October 7


October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). There are 85
days remaining.

Events:

   * 1571 - Battle of Lepanto
   * 1777 - Battle of Second Saratoga
   * 1780 - Battle of King's Mountain American irregulars defeat British
     forces in South Carolina
   * 1879 - Germany and Austria-Hungary create the Dual Alliance
   * 1886 - Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba
   * 1908 - Crete revolts against the Ottoman Empire and aligns with Greece
   * 1913 - Henry Ford introduces the assembly line
   * 1940 - Germany invades Romania
   * 1943 - Japan executes 100 American prisoners on Wake Island
   * 1949 - German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed
   * 1950 - United States forces invade Korea by crossing the 38th parallel
   * 1957 - Dick Clark's American Bandstand debuts
   * 1985 - Achille Lauro hijacked by Palestinian terrorists
   * 2001 - Start of 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan

Births:

   * 1841 - King Nicholas I of Montenegro (+ 1921)
   * 1853 - James Whitcomb Riley, poet (+ 1916)
   * 1885 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (+ 1962)
   * 1888 - Henry A. Wallace, American politician and Vice President of the
     United States (+ 1965)
   * 1894 - Del Lord, pioneer Hollywood director (+ 1970)
   * 1897 - Elijah Mohammed, Black Muslim leader (+ 1975)
   * 1900 - Heinrich Himmler, German politician and leader of the SS (+
     1945)
   * 1905 - Andy Devine, actor (+ 1977)
   * 1911 - Vaughn Monroe, singer (+ 1973)
   * 1914 - Alfred Drake, actor (+ 1992)
   * 1917 - June Allyson, actress
   * 1931 - Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and anti-apartheid
     activist
   * 1934 - Amiri Baraka, playwright, poet (born LeRoi Jones)
   * 1935 - Thomas Keneally, Australian author
   * 1939 - Harold Kroto, British chemist
   * 1943 - Oliver North, United States Marine involved in Iran-Contra
     affair
   * 1951 - John Cougar Mellencamp, singer
   * 1952 - Vladimir Putin, Russian politician and president
   * 1955 - Yo-Yo Ma, cellist
   * 1957 - Jayne Torvill, figure skater
   * 1979 - Simona Amanar, Romanian gymnast

Deaths:

   * 336 - Pope Marcus
   * 1792 - George Mason, U.S. patriot, "Father of the Bill of Rights"
   * 1849 - Edgar Allen Poe, American writer
   * 1894 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, poet
   * 1925 - Christy Mathewson, baseball star
   * 1926 - Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist
   * 1959 - Mario Lanza, singer
   * 1992 - Tevfik Esenc, last speaker of the Ubykh language

Holidays:

   * UN - Universal Children's Day