On This Day - September 7
What Happened On This Day In History - September 7
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1909 – Eugène Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first aviator in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft.
1911 – French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum.
1916 – US federal employees win the right to Workers' compensation by Federal Employers Liability Act (39 Stat. 742; 5 U.S.C. 751)
1920 – Two newly purchased Savoia flying boats crash in the Swiss Alps en route to Finland where they would serve with the Finnish Air Force, killing both crews.
1921 – In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held.
1921 – The Legion of Mary, the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church, is founded in Dublin, Ireland.
1923 – The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is formed.
1927 – The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Farnsworth.
1929 – Steamer Kuru capsizes and sinks on Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere in Finland. One hundred thirty-six lives are lost.
1932 – The Battle of Boquerón, the first major battle of the Chaco War, commences.
1936 – The last thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial named Benjamin, dies alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
1940 – Romania returns Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria under the Treaty of Craiova.
1940 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe begins the Blitz, bombing London and other British cities for over 50 consecutive nights.
1942 – World War II: Japanese marines are forced to withdraw during the Battle of Milne Bay.
1943 – A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston kills 55 people.
1943 – World War II: The German 17th Army begins its evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead (Taman Peninsula) in southern Russia and moves across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea.
1945 – World War II: Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December of 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines.
1945 – The Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 is held.
1953 – Nikita Khrushchev is elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1963 – The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with 17 charter members.
1965 – During an Indo-Pakistani War, China announces that it will reinforce its troops on the Indian border.
1965 – Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlite, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula.
1970 – Fighting begins between Arab guerrillas and government forces in Jordan.
1970 – Bill Shoemaker beats Johnny Longden's record to become the winningest jockey in horse racing history at Del Mar racetrack
1977 – The Torrijos–Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
1977 – The 300-metre-tall CKVR-DT transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed.
1978 – While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Gullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella.
1979 – The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for US$1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
1984 – An explosion on board a Maltese patrol boat disposing of illegal fireworks at sea off Gozo kills seven soldiers and policemen.
1986 – Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town.
1988 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, returns to Earth after nine days on the Mir space station.
1996 – Rapper and hip hop artist Tupac Shakur is fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He succumbs to his injuries 6-days later.
1997 – Maiden flight of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
1999 – The 6.0 Mw Athens earthquake affected the area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 143, injuring 800–1,600, and leaving 50,000 homeless.
2005 – Egypt holds its first-ever multi-party presidential election.
2008 – The United States government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
2010 – A Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands.
2011 – A plane crash in Russia kills 43 people, including nearly the entire roster of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League team.
2012 – Canada officially cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran and orders the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over nuclear plans and purported human rights abuses.