December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 24 days remaining.
- 1732 - The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden , London .
- 1776 - Marquis De Lafayette attempts to enter the American military as a major general.
- 1787 - Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution .
- 1815 - Michel Ney , Marshal of France , is executed by Firing Squad , after having been convicted of Treason for his support of Napoleon Bonaparte .
- declares war on Austria-Hungary .
- declared war on Finland , Hungary , Romania , and Japan .
- 1941 - - The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the U.S. Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Corps and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii .
- 1946 - A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people.
- moves from Nanking to Taipei .
- 1962 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the Principality 's Constitution , devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.
- 1965 - Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras simultaneously lift mutual Excommunication s that had been in place since 1054 .
- 1966 - A fire at an army barracks in Erzurum , Turkey kills 68 people.
- 1970 - The first ever general election on the basis of direct adult franchise are held in Pakistan for 313 National Assembly seats.
- 1971 - Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces formation of a Coalition Government at Centre with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as Vice-Prime Minister.
- 1971 - The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a Flare Gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be immortalized in the Deep Purple song " Smoke On The Water ".
- 1972 - Apollo 17 , the last Apollo Moon Mission , is launched. The crew take the photograph known as " The Blue Marble " as they leave the Earth.
- 1975 - Indonesia invades East Timor .
- 1982 - In Texas , Charles Brooks, Jr. becomes the first person to be Executed by Lethal Injection in the United States .
- 1983 - Two jetliners collide at Madrid Barajas International Airport , Madrid killing 93 people.
- 1987 - PSA Flight 1771 crashes near Paso Robles, California , killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss on the flight, then shoots both pilots and himself.
- an Earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
- 1988 - Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.
- 1989 - In their third and final fight, Sugar Ray Leonard retains the WBC Super-Middleweight Championship of the World , defeating Roberto Duran .
- 1993 - In South Africa , the Transitional Executive Council is established.
- 1993 - Long Island Rail Road Massacre
- 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 .
- 2003 - The Conservative Party Of Canada is officially recognized after the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party Of Canada .
- 2004 - Hamid Karzai is inaugurated as President Of Afghanistan .
- 2004 - John Kufuor is re-elected as President Of Ghana .
- 2005 - 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 .
- 521 - Saint Columba , Irish Christian missionary to Scotland (d. 597 )
- 1545 - Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , consort of Mary I Of Scotland (d. 1567 )
- 1561 - Kikkawa Hiroie , Japanese politician (d. 1625 )
- 1598 - Gian Lorenzo Bernini , Italian artist (d. 1680 )
- 1637 - Bernardo Pasquini , Italian composer (d. 1710 )
- 1670 - John Aislabie , English director of the South Sea Company (d. 1742 )
- 1761 - Marie Tussaud , French-born museum proprietress and waxwork modeller (d. 1850 )
- 1764 - Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc De Belluno , French marshal (d. 1841 )
- 1784 - Allan Cunningham , British poet (d. 1842 )
- 1801 - Johann Nestroy , Austrian dramatist and actor (d. 1862 )
- 1810 - Theodor Schwann , German physiologist (d. 1882 )
- 1810 - Josef Hyrtl , Austrian anatomist (d. 1894 )
- 1823 - Leopold Kronecker , German mathematician (d. 1891 )
- 1847 - George Grossmith , British actor and writer (d. 1912 )
- 1860 - Sir Joseph Cook , sixth Prime Minister Of Australia (d. 1947 )
- 1863 - Pietro Mascagni , Italian composer (d. 1945 )
- 1863 - Richard Sears , American department store founder (d. 1914 )
- 1873 - Willa Cather , American novelist (d. 1947 )
- 1879 - Rudolf Friml , American composer (d. 1972 )
- 1887 - Ernst Toch , Austrian composer (d. 1964 )
- 1888 - Joyce Cary , Irish author (d. 1957 )
- 1888 - Hamilton Fish , American politician (d. 1991 )
- 1903 - Danilo Blanuša , Croatian mathematician (d. 1987 )
- 1904 - Konstantin Sokolsky , Russian singer
- 1905 - Gerard Kuiper , Dutch-born American astronomer (d. 1973 )
- 1910 - Louis Prima , American musician (d. 1978 )
- 1912 - Daniel Jones , British composer (d. 1993 )
- 1915 - Eli Wallach , American actor
- 1921 - Pramukh Swami Maharaj , Indian Spiritual Leader
- 1922 - Howard Zinn , American historian and activist
- 1924 - Mário Soares , President Of Portugal
- 1927 - Helen Watts , British contralto
- 1928 - Noam Chomsky , American linguist and political writer
- 1932 - Ellen Burstyn , American actress
- 1942 - Harry Chapin , American singer and songwriter (d. 1981 )
- 1942 - Peter Tomarken , American game show host (d. 2006 )
- 1943 - Bernard C. Parks , Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department
- 1944 - Daniel Chorzempa , American organist
- 1945 - Marion Rung , Finnish singer
- 1947 - Johnny Bench , American baseball player
- 1947 - Garry Unger , Canadian ice hockey players
- 1948 - Gary Morris , American singer and actor
- 1948 - Mads Vinding , Danish bassist
- 1949 - Tom Waits , American singer, composer, and actor
- 1954 - Mark Hofmann , American forger and bomber
- 1954 - Mike Nolan , British singer ( Bucks Fizz )
- 1956 - Larry Bird , American basketball player
- 1966 - C. Thomas Howell , American actor
- 1967 - Tino Martinez , American baseball player
- 1971 - Vladimir Akopian , Armenian chess player
- 1971 - Chasey Lain , American actress
- 1972 - Hermann Maier , Austrian skier
- 1972 - Tammy Lynn Sytch , American professional wrestler
- 1973 - Terrell Owens , American football player
- 1974 - Nicole Appleton , Canadian-born singer
- 1975 - Jamie Clapham , British footballer
- 1977 - Dominic Howard , British drummer ( Muse )
- 1979 - Ayako Fujitani , Japanese actress
- 1980 - John Terry , English footballer
- 1987 - Aaron Carter , American singer
- 1988 - Emily Browning , Australian actress
- 43 BC - Cicero , Roman politician and author (b. 106 BC )
- 283 - Pope Eutychian
- 1254 - Pope Innocent IV
- 1279 - King Boleslaus V Of Poland (b. 1226 )
- 1295 - Gilbert De Clare, 7th Earl Of Hertford , English politician (b. 1243 )
- 1498 - Alexander Hegius Von Heek , German humanist
- 1562 - Adrian Willaert , Flemish composer
- 1649 - Charles Garnier , French Jesuit missionary (b. 1606 )
- 1672 - Richard Bellingham , English-born Massachusetts colonial magistrate (b. 1592 )
- 1683 - John Oldham , English poet (smallpox) (b. 1653 )
- 1683 - Algernon Sydney , English politician (b. 1623 )
- 1723 - Jan Santini Aichel , Bohemian architect (b. 1677 )
- 1725 - Florent Carton Dancourt , French dramatist and actor (b. 1661 )
- 1775 - Charles Saunders , British admiral
- 1793 - Joseph Bara , French revolutionary (b. 1780 )
- 1815 - Michel Ney , French marshall (executed) (b. 1769 )
- 1817 - William Bligh , British naval officer (b. 1745 )
- 1874 - Constantin Von Tischendorf , German biblical scholar (b. 1815 )
- 1902 - Thomas Nast , German cartoonist (b. 1840 )
- 1906 - Élie Ducommun , Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833 )
- 1941 - Isaac C. Kidd , American rear admiral (b. 1884 )
- 1947 - Nicholas M. Butler , American university president, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1862 )
- 1956 - Huntley Gordon , Canadian actor (b. 1887 )
- 1960 - Clara Haskil , Swiss pianist (b. 1895 )
- 1970 - Rube Goldberg , American cartoonist (b. 1883 )
- 1975 - Thornton Wilder , American playwright (b. 1897 )
- 1978 - Alexander Wetmore , American ornithologist (b. 1886 )
- 1980 - Darby Crash , American punk-rock lengend (b. 1958 )
- 1985 - Robert Graves , British author (b. 1895 )
- 1985 - Potter Stewart , U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1915 )
- 1990 - Joan Bennett , American actress (b. 1910 )
- 1993 - Félix Houphouët-Boigny , President Of Côte D'Ivoire (b. 1905 )
- 1993 - Wolfgang Pauli , German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913 )
- 1998 - Martin Rodbell , American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (b. 1925 )
- 2001 - Charles McClendon , LSU head football coach (b. 1923 )
- 2003 - Carl F. H. Henry American theologian and publisher (b. 1913 )
- 2003 - Azie Taylor Morton , Treasurer Of The United States (b. 1936 )
- 2003 - Raúl Vale , Venezuelan entertainer (b. 1944 )
- 2004 - Frederick Fennell , American conductor (b. 1914 )
- 2004 - Jerry Scoggins , American singer (b. 1913 )
- 2005 - Bud Carson , American football player and coach (b. 1931 )
December 6 - December 8 - November 7 - January 7 -- Listing Of All Days
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