

• 43 BC Cicero, widely considered one of ancient Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists, was killed after having been proscribed as an enemy of the state. Wikipedia
• 43 BC Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated in Formia on orders of Marcus Antonius. Wikipedia
• 1724 Tumult of Thorn: Religious unrest is followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities. Wikipedia
• 1787 Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. Wikipedia
• 1837 The Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, the only battle of the Upper Canada Rebellion, takes place in Toronto, where the rebels are quickly defeated. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: The Battle of Prairie Grove ended a Confederate attempt to regain control of northwestern Arkansas. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary. Wikipedia
• 1922 The Parliament of Northern Ireland votes to remain a part of the United Kingdom and not unify with Southern Ireland. Wikipedia
• 1930 W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts telecasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The telecast also includes the first television advertisement in the United States, for I.J. Fox Furriers, which also sponsored the radio show. Wikipedia
• 1932 German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa. Wikipedia
• 1936 Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings. Wikipedia
• 1941 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.) Wikipedia
• 1942 Second World War: A small unit of Royal Marines launched Operation Frankton, in which they damaged six ships in the port of Bordeaux in German-occupied France. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: British commandos conduct Operation Frankton, a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour. Wikipedia
• 1946 A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people, the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. Wikipedia
• 1949 Chinese Civil War: The Government of the Republic of China moves from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan. Wikipedia
• 1962 Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils. Wikipedia
• 1963 Instant replay makes its debut during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Wikipedia
• 1971 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. Wikipedia
• 1982 In Texas, Charles Brooks Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States. Wikipedia
• 1995 The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34. Wikipedia
• 1995 The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34. Wikipedia
• 2015 The JAXA probe Akatsuki successfully enters orbit around Venus five years after the first attempt. Wikipedia
• 2016 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. Wikipedia
• 2024 Battle of Damascus (2024): Syrian opposition forces enter the Rif Dimashq Governorate, reaching within 20 km of the capital Damascus. Wikipedia
• 2025 An attempted coup takes place in Benin, but is thwarted, and order restored. Wikipedia

Born on December 7

• 521 Columba, Irish missionary, monk, and saint (died 597) Wikipedia
• 903 Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Persian astronomer and author (died 986) Wikipedia
• 1545 Henry Stuart, English-Scottish husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (died 1567) Wikipedia
• 1598 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian sculptor and painter (died 1680) Wikipedia
• 1801 Johann Nestroy, Austrian actor and playwright (died 1862) Wikipedia
• 1810 Theodor Schwann, German physiologist and biologist (died 1882) Wikipedia
• 1823 Leopold Kronecker, Polish-German mathematician and academic (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1860 Joseph Cook, English-born Australian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1863 Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer and conductor (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1873 Willa Cather, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1878 Akiko Yosano, Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer (died 1942) Wikipedia
• 1893 Fay Bainter, American actress (died 1968) Wikipedia
• 1905 Gerard Kuiper, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1915 Eli Wallach, American actor (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1924 Mário Soares, Portuguese historian, lawyer, and politician, 17th President of Portugal (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1952 Susan Collins, American politician Wikipedia
• 1954 Mark Hofmann, a.k.a. the Mormon Murderer; American counterfeiter, forger of fake Mormon historical documents, and convicted murderer Wikipedia
• 1956 Iveta Radičová, Slovak politician Wikipedia
• 1972 Hermann Maier, Austrian skier Wikipedia
• 1980 John Terry, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1984 Robert Kubica, Polish race car driver Wikipedia
• 1994 Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater Wikipedia

Died on December 7

• 43 BC Cicero, Roman philosopher, lawyer, and politician (born 106 BC) Wikipedia
• 283 Eutychian, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 983 Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 955) Wikipedia
• 1254 Innocent IV, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1195) Wikipedia
• 1815 Michel Ney, German-French general (born 1769) Wikipedia
• 1894 Ferdinand de Lesseps, French businessman and diplomat, co-developed the Suez Canal (born 1805) Wikipedia
• 1906 Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1833) Wikipedia
• 1947 Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862) Wikipedia
• 1975 Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1979 Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, English-American astronomer and astrophysicist (born 1900) Wikipedia
• 1985 Robert Graves, English poet, novelist, critic (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1993 Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivoirian physician and politician, 1st President of Ivory Coast (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 1998 Martin Rodbell, American biochemist and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 2020 Chuck Yeager, American aviator (born 1923) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Flag Day (India) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Aemilianus (Greek Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ambrose Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Buíte of Monasterboice Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maria Giuseppa Rossello Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sabinus of Spoleto Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Eve of the Immaculate Conception-related observances: Day of the Little Candles, begins after sunset (Colombia) Wikipedia
• International Civil Aviation Day Wikipedia
• National Heroes Day (East Timor) Wikipedia
• National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Spitak Remembrance Day (Armenia) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 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.