History for October 7 - On-This-Day.comJames Whitcomb Riley 1853
Niels Bohr 1885
Henry Wallace 1888
Andy Devine 1905
Vaughn Monroe 1911
Jo (Jonathan) Jones 1911
Alfred Drake 1914
June Allyson 1917
Martha Stewart (Haworth) 1922
Al Martino 1927
R.D. Laing 1927
Diana Lynn 1927
Desmond Tutu (South Africa) 1931
Imamu Amiri Baraka 1934
Thomas Keneally 1935
Charles Dutoit 1936
Gary Bergman 1938
Martin Murray (Honeycombs) 1941
Oliver North 1943
Kevin Godley (10cc, Godley & Creme) 1945
David Hope (Kansas) 1949
Kiernan Kane (The O'Kanes) 1949
John Cougar Mellencamp 1951
Jacques Richard 1952
Christopher Norris 1953
Tico Torres (Bon Jovi) 1953
Yo-Yo Ma 1955
Michael W. Smith 1957
Simon Cowell 1959 - Judge on "American Idol"
Judy Landers 1961
Dale Watson 1962
Toni Braxton 1968
Thom York (Radiohead) 1968
Leeroy Thornhill (Prodigy) 1969
Nicole Air Parker 1970
Charles Woodson 1976
1765 - Nine American colonies sent a total of 28 delegates to New York City for the Stamp Act Congress. The delegates adopted the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances."
1777 - During the American Revolution the second Battle of Saratoga began.
1868 - Cornell University was inaugurated in Ithaca, NY.
1913 - For the first time, Henry Ford's entire Highland Park automobile factory was run on a continuously moving assembly line when the chassis was added to the process.
1918 - The Georgia Tech football team defeated Cumberland College 222-0. Georgia Tech carried the ball 978 yards and never threw a pass.
1939 - "Kate Hopkins, Angel of Mercy" was heard for the first time on CBS radio.
1940 - "Portia Faces Life" debuted on the NBC Red network.
1949 - The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was formed.
1950 - The U.S.-led U.N. forces crossed the 38th parallel and entered North Korea. China in November proved their threat to enter the war by sending several hundred thousand troops over the border into North Korea.
1951 - The Western Hills Hotel in Fort Worth, TX, became the first hotel to feature all foam-rubber mattresses and pillows.
1956 - A U.S. House subcommittee began investigations of allegedly rigged TV quiz shows.
1963 - U.S. President Kennedy signed a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union.
1968 - The Motion Picture Association of America adopted the film-rating system that ranged for "G" to "X."
1981 - The Egyptian parliament, after the assassination of Anwar Sadat, named Vice President Hosni Mubarak the next president of Egypt.
1982 - A record was set when 147,000,000 shares were exchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
1985 - The United States announced that it would no longer automatically comply with World Court decisions.
1989 - In Budapest, Hungary's Communist Party renounced Marxism in favor of democratic socialism.
1993 - U.S. President Clinton sent more troops, heavy armor, and naval firepower to Somalia.
1994 - U.S. President Clinton dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf when Iraqi troops were spotted moving toward Kuwait. The U.S. Army was also put on alert.
1998 - The U.S. government filed an antitrust suit that alleged Visa and MasterCard inhibit competition by preventing banks from offering other cards.
1999 - American Home Products Corp. agreed to pay up to $4.83 billion to settle claims that the fen-phen diet drug caused dangerous problems with heart valves.
2000 - Vojislav Kostunica took the oath of office as Yugoslavia's first popularly elected president.
2001 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) hit his 73rd home run of the season and set a new major league record.
2001 - The U.S. and Great Britain began airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to that state's support of terrorism and Osama bin Laden. The act was the first military action taken in response to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor in the recall election of Governor Gray Davis.
2003 - Randy Quaid received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2004 - Billy Bob Thornton got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.