November 7

Events

• 1665 - The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, is first published.
• 1837 - In Alton, Illinois, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy is shot to death by a mob (supporters of slavery) while he was attempting to protect his printing shop from being destroyed a third time.
• 1848 - U.S. presidential election, 1848: Zachary Taylor is elected president in the first US presidential election held in every state on the same day.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Belmont - In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.
• 1874 - A cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, is considered the first important use of an elephant as a symbol for the United States Republican Party [1].
• 1885 - Canadian Pacific Railway finished: In Craigellachie, British Columbia, construction ends on a railway extending across Canada. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald considered the project to be vital to Canada.
• 1893 - Colorado women are granted the right to vote.
• 1914 - The first issue of The New Republic magazine is published.
• 1916 - Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives.
• 1917 - Russian Revolution begins: In Russia, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin leads his leftist revolutionaries in a nearly bloodless coup d'état against the ineffective Provisional Government (Russia was still using the Julian Calendar at the time, so period references show a October 25 date).
• 1917 - World War I: Battle of Gaza ends - United Kingdom forces capture Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.
• 1929 - In New York City, the Museum of Modern Art opens to the public.
• 1932 - Buck Rogers in the 25th Century airs on radio for the first time.
• 1940 - In Washington, the middle section of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses in a windstorm, a mere four months after the bridge's completion (it opened to traffic on July 1, 1940 as the third-longest suspension bridge in the world).
• 1944 - U.S. presidential election, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins reelection over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey to become the only U.S. president to be elected to a forth term.
• 1956 - Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to withdraw their troops from Egypt immediately.
• 1957 - Cold War: In the United States, the Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and fallout shelters.
• 1962 - Richard M. Nixon loses the California governor's race. In his concession speech, he states that this is his "last press conference" and that "you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more".
• 1963 - The comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premieres.
• 1963 - Wunder von Lengede: In Germany, 11 miners are rescued from a collapsed mine after 14 days.
• 1967 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
• 1972 - U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern (the election had the lowest voter turnout since 1948 with only 55 percent of the electorate voting).
• 1973 - The United States Congress overrides President Richard M. Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.
• 1987 - In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
• 1988 - Boxing: In Las Vegas, Nevada, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard knocks out Donnie LaLonde.
• 1989 - Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.
• 1989 - David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor of New York City.
• 1989 - In California, convicted murder Richard Ramirez (the "Night Stalker") is sentenced to death.
• 1991 - Basketball player Magic Johnson announces he tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, and that he was retiring.
• 1996 - NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor.
• 1996 - A Nigerian Boeing 727 crashes into a lagoon 40 miles southeast of Lagos, Nigeria killing 143
• 2000 - U.S. presidential election, 2000: Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush defeats Democrat Vice President Al Gore, but the final outcome is not known for over a month because of disputed votes in Florida.
• 2000 - Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.
• 2001 - The super-sonic commercial aircraft Concorde resumes flying after a 15-month break.
• 2002 - Iran bans advertising of US products.

Births

• 1867 - Marie Curie, chemist, physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics 1903 and in chemistry 1911 († 1934)
• 1875 - Mikhail Kalinin, Soviet military († 1946)
• 1878 - Lise Meitner, physicist
• 1879 - Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary († 1940)
• 1897 - Herman J. Mankiewicz, writer, director, producer († 1953)
• 1903 - Konrad Lorenz, zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1973 († 1989)
• 1903 - Dean Jagger, actor († 1991)
• 1913 - Albert Camus, writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1957 († 1960)
• 1914 - Archie Campbell, comedian († 1987)
• 1918 - Billy Graham, evangelist
• 1922 - Al Hirt, musician († 1999)
• 1926 - Dame Joan Sutherland, opera singer
• 1937 - Mary Travers, singer (Peter, Paul, and Mary)
• 1942 - Johnny Rivers, singer, composer
• 1943 - Joni Mitchell, musician
• 1964 - Dana Plato, actress († 1999)

Deaths

• 1893 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer
• 1913 - Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and biologist
• 1959 - Victor McLaglen, actor
• 1962 - Eleanor Roosevelt, human rights activist, First Lady of the United States
• 1967 - John Nance Garner, US Representative and Vice President
• 1974 - Eric Linklater, author
• 1980 - Steve McQueen, actor
• 1983 - Germaine Tailleferre, French composer
• 1992 - Alexander Dubcek, Slovak politician
• 2002 - Rudolf Augstein, publisher (Der Spiegel)

Holidays and Observances

See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By