Important Events From This day in History December 7th

 

1941 Hawaii -- Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor

1941 : Japan launches a surprise dawn attack using midget submarines, 350 bombers and torpedo carrying planes targeting warships, aircraft and military installations on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and has declared war on Britain and the United States. The attack destroyed two battleships, one minelayer, two destroyers with the loss of more than 2,300 US servicemen The US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has mobilized all forces and is poised to declare war on Japan. The next day when the president addressed Congress and the nation he swore that America would never forget December 7, 1941, as a "date that would live in infamy." Find More What happened in 1941

1931 U.S.A. -- Ford Model A

Ford produces the last Ford Model A and discontinues production and closes the factory to retool ready for the Ford V8 which is planned for production starting in April 1932

1960 Great Britain -- Coronation Street

1960 : The first episode of "Coronation Street" based in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester is broadcast. Coronation Street is the longest running TV soap opera in the world, made by Granada Television.

1987 U.S.A -- Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in the United States for an arms control summit with Ronald Reagan. The summit resulted in one of the most significant arms control agreements of the Cold War. Reagan and Gorbachev signed off on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, which called for the elimination of all ground cruise and ballistic missiles and launchers in Europe with ranges of 320 to 3,400 miles.

1911 India -- King George

King George and Queen Mary rode through Delhi amidst a military salute and the singing of the national anthem. The royal couple met with 150 Rajahs, Maharajahs, and Sultans and other classes of the rich and powerful of India. Elephants were banned from the parade for fear of them charging

1926 Africa -- Heikum Bushmen

1926 : The British government was interested in saving the Heikum Bushmen who were referred to as pygmies. The pygmies centuries ago had made up the majority of Africa, but their tribe had dwindled into such small numbers that they were believed to be extinct. Recently, an explorer had discovered some of the Bushmen and others went armed with sugar, tobacco, and a gramophone to gain their trust and persuade them to come to safety. Great Britain Col Josiah Wedgewood of the Labor Party suggested that the Duke of Windsor should be brought back to England and made governor general of either Canada or Australia if one of the countries would have him. Wedgewwood felt that persecution of the duke and duchess was ridiculous and was willing to start a movement to bring Edward back to England.

1948 Canada -- 87 degrees Below Zero

1948 : In the Yukon a weather record was set when it dipped down to 87 degree below zero (Fahrenheit).

1955 UK -- Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee resigns as leader of the British labour Party who were beaten in general elections in 1951 by the Conservative party led by Sir Anthony Eden. Clement Attlee and the labour party came to power at the end of World War II in 1945 and implemented many of the recommendations of the report for social reform which became known as the 'cradle to grave' welfare state. The changes included the nationalisation of major industries and public utilities which by 1951 included 20% of the workforce who were then working for the government in Britain. The creation of the National Health Service which provided free healthcare for all. They implemented the National Insurance Act 1946 which deducted a flat rate of national insurance tax. These deductions in turn provided flat-rate pensions, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, and funeral benefit.

1959 Antarctica -- Dogs

In McMurdo Sound the overabundance of dogs became a problem, since they were not being used as much. A female dog could potentially produce up to sixteen pups a year. With 11 male dogs and 10 females their capacity to breed could get astronomical. New homes were sought for the dogs outside of Antarctica.

1962 Israel -- Gentiles

Jews who have converted to another religion cannot enter Israel under the "law of return" as Brother Daniel (Oswald Rufeisen) found out. While hiding from the Nazis Brother Daniel stayed in a convent and became Catholic, however, he considers Israel to be his home. In the end he said he would try to enter the county by applying as a gentile.

1977 Egypt -- Soviets Thrown Out

All Soviet consulates and educational centers were ordered to be shut down by Egypt's Prime Minister, Mamdouth Salem. The Soviets and four other ousted European nations were accused of interfering with Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations.

1979 Rhodesia -- Independence

Following the agreement to grant Rhodesia independence British cabinet minister Lord Soames has been named transitional governor of Rhodesia to oversee its progress towards independence.

1986 U.S.A -- Arms To Iran

Under great political pressure, President Reagan admitted that there were mistakes made in the diversion of arms to Iran. He claimed that he had no knowledge that Iran got armaments from the U.S. . However, the majority of the American public did not believe Reagan. The president claimed that he was trying to encourage moderate Iranians, get the release of hostages in Lebanon, and stop the Iran-Iraq war.

1988 Soviet Union -- Earthquake

An 7.2 magnitude earthquake in the Soviet Union completely destroyed the city of Spitak in Armenia with an estimated 50,000 people killed

1993 U.S.A -- Commuter Train Shooting

Colin Ferguson opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17, before other passengers stopped him by tackling and holding him down. He was later convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.

1995 Jupiter -- Galileo spacecraft

The unmanned Galileo spacecraft arrives at the planet Jupiter on it's mission to study the planet and its moons. It had been launched on October 18, 1989 6 years earlier by the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

1999 China -- Human Rights Abuses

For the first time President Bill Clinton spoke out against human rights abuses in China. He pointed out that thousands of Falun Gong members had been imprisoned as threats to China's government. Falun Gong is a mixture of Buddishm, Taoism, and slow exercises.

1999 U.S.A. -- Napster

The Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) files a lawsuit against the new but fast growing Napster file sharing service, on charges of copyright infringement. It was two years in July 2001 before napster was closed down when they lost their case bought using the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

2001 Mexico -- GM Food

Genetically modified food could feed the world's hungry if the rich nations would stop fearing it a U.N. report asserted. The report explained, "Crops altered to produce higher yields could revolutionize farming in Africa, Latin America, and across the underdeveloped world" However, those who believe that nature should not be tampered with call genetically modified food "Frankenfood".

2001 Afghanistan -- Taleban Regime Surrenders

The Taleban regime gives up its stronghold in Kandahar, after only 61 days of war in Afghanistan. US Planes have been bombing the area since the beginning of the war. Taleban fighters have been laying down their arms .

2002 Iraq -- No Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Iraq assures the United Nations it does now have weapons of mass destruction in a declaration to the UN.

2006 UK -- Tornado strikes Kensal Green, London

A Tornado strikes Kensal Green, London damaging 150 homes, ripping up trees and damaging hundreds of cars. Although tornadoes are not common in the UK there are about 50 reported per year but very few do much damage, this is the worst tornado in the UK for more than 40 years.

2006 Italy -- Saint Paul’s tomb is uncovered

Vatican archaeologists have unearthed a sarcophagus that might have the remains of the Apostle Paul in it. It had been buried beneath Rome's second largest basilica. The sarcophagus, which dates back to at least 390 A.D., has been part of the excavation that began in 2002. "Our objective was to bring the remains of the tomb back to light for devotional reasons, so that it could be venerated and be visible," said Giorgio Filippi, the Vatican archaeologist who headed the project at St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica. The interior of the sarcophagus has not yet been explored.

2007 Sudan / Darfur -- Refugee Camps Under Attack

Beginning in 2003 when rebel Darfur groups began attacking Sudanese targets and Sudanese military responded. Now 4 years on nearly 200,000 are dead and over four million have fled their homes now living in refugee camps in Chad and elsewhere. A cease fire was agreed in 2004 and 2006 but the fighting and murder on both sides have continued with no end in sight. The problems have now moved into the refugee camps where those trying to feed and house the refugees are now being targeted by armed militia groups who shoot, rob, beat and abduct aid workers. Oxfam and other aid agencies may soon be forced to pull out leaving the 4 million in refugee camps defenceless, and without food, water and shelter unless the United Nations can find a solution.

2009 Denmark -- Climate summit starts in Copenhagen

The biggest climate meeting in history, with attendants from one hundred and ninety two countries has opened in Copenhagen. It will be commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit. Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen has said that one hundred and ten world leaders, including the U.S. President Barack Obama, would be attending the summit, which runs between December 7th and 18th. It is hoped that there will be agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions for the richer nations and that billions of dollars will be raiused for the poorer ones.

During the Climate summit Police in Copenhagen arrest more than 1,000 protesters after a huge climate change rally. The move came after youths threw bricks and smashed windows as more than thirty thousand demonstrators marched to demand action at the U.N. climate change summit. A police spokesman said that almost all of those arrested have now been released with only a few facing charges. Similar marches were held in cities around the world.

2011 Colombia -- Colombians Protest Against Farc

Tens of thousands of Colombians across the country gathered to protest against the left-wing guerrilla group Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) that has been trying to overthrow the Colombian government since the 1960s. The protesters demanded that the rebel group release hostages and stop killing people in the country. The protests were spurred on by the recent killing of four hostages by Farc. Farc responded by saying that they would release some hostages but gave no details as to when or how many.

2013 North Korea -- Detained US Citizen Release

Eighty-five year old Merrill Newman, a Korean War veteran, was released in North Korea after having been detained while visiting as a tourist in October. North Korean authorities released him after he had written and recited a public apology for crimes committed against the secretive country. North Korea has been previously accused of coercing confessions out of detainees and Newman's family insisted that this had been a case of mistaken identity.

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