On This Day: 7 December

7 December in Indian history

• 1971The Battle of Sylhet is fought between the Pakistani military and the Indian Army.India

7 December in world history

• 2024Battle of Damascus (2024): Syrian opposition forces enter the Rif Dimashq Governorate, reaching within 20 km of the capital Damascus.
• 2016Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661, a domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, operated by an ATR-42-500 crashes near Havelian, killing all 47 on board.
• 1995The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
• 1988A 6.8 Ms earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people.
• 1983An Iberia Airlines Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 in dense fog while the two airliners are taxiing down the runway at Madrid–Barajas Airport, killing 93 people.
• 1982In Texas, Charles Brooks Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.
• 1972Construction workers found the remains of Martin Bormann near Lehrter Station in Berlin, ending a decades-long search after his conviction in absentia at the Nuremberg trials.
• 1972Apollo 17, the last Apollo Moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
• 1971Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a coalition government with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Deputy Prime Minister.
• 1965Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
• 1942Second World War: A small unit of Royal Marines launched Operation Frankton, in which they damaged six ships in the port of Bordeaux in German-occupied France.
• 1941World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (For Japan's near-simultaneous attacks on Eastern Hemisphere
• 1936Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
• 1932German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
• 1862American Civil War: The Battle of Prairie Grove ended a Confederate attempt to regain control of northwestern Arkansas.
• 1837British troops swiftly defeated rebels led by William Lyon Mackenzie and Anthony Van Egmond at the Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, the only major confrontation of the Upper Canada Rebellion.
• 43 BCCicero, widely considered one of ancient Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists, was killed after having been proscribed as an enemy of the state.

Born on 7 December

• 1994Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater
• 1954Mark Hofmann, a.k.a. the Mormon Murderer; American counterfeiter, forger of fake Mormon historical documents, and convicted murderer
• 1952Davinder Singh, Indian field hockey player (died 2026)India
• 1923Intizar Hussain, Indian-Pakistani author and scholar (died 2016)India
• 1921Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Indian guru and scholar (died 2016)India
• 1902Hilda Taba, Estonian architect, author, and educator (died 1967)

Died on 7 December

• 2005Bud Carson, American football player and coach (born 1931)
• 2003Carl F. H. Henry American journalist and theologian (born 1913)
• 1817William Bligh, English admiral and politician, 4th Governor of New South Wales (born 1745)
• 1672Richard Bellingham, English-American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (born 1592)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 7 December in history?

2024: Battle of Damascus (2024): Syrian opposition forces enter the Rif Dimashq Governorate, reaching within 20 km of the capital Damascus. 2016: Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661, a domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, operated by an ATR-42-500 crashes near Havelian, killing all 47 on board. 1995: The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34. 1988: A 6.8 Ms earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people.

What happened on 7 December in Indian history?

1971: The Battle of Sylhet is fought between the Pakistani military and the Indian Army.

Which famous people were born on 7 December?

Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater (1994); Mark Hofmann, a.k.a. the Mormon Murderer; American counterfeiter, forger of fake Mormon historical documents, and convicted murderer (1954); Davinder Singh, Indian field hockey player (died 2026) (1952); Intizar Hussain, Indian-Pakistani author and scholar (died 2016) (1923).

Which day is observed on 7 December?

Armed Forces Flag Day; Armed Forces Flag Day (India); Eve of the Immaculate Conception-related observances: Day of the Little Candles, begins after sunset (Colombia); International Civil Aviation Day; National Heroes Day (East Timor).