April 7

April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap
years). There are 268 days remaining.

Events

   * 1348 - Charles University is founded in Prague.
   * 1795 - France adopts the metre as the unit of length
   * 1831 - Emperor Pedro I of Brazil abdicates in favor of his son, Pedro
     II
   * 1856 - Foundation of Nelson College, Nelson, New Zealand
   * 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh - Union Army under General
     Ulysses S. Grant defeat the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
   * 1906 - Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
   * 1922 - Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior
     leases Teapot Dome oil reserves in Wyoming.
   * 1927 - First long distance public television broadcast (Washington, DC
     to New York City; image was of of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
   * 1939 - World War II: Italy invades Albania.
   * 1940 - Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be
     depicted on a United States postage stamp.
   * 1945 - World War II: The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles
     north of Okinawa while in-route to a suicide mission.
   * 1948 - The World Health Organization is established by the United
     Nations.
   * 1953 - Dag Hammarskjšld is elected United Nations Secretary General.
   * 1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his"domino theory" speech
     during a news conference.
   * 1956 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
   * 1963 - Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a Socialist republic and Josip
     Broz Tito is named President for life.
   * 1964 - IBM announces the System/360
   * 1967 - Six-Day War: Israeli fighters shoot down seven Syrian MIG-21s.
   * 1980 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and
     imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on
     November 4, 1979.
   * 1983 - During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform
     the first space shuttle spacewalk (duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes).
   * 1989 - Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the
     coast of Norway after a fire. 42 sailors died.
   * 1990 - Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five
     charges for his part in the scandal but the convictions were later
     reversed after an appeal.
   * 1994 - Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda.
   * 1998 - Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge creating
     the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup.
   * 1999 - Kosovo War: Kosovo's main border crossings are closed by Serbian
     forces to prevent ethnic Albanians from leaving.
   * 2000 - Mars Odyssey is launched.

Births

   * 1506 - Saint Francis Xavier, founder of the Society of Jesus (+ 1552)
   * 1770 - William Wordsworth, English poet (+ 1850)
   * 1772 - Charles Fourier, French philosopher (+ 1837)
   * 1873 - John McGraw, baseball coach, manager, player
   * 1893 - Allen Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (+
     1969)
   * 1897 - Walter Winchell, broadcaster, journalist (+ 1972)
   * 1904 - Ralph Bunche, diplomat, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
   * 1908 - Percy Faith, composer, musician (+ 1976)
   * 1915 - Billie Holiday, American jazz and Blues singer (+ 1959)
   * 1915 - Henry Kuttner, science fiction writer (+ 1958)
   * 1920 - Ravi Shankar, musician
   * 1922 - Mongo Santamaria, Latin jazz musician (+ 2003)
   * 1924 - Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer
   * 1928 - James Garner, actor
   * 1928 - Alan J. Pakula, producer, director (+ 1998)
   * 1939 - Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
   * 1939 - Sir David Frost, broadcaster, television host
   * 1944 - Gerhard Schršder, German Bundeskanzler (chancellor) since 1998
   * 1949 - John Oates, musician ("Hall and Oates")
   * 1951 - Janis Ian, singer and songwriter
   * 1954 - Jackie Chan, actor
   * 1954 - Tony Dorsett, American football star
   * 1964 - Russell Crowe, actor

Deaths

   * 1614 - El Greco, artist
   * 1789 - Abd-ul-Hamid I, Ottoman sultan
   * 1858 - Anton Diabelli, music publisher, editor and composer
   * 1891 - P. T. Barnum, circus impresario
   * 1947 - Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer and industrialist
   * 1950 - Walter Huston, Academy Award winning actor
   * 1955 - Theda Bara, silent film actress
   * 1968 - Jim Clark, racing driver
   * 1981 - Norman Taurog, director
   * 1997 - Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut
   * 1998 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas, preeminent conservationist and
     eviromentalist, dies at age 108.

Holidays and observances

   * Araw ng Kagitingan was moved this year from April 9 to April 7 to give
     the residents a long weekend and help tourism in the Philippines.