Did you know
In 1992, Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
May 7 in History
1992 — Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49
May 7 spans 56 recorded events across recorded history, from 351 to 2025. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
56 events
351 – 2025
Today in history
More major events on May 7
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer. Source
- 2000 Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia. Source
- 1942 World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships. Source
Did you know
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was canceled in 1972. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
351
The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
Revolt against Rome (351–352)
558
In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction.
Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.
1104
The Seljuk emirs of Mosul and Mardin defeat the Crusader States of Antioch and Edessa.
Turco-Persianate empire (1037–1194)
1190
The Crusader army of emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeats an army of the Rum Seljuks in the battle of Philomelion.
Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to 1190
1274
In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens; it ratified a decree to regulate the election of the Pope.
14th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church (1272–74)
1342
In Avignon, France, Cardinal Pierre Roger is elected Pope and takes the name Clement VI.
Prefecture of Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
1487
The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.
Part of the Reconquista of Spain
1544
The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.
1544 military action of the Rough Wooing
1664
Inaugural celebrations begin at Louis XIV's new Palace of Versailles.
King of France from 1643 to 1715
1685
Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.
1685 battle of the Great Turkish War between Venetians/Montenegrins and Ottomans
1697
Stockholm's medieval castle Tre Kronor is destroyed by fire.
It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.
1718
The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
Consolidated city-parish in Louisiana, US
1763
Pontiac's War begins with Pontiac's attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.
1763 conflict by indigenous Native Americans against the British in Canada
1765
HMS Victory is launched at Chatham Dockyard, Kent.
She is not commissioned until 1778.
1775
The Ottoman Empire cedes Bukovina to the Habsburg monarchy.
Turkish Empire (c. 1299–1922)
1794
French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
1789–1799 sociopolitical change in France
1798
French Revolutionary Wars: A French force attempting to dislodge a small British garrison on the Îles Saint-Marcouf is repulsed with heavy losses.
1792–1802 wars
1824
World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria.
The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.
1832
Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.
International conference to establish the Kingdom of Greece
1840
The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people.
It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
1864
American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S.
Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
1864
The world's oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co.
in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.
1895
In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver.
In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
1915
World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans.
Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
1915
The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan's control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.
Government of China from 1912 to 1928
1920
Polish–Soviet War: Kyiv offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kyiv only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
20th-century conflict between Poland and Russia
1920
Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
Treaty between Russia and Georgia
1930
The 7.1 Mw Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).
Up to three-thousand people were killed.
1931
The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.
American murderer (1912–1932)
1937
Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
1936–1939 civil war in Spain
1940
World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1942
World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
Major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II
1945
World War II: Last German U-boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
German submarine
1946
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded.
Japanese multinational corporation
1948
The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
International organisation
1952
The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.
Electronic circuit formed on a small, flat piece of semiconductor material
1954
Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).
1946–1954 French colonial war in Indochina
1960
Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR
1964
Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44.
Aviation accident caused by hijacking
1986
Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
Canadian photographer and mountain climber
1991
A fire and explosion occurs at a fireworks factory at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, killing 26.
1991 explosion in Sungai Buloh, Malaysia
1992
Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law.
This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
1992
Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery.
It is the first "fast-food murder" in Canada.
1994
Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
Norwegian painter (1863–1944)
1998
Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
German luxury automotive brand
1999
Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005
1999
Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.
1998–1999 armed conflict in the Balkans
1999
In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
Country in West Africa
2000
Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.
President of Russia (2000–2008; since 2012)
2002
An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.
2002 aviation accident in Tunisia
2002
A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
2002 aircraft accident in Bohai Bay
2004
American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamist militants.
The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.
2023
Tanur boat disaster: At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India.
Boat capsizing in Malappuram, India
2025
The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conduct surgical strikes code-named Operation SINDOOR on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam Attack that killed 26 people.
Land service branch of the Indian Armed Forces