History for May 7

History for May 7 - On-This-Day.com:

Great American Grump Out

Beaufort Scale Day (Francis Beaufort Birth Anniversary)

Birth anniversaries of Johannes Brahms (1833-97), Gary Cooper (1901-61), Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-93) and Johnny Unitas (1933-2002).

1429 - The English siege of Orleans was broken by Joan of Arc. 


1915 - The Lusitania, a civilian ship, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,201 people were killed.



1940 - Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister. 


1942 - In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japanese and American navies attacked each other with carrier planes. It was the first time in the history of naval warfare where two enemy fleets fought without seeing each other. 


1945 - Germany signed unconditional surrender ending World War II. It would take effect the next day. 



1946 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp. was founded. The company was later renamed Sony. 


1954 - French Colonial Forces surrendered to the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu after 55 days of fighting. 


1960 - Leonid Brezhnev became president of the Soviet Union. 






1975 - U.S. President Ford declared an end to the Vietnam War. 


1977 - Rookie Janet Guthrie set the fastest time on opening day of practice for the Indianapolis 500. Her time was 185.607. 


1992 - A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified as the 27th Amendment. 


1998 - Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler Corp. for close to $40 billion. It was the largest industrial merger on record.