April 7: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). There are 268 days remaining.

Events

• 529 - first draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I
• 1348 - Charles University is founded in Prague.
• 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu
• 1541 - Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies.
• 1655 - Fabio Chigi becomes Pope Alexander VII.
• 1795 - France adopts the metre as the unit of length.
• 1798 - The Mississippi Territory is organized from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina and is later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain.
• 1805 - Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River.
• 1805 - First public performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony (Eroica).
• 1827 - John Walker (inventor), an English chemist, invents the friction match.
• 1831 - Emperor Pedro I of Brazil abdicates in favor of his son, Pedro II.
• 1856 - Foundation of Nelson College, Nelson, New Zealand.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends - Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeat the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
• 1906 - Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.
• 1906 - The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco.
• 1908 - Herbert Henry Asquith takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
• 1922 - Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior leases Teapot Dome petroleum reserves in Wyoming.
• 1927 - First long distance public television broadcast (Washington, DC to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).
• 1933 - The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, the first law meant to discriminate specifically against Jews is passed by the National Socialist regime in Germany.
• 1934 - The U.S. Congress passes the Jones-Connally Farm-Relief Act.
• 1939 - World War II: Italy invades Albania.
• 1940 - Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
• 1943 - First synthesis of LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, by Albert Hoffman
• 1945 - World War II: The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk 200 miles north of Okinawa while in-route to a suicide mission.
• 1945 - Kantaro Suzuki becomes the 42nd Prime Minister of Japan
• 1946 - Syria's independence from Vichy France is officially recognised
• 1948 - The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
• 1952 - The manga Astro Boy debuts in the monthly magazine Shōnen.
• 1953 - Dag Hammarskjöld is elected United Nations Secretary General.
• 1954 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
• 1955 - Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1956 - Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco.
• 1963 - Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a Socialist republic and Josip Broz Tito is named President for life.
• 1964 - IBM announces the System/360
• 1967 - Six-Day War: Israeli fighters shoot down seven Syrian MIG-21s.
• 1968 - Formula One racer Jim Clark is killed in an accident during a Formula 2 race in Hockenheim, Germany.
• 1969 - The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1.
• 1977 - German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light
• 1977 - Toronto Blue Jays play their first-ever game of baseball against the Chicago White Sox
• 1980 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
• 1983 - During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk (duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes).
• 1989 - Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway after a fire. 42 sailors die.
• 1990 - Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal but the convictions were later reversed after an appeal.
• 1992 - Republika Srpska announces its independence.
• 1994 - Massacres of Tutsis begin in Kigali, Rwanda.
• 1998 - Citicorp and Travelers Group announce plans to merge creating the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world, Citigroup.
• 1998 - Singer George Michael is arrested in a Beverly Hills public restroom for "engaging in a lewd act."
• 1999 - Kosovo War: Kosovo's main border crossings are closed by Serbian forces to prevent ethnic Albanians from leaving.
• 2001 - Mars Odyssey is launched.
• 2001 - An M-17 helicopter crashes into mountain in south of Hanoi, Vietnam killing 16.
• 2003 - US troops capture Baghdad, Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later
• 2005 - The State of Connecticut allows same-sex civil unions.

• 1506 - Saint Francis Xavier, Spanish founder of the Society of Jesus (d. 1552)
• 1613 - Gerhard Douw, Dutch painter (d. 1675)
• 1644 - François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier (d. 1730)
• 1648 - John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (d. 1721)
• 1652 - Pope Clement XII (d. 1740)
• 1718 - Hugh Blair, Scottish preacher and man of letters (d. 1800)
• 1727 - Michel Adanson, French botanist (d. 1806)
• 1763 - Domenico Dragonetti, Italian composer
• 1770 - William Wordsworth, English poet (d. 1850)
• 1772 - Charles Fourier, French philosopher (d. 1837)
• 1803 - James Curtiss, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1859)
• 1848 - Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1930)
• 1860 - Will Keith Kellogg, American cereal manufacturer (d. 1951)
• 1867 - Holger Pedersen, Danish linguist (d. 1953)
• 1870 - Gustav Landauer, German anarchist and revolutionary (d. 1919)
• 1873 - John McGraw, baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
• 1883 - Gino Severini, Italian painter (d. 1966)
• 1886 - Ed Lafitte, Baseball player (d. 1971)
• 1889 - Gabriela Mistral, Chilean writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1890 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist and writer (d. 1998)
• 1891 - Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish inventor (d. 1958)
• 1893 - Allen Dulles, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d. 1969)
• 1897 - Walter Winchell, American broadcaster and journalist (d. 1972)
• 1899 - Robert Casadesus, French pianist (d. 1972)
• 1908 - Percy Faith, Canadian composer and musician (d. 1976)
• 1915 - Billie Holiday, American singer (d. 1959)
• 1915 - Henry Kuttner, American writer (d. 1958)
• 1917 - R.G. Armstrong, American actor
• 1918 - Bobby Doerr, baseball player
• 1919 - Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer
• 1920 - Ravi Shankar, Indian sithar player
• 1922 - Mongo Santamaria, Cuban musician (d. 2003)
• 1924 - Johannes Mario Simmel, Austrian writer
• 1927 - Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian drummer (d. 2003)
• 1928 - James Garner, American actor
• 1928 - Alan J. Pakula, American producer and director (d. 1998)
• 1929 - Bob Denard, French soldier
• 1930 - Andrew Sachs, British actor
• 1931 - Donald Barthelme, American author
• 1933 - Wayne Rogers, American actor
• 1934 - Ian Richardson, British actor
• 1935 - Bobby Bare, American musician
• 1936 - Jean-Pierre Changuex, French neuroscientist
• 1938 - Jerry Brown, American politician
• 1938 - Freddie Hubbard, American jazz trumpeter
• 1939 - Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
• 1939 - Sir David Frost, English broadcaster and television host
• 1944 - Julia Phillips, American film producer and writer (d. 2002)
• 1944 - Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
• 1945 - Joël Robuchon, French chef
• 1946 - Colette Besson, French runner
• 1949 - John Oates, American musician (Hall and Oates)
• 1951 - Janis Ian, American singer and songwriter
• 1954 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong actor
• 1954 - Tony Dorsett, American football player
• 1955 - Werner Stocker, German actor (d. 1993)
• 1956 - Charles Carreon, American lawyer and author
• 1956 - Christopher Darden, American O.J. Simpson prosecuter
• 1961 - Pascal Olmeta, French footballer
• 1962 - Hugh O'Connor, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1962 - Alain Robert, French rock and urban climber
• 1964 - Russell Crowe, New Zealand actor
• 1965 - Bill Bellamy, American actor and comedian
• 1966 - Gary Wilkinson, English snooker player
• 1970 - Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist
• 1971 - Guillaume Depardieu, French actor, son of Gérard Depardieu
• 1973 - Carole Montillet, French skier
• 1975 - Tiki Barber, New York Giants Running Back (American Football)
• 1975 - Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cornerback (American Football)
• 1979 - Tony Malone, British designer and activist

• 858 - Pope Benedict III
• 1307 - Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I of England (b. 1271)
• 1498 - King Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)
• 1614 - El Greco, Greek-born artist (b. 1541)
• 1638 - Shimazu Tadatsune, Japanese ruler of Satsuma (b. 1576)
• 1651 - Lennart Torstenson, Swedish soldier and engineer (b. 1603)
• 1658 - Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, Spanish mystic (b. 1595)
• 1661 - William Brereton, English soldier and politician (b. 1604)
• 1663 - Francis Cooke, Mayflower pilgrim
• 1668 - William Davenant, English poet (b. 1606)
• 1719 - Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French saint (b. 1651)
• 1739 - Dick Turpin, English highwayman (hanged) (b. 1706)
• 1747 - Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshall (b. 1676)
• 1761 - Thomas Bayes English mathematician (b. 1702)
• 1766 - Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (b. 1685)
• 1767 - Franz Sparry, composer (b. 1715)
• 1782 - Taksin, King of Thailand (b. 1734)
• 1789 - Abd-ul-Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1725)
• 1789 - Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (b. 1722)
• 1801 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (b. 1724)
• 1823 - Jacques Charles, French chemist (b. 1746)
• 1833 - Antoni Radziwiłł, Polish politician (b. 1775)
• 1836 - William Godwin, English political writer (b. 1756)
• 1850 - William Lisle Bowles, English poet and critic (b. 1762)
• 1858 - Anton Diabelli, Austrian music publisher, editor, and composer (b. 1781)
• 1871 - Alexander Lloyd, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
• 1885 - Carl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (b. 1804)
• 1891 - P. T. Barnum, American circus impresario (b. 1810)
• 1928 - Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician and philosopher (b. 1873)
• 1939 - Joseph Lyons, tenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1879)
• 1943 - Jovan Ducic, Serbian poet
• 1943 - Alexandre Millerand, President of France (b. 1859)
• 1947 - Henry Ford, American automobile manufacturer and industrialist (b. 1863)
• 1950 - Walter Huston, Canadian-born actor (b. 1884)
• 1955 - Theda Bara, American film actress (b. 1885)
• 1968 - Jimmy Clark, Scottish race car driver (b. 1936)
• 1981 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
• 1984 - Frank Church, U.S. Senator from Idaho (b. 1924)
• 1986 - Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1912)
• 1990 - Ronald Evans, astronaut (b. 1933)
• 1994 - Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic professional football player and politician (b. 1923)
• 1994 - Golo Mann, German historian (b. 1909)
• 1994 - Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Prime Minister of Rwanda (b. 1953)
• 1997 - Witto Aloma, baseball player (b. 1923)
• 1997 - Georgi Shonin, cosmonaut (b. 1935)
• 1998 - Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist and environmentalist (b. 1890)
• 2001 - David Graf, American actor (b. 1950)
• 2001 - Beatrice Straight, American actress (b. 1914)
• 2002 - John Agar, American actor (b. 1921)
• 2003 - Cecile de Brunhoff, French storyteller (b. 1903)
• 2005 - Bob Kennedy, baseball player and manager (b. 1920)

• Araw ng Kagitingan was moved this year from April 9 to April 7 to give the residents a long weekend and help tourism in the Philippines.
• World Health Day - April 7th of every year is designated as World Health Day and celebrated by the 191 member countries of the World Health Organization to emphasize significant issues in public health of worldwide concern. Observed annually since 1948.
• Mozambique - Women's Day

April 6 - April 8 - March 7 - May 7 -- listing of all days