Did you know
In 1743, The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
August 7 in History
1743 — The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War
August 7 spans 52 recorded events across recorded history, from 461 to 2020. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
52 events
461 – 2020
Today in history
More major events on August 7
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1789 The United States Department of War is established. Source
- 1987 Cold War: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union. Source
- 1942 World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. Source
Did you know
The Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 was instigated by the Hats, a Swedish political party that aspired to regain the territories lost to Russia during the Great Northern War, and by French diplomacy, which sought to divert Russia's attention from supporting its long-standing ally the Habsburg monarchy in the War of the Austrian Succession. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
The war was a disaster for Sweden, which lost more territory to Russia. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
In 1743, The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.
Did you know
In 1743, The Treaty of Åbo ended the 1741–1743 Russo-Swedish War had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.
461
Roman Emperor Majorian is beheaded near the river Iria in north-west Italy following his arrest and deposition by the magister militum Ricimer.
Western Roman emperor from 457 to 461
610
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628: Sassanid troops under general Shahrbaraz conquer the town of Zenobia.
Last war between the Byzantine and Sasanian empires
626
The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Constantinople.
Alliance of various Eurasian nomads – 6th to 9th centuries
768
Pope Stephen III is elected to office, and quickly seeks Frankish protection against the Lombard threat, since the Byzantine Empire is no longer able to help.
Head of the Catholic Church from 768 to 772
1461
The Ming dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.
Imperial dynasty of China (1368–1644)
1479
Battle of Guinegate: French troops of King Louis XI were defeated by the Burgundians led by Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg.
Battle between France and the Habsburg royals
1679
The brigantine Le Griffon becomes the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America.
Two-masted sailing vessel
1714
The Battle of Gangut: The first important victory of the Russian Navy.
1714 battle of the Great Northern War
1782
George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle.
It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart.
1786
The first federal Indian Reservation is created by the United States.
Land managed by Native American nations under the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs
1789
The United States Department of War is established.
Former US government agency (1789–1947)
1791
American troops destroy the Miami town of Kenapacomaqua near the site of present-day Logansport, Indiana in the Northwest Indian War.
Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, U.S.
1794
U.S.
President George Washington invokes the Militia Acts of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
1819
Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.
Venezuelan statesman and military officer (1783–1830)
1858
The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College.
Contact sport
1890
Anna Månsdotter, found guilty of the 1889 Yngsjö murder, became the last woman to be executed in Sweden.[better source needed]
Homicide in Sweden (1889)
1909
Alice Huyler Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip, taking 59 days to travel from New York, New York to San Francisco, California.
Vehicular pioneer (1886–1983)
1927
The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.
Truss arch bridge connecting US to Canada
1930
The last confirmed lynching of black people in the Northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana; two men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, are murdered.
Extrajudicial killing by a group
1933
The Kingdom of Iraq slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele.
This date is recognized as Martyrs Day or National Day of Mourning by the Assyrian community in memory of the Simele massacre.
1942
World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal begins as the United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1944
IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
American multinational technology company
1946
The government of the Soviet Union presented a note to its Turkish counterparts which refuted the latter's sovereignty over the Turkish Straits, thus beginning the Turkish Straits crisis.
Country in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991
1947
Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.
Norwegian anthropologist and adventurer (1914–2002)
1947
The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
Administrative body for the city of Mumbai
1959
Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Ongoing NASA space exploration program
1962
Canadian-born American pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey is awarded the U.S.
President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for her refusal to authorize thalidomide.
1964
Vietnam War: The U.S.
Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
1969
Richard Nixon appoints Luis R.
Bruce, a Mohawk-Oglala Sioux and co-founder of the National Congress of American Indians, as the new commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1970
California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
American judge and murder victim (1904–1970)
1974
Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.
French highwire artist (born 1949)
1976
Viking program: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars.
Pair of NASA landers and orbiters sent to Mars in 1976
1978
U.S.
President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently.
1981
The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
Washington, D.C. newspaper (1852–1981)
1985
Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1954)
1987
Cold War: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, crossing the Bering Strait from Little Diomede Island in Alaska to Big Diomede in the Soviet Union.
1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR
1989
U.S.
Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
1989
The National Cold Fusion Institute opened in Salt Lake City.
Defunct American nonprofit research institute
1990
First American soldiers arrive in Saudi Arabia as part of the Gulf War.
1990–1991 conflict in the Middle East
1993
Ada Deer, a Menominee activist, is sworn in as the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Native American scholar and politician (1935–2023)
1995
The Chilean government declares state of emergency in the southern half of the country in response to an event of intense, cold, wind, rain and snowfall known as the White Earthquake.
Declaration by a government allowing assumption of extraordinary power
1997
Space Shuttle Program: The Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-85 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1972–2011 United States human spaceflight program
1997
Fine Air Flight 101 crashes after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing five people.
1997 aircraft accident in Florida
1998
Bombings at United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people.
Attacks on US embassies in Africa
1999
The Chechnya-based Islamic International Brigade invades neighboring Dagestan.
Republic of Russia in the North Caucasus
2007
At AT&T Park, Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record.
Baseball park in San Francisco, United States
2008
The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia.
2008 war between Russia and Georgia
2020
Air India Express Flight 1344 overshoots the runway at Calicut International Airport in the Malappuram district of Kerala, India, and crashes, killing 21 of the 190 people on board.
2020 aviation accident in Kerala, India