December 7
1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1796 - Electors chose John Adams to become the second president of the United States.
1836 - Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
1842 - The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert.
1909 - In his State of the Union address, President William Howard Taft defended the decision to base U.S. naval operations in the Pacific at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, instead of the Philippines.
1917 - The United States declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.
1941 - Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II; more than 2,300 Americans were killed in the attack and another 1,100 injured.
1972 - America's final mission to the moon began as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
1975 - Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation.
1982 - A U.S. prisoner was executed by lethal injection for the first time, in Huntsville, Texas.
1985 - Retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart died at age 70.
1987 - Forty-three people were killed after a gunman aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California apparently opened fire on a fellow passenger, the pilots and himself, causing the plane to crash.
1987 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time, arriving for a summit in Washington, D.C. with President Ronald Reagan.
1988 - A 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Armenia killed approximately 25,000 people.
1993 - A gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17. (Colin Ferguson was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.)
1995 - A 746-pound probe from the Galileo spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter's atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was destroyed.
2001 - Taliban forces fled from Kandahar, their last stronghold in Afghanistan.
2002 - Iraq formally declared to the U.N. that it had no weapons of mass destruction.
2010 - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange surrendered to authorities in London, where he was jailed for nine days before being freed on bail as he fought extradition to Sweden for questioning in a rape investigation.
2011 - Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
2017 - Democratic Sen. Al Franken said he would resign after a series of sexual harassment allegations; he took a parting shot at President Donald Trump, describing him as “a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault.”
2017 - Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona said he would resign, after revealing that he discussed surrogacy with two female staffers.
2018 - The man who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted of first-degree murder; a state jury rejected defense arguments that James Alex Fields Jr. acted in self-defense.
2018 - President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate William Barr to succeed Jeff Sessions as attorney general. (Barr would be confirmed and sworn-in in February.)
2019 - A dozen frail survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor returned to honor those who died in the 1941 bombing that launched the U.S. into World War II.
Birthdays
27 - Jasmine Villegas (singer)
27 - Clara Berry (model)
30 - Yasiel Puig (baseball player)
32 - Emily Browning (actress)
33 - Aaron Carter (singer)
35 - Jon Moxley (professional wrestler)
38 - Jack Huston (actor)
41 - Jennifer Carpenter (actress)
41 - Sara Bareilles (singer)
42 - Shiri Appleby (actress)
43 - Chris Chalk (actor)
45 - Nicole Appleton (singer)
47 - Terrell Owens (football player)
48 - Kimberly Hebert Gregory (TV host)
54 - C. Thomas Howell (actor)
55 - Jeffrey Wright (actor)
56 - Patrick Fabian (actor)
63 - Priscilla Barnes (actress)
64 - Larry Bird (basketball player)
71 - Tom Waits (singer)
72 - Gary Morris (country singer)
73 - Johnny Bench (baseball player)
88 - Ellen Burstyn (actress)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - December 7
1918 - Washington University of Missouri defeated Nebraska 20-7 in a postseason charity game; NU ends the year with a 2-3-1 record.
1937 - The Boston Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams.
1939 - Lou Gehrig was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. He was the first player to have the rule waived that required a player to be retired one year before he could be elected.
1949 - Notre Dame end Leon Hart wins the Heisman Trophy.
1963 - Videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast during the Army-Navy football game on CBS.
1978 - Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders records his first career hat trick.
1985 - Auburn running back Bo Jackson wins the Heisman Trophy.
1996 - Texas upset #3 Nebraska 37-27 in the inaugural Big 12 Conference Championship Game in St. Louis, Missouri.
2017 - Former U.S. gymnastics physician Larry Nasser is sentenced to 60 years in prison on sexual abuse charges.
1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1796 - Electors chose John Adams to become the second president of the United States.
1836 - Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
1842 - The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert.
1909 - In his State of the Union address, President William Howard Taft defended the decision to base U.S. naval operations in the Pacific at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, instead of the Philippines.
1917 - The United States declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.
1941 - Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II; more than 2,300 Americans were killed in the attack and another 1,100 injured.
1972 - America's final mission to the moon began as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
1975 - Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a 25-year occupation.
1982 - A U.S. prisoner was executed by lethal injection for the first time, in Huntsville, Texas.
1985 - Retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart died at age 70.
1987 - Forty-three people were killed after a gunman aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California apparently opened fire on a fellow passenger, the pilots and himself, causing the plane to crash.
1987 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time, arriving for a summit in Washington, D.C. with President Ronald Reagan.
1988 - A 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Armenia killed approximately 25,000 people.
1993 - A gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17. (Colin Ferguson was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.)
1995 - A 746-pound probe from the Galileo spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter's atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was destroyed.
2001 - Taliban forces fled from Kandahar, their last stronghold in Afghanistan.
2002 - Iraq formally declared to the U.N. that it had no weapons of mass destruction.
2010 - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange surrendered to authorities in London, where he was jailed for nine days before being freed on bail as he fought extradition to Sweden for questioning in a rape investigation.
2011 - Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.
2017 - Democratic Sen. Al Franken said he would resign after a series of sexual harassment allegations; he took a parting shot at President Donald Trump, describing him as “a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault.”
2017 - Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona said he would resign, after revealing that he discussed surrogacy with two female staffers.
2018 - The man who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted of first-degree murder; a state jury rejected defense arguments that James Alex Fields Jr. acted in self-defense.
2018 - President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate William Barr to succeed Jeff Sessions as attorney general. (Barr would be confirmed and sworn-in in February.)
2019 - A dozen frail survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor returned to honor those who died in the 1941 bombing that launched the U.S. into World War II.
Birthdays
27 - Jasmine Villegas (singer)
27 - Clara Berry (model)
30 - Yasiel Puig (baseball player)
32 - Emily Browning (actress)
33 - Aaron Carter (singer)
35 - Jon Moxley (professional wrestler)
38 - Jack Huston (actor)
41 - Jennifer Carpenter (actress)
41 - Sara Bareilles (singer)
42 - Shiri Appleby (actress)
43 - Chris Chalk (actor)
45 - Nicole Appleton (singer)
47 - Terrell Owens (football player)
48 - Kimberly Hebert Gregory (TV host)
54 - C. Thomas Howell (actor)
55 - Jeffrey Wright (actor)
56 - Patrick Fabian (actor)
63 - Priscilla Barnes (actress)
64 - Larry Bird (basketball player)
71 - Tom Waits (singer)
72 - Gary Morris (country singer)
73 - Johnny Bench (baseball player)
88 - Ellen Burstyn (actress)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - December 7
1918 - Washington University of Missouri defeated Nebraska 20-7 in a postseason charity game; NU ends the year with a 2-3-1 record.
1937 - The Boston Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams.
1939 - Lou Gehrig was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. He was the first player to have the rule waived that required a player to be retired one year before he could be elected.
1949 - Notre Dame end Leon Hart wins the Heisman Trophy.
1963 - Videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast during the Army-Navy football game on CBS.
1978 - Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders records his first career hat trick.
1985 - Auburn running back Bo Jackson wins the Heisman Trophy.
1996 - Texas upset #3 Nebraska 37-27 in the inaugural Big 12 Conference Championship Game in St. Louis, Missouri.
2017 - Former U.S. gymnastics physician Larry Nasser is sentenced to 60 years in prison on sexual abuse charges.
