December 7
1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1796 - Electors chose John Adams to be 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 - Chemist Leo H. Baekeland received a U.S. patent for Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic.
1917 - The United States declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.
1941 - Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed more than 2,300 Americans and ultimately drew the United States into World War II.
1946 - Fire broke out at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze killed 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff.
1972 - American's final manned mission to the moon, Apollo 17, blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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.
1988 - A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000.
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.
2011 - Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption. (A pardon from President Donald Trump freed Blagojevich from prison in 2020, after he had served eight years.)
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.” 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.
2020 - Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who in 1947 became the first person to fly faster than sound, died at 97.
2020 - A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s attempts to ban TikTok, the latest legal defeat for the administration as it tried to wrest the popular app from its Chinese owners.
2020 - U.S. servicemen and women and National Park Service officials gathered at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to remember those killed in the 1941 Japanese attack, but elderly survivors stayed home to pay their respects from afar and avoid health risks from the coronavirus pandemic.
Birthdays
28 - Jasmine Villegas (singer)
28 - Indyamarie (model)
28 - Clara Berry (model)
33 - Emily Browning (actress)
34 - Aaron Carter (singer)
36 - Jon Moxley (professional wrestler)
39 - Jack Huston (actor)
42 - Sara Bareilles (singer)
42 - Jennifer Carpenter (actress)
43 - Shiri Appleby (actress)
44 - Andrea Lopez (actress)
44 - Chris Chalk (actor)
45 - Sunny Sweeney (singer)
46 - Nicole Appleton (singer)
48 - Terrell Owens (football player)
49 - Kimberly Hebert Gregory (actress)
55 - C. Thomas Howell (actor)
56 - Jeffrey Wright (actor)
57 - Patrick Fabian (actor)
63 - Edd Hall (TV announcer)
64 - Priscilla Barnes (actress)
65 - Larry Bird (basketball player)
73 - Gary Morris (singer)
74 - James Keach (actor)
74 - Johnny Bench (baseball player)
81 - Carole Simpson (broadcast journalist)
89 - Ellen Burstyn (actress)
90 - Bobby Osborne (singer)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 7
1918 - Washington University (Missouri) defeats Nebraska 20-7 in a postseason exhibition charity game; NU ends the season at 2-3-1.
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 - Leon Hart of Notre Dame 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.
1985 - Auburn running back Bo Jackson wins the Heisman Trophy.
1996 - Texas upsets #3 Nebraska 37-27 in St. Louis in the inaugural Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
2017 - Former US gymnastics physician Larry Nasser is sentenced to 60 years on child pornography charges.
1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1796 - Electors chose John Adams to be 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 - Chemist Leo H. Baekeland received a U.S. patent for Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic.
1917 - The United States declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.
1941 - Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed more than 2,300 Americans and ultimately drew the United States into World War II.
1946 - Fire broke out at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze killed 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff.
1972 - American's final manned mission to the moon, Apollo 17, blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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.
1988 - A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000.
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.
2011 - Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption. (A pardon from President Donald Trump freed Blagojevich from prison in 2020, after he had served eight years.)
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.” 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.
2020 - Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who in 1947 became the first person to fly faster than sound, died at 97.
2020 - A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s attempts to ban TikTok, the latest legal defeat for the administration as it tried to wrest the popular app from its Chinese owners.
2020 - U.S. servicemen and women and National Park Service officials gathered at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to remember those killed in the 1941 Japanese attack, but elderly survivors stayed home to pay their respects from afar and avoid health risks from the coronavirus pandemic.
Birthdays
28 - Jasmine Villegas (singer)
28 - Indyamarie (model)
28 - Clara Berry (model)
33 - Emily Browning (actress)
34 - Aaron Carter (singer)
36 - Jon Moxley (professional wrestler)
39 - Jack Huston (actor)
42 - Sara Bareilles (singer)
42 - Jennifer Carpenter (actress)
43 - Shiri Appleby (actress)
44 - Andrea Lopez (actress)
44 - Chris Chalk (actor)
45 - Sunny Sweeney (singer)
46 - Nicole Appleton (singer)
48 - Terrell Owens (football player)
49 - Kimberly Hebert Gregory (actress)
55 - C. Thomas Howell (actor)
56 - Jeffrey Wright (actor)
57 - Patrick Fabian (actor)
63 - Edd Hall (TV announcer)
64 - Priscilla Barnes (actress)
65 - Larry Bird (basketball player)
73 - Gary Morris (singer)
74 - James Keach (actor)
74 - Johnny Bench (baseball player)
81 - Carole Simpson (broadcast journalist)
89 - Ellen Burstyn (actress)
90 - Bobby Osborne (singer)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 7
1918 - Washington University (Missouri) defeats Nebraska 20-7 in a postseason exhibition charity game; NU ends the season at 2-3-1.
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 - Leon Hart of Notre Dame 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.
1985 - Auburn running back Bo Jackson wins the Heisman Trophy.
1996 - Texas upsets #3 Nebraska 37-27 in St. Louis in the inaugural Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
2017 - Former US gymnastics physician Larry Nasser is sentenced to 60 years on child pornography charges.
