On This Day: 7 April

7 April in Indian history

• 1965Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate in Washington, D.C., against the termination of the Colville tribe.India

7 April in world history

• 2018Syria launches the Douma chemical attack during the Eastern Ghouta offensive of the Syrian Civil War.
• 2003Iraq War: U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime falls two days later.
• 2001NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, launched from Cape Canaveral.
• 1994Rwandan Civil War: The Rwandan genocide began a few hours after the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana, with hundreds of thousands killed in the following 100 days.
• 1994Auburn Calloway attempts to destroy Federal Express Flight 705 in order to allow his family to benefit from his life insurance policy.
• 1980During the Iran hostage crisis, the United States severs relations with Iran.
• 1979Uganda–Tanzania War: Tanzanian forces defeated Ugandan troops and their Libyan allies at the Battle of Entebbe, opening the way for an advance on the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
• 1972Communist forces overran the South Vietnamese town of Lộc Ninh.
• 1971Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces his decision to quicken the pace of Vietnamization.
• 1968Two-time Formula One British World Champion Jim Clark dies in an accident during a Formula Two race in Hockenheim.
• 1949The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, based on Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener, opened on Broadway.
• 1946The Soviet Union annexes East Prussia as the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
• 1945World War II: U.S. forces sank the Japanese battleship Yamato during Operation Kikusui I in the East China Sea.
• 1943The National Football League makes helmets mandatory.
• 1933Prohibition in the United States is repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. (Now celebrated as National Beer Day in the United States.)
• 1896An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen reached 86°13.6′N, almost three degrees beyond the previous Farthest North latitude.
• 1862American Civil War: Union forces defeated Confederate troops at the Battle of Shiloh, at the time the bloodiest battle in U.S. history, in Hardin County, Tennessee.

Born on 7 April

• 1942Jeetendra, Indian actor, TV and film producerIndia
• 1925Chaturanan Mishra, Indian trade union leader and politician (died 2011)India
• 1920Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (died 2012)India
• 1897Erich Löwenhardt, Polish-German lieutenant and pilot (died 1918)
• 1889Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957)
• 1763Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (died 1846)

Died on 7 April

• 2014V. K. Murthy, Indian cinematographer (born 1923)India
• 2012David E. Pergrin, American colonel and engineer (born 1917)
• 1949John Gourlay, Canadian soccer player (born 1872)
• 1804Toussaint Louverture, Haitian general (born 1743)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 7 April in history?

2018: Syria launches the Douma chemical attack during the Eastern Ghouta offensive of the Syrian Civil War. 2003: Iraq War: U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime falls two days later. 2001: NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, launched from Cape Canaveral. 1994: Rwandan Civil War: The Rwandan genocide began a few hours after the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana, with hundreds of thousands killed in the following 100 days.

What happened on 7 April in Indian history?

1965: Representatives of the National Congress of American Indians testify before members of the US Senate in Washington, D.C., against the termination of the Colville tribe.

Which famous people were born on 7 April?

Jeetendra, Indian actor, TV and film producer (1942); Chaturanan Mishra, Indian trade union leader and politician (died 2011) (1925); Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (died 2012) (1920); Erich Löwenhardt, Polish-German lieutenant and pilot (died 1918) (1897).

Which day is observed on 7 April?

World Health Day; Flag Day (Slovenia); Women's Day (Mozambique); World Health Day (International observance).