On This Day: 7 November

7 November in world history

• 2004Iraq War: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day state of emergency as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
• 2000Hillary Clinton was elected as a US senator from New York, the first time a first lady had been elected to public office.
• 2000The controversial US presidential election is later resolved in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, electing George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States.
• 2000The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration discovers one of the country's largest LSD labs inside a converted military missile silo in Wamego, Kansas.
• 1996NASA launched the Mars Global Surveyor from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1991Magic Johnson announced his retirement from professional basketball due to HIV infection.
• 1987Singapore's first Mass Rapid Transit line opened, with train services running between Yio Chu Kang and Toa Payoh.
• 1987In Tunisia, president Habib Bourguiba is overthrown and replaced by Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
• 1983Cold War: The command post exercise Able Archer 83 begins, eventually leading to the Soviet Union to place air units in East Germany and Poland on alert, for fear that NATO was preparing for war
• 1975In Bangladesh, a joint force of people and soldiers takes part in an uprising led by Colonel Abu Taher that ousts and kills Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf, freeing the then house-arrested army chief and future president Major General Ziaur Rahman.
• 1956Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to immediately withdraw their troops from Egypt.
• 1949Oil was discovered in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Azerbaijan, leading to the construction of Neft Daşları, the world's first offshore oil platform.
• 1936Spanish Civil War: The Madrid Defense Council is formed to coordinate the Defense of Madrid against nationalist forces.
• 1916Boston Elevated Railway Company's streetcar No. 393 smashes through the warning gates of the open Summer Street drawbridge in Boston, Massachusetts, plunging into the frigid waters of Fort Point Channel, killing 46 people.
• 1874A cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, is considered the first important use of an elephant as a symbol for the United States Republican Party.
• 1861American Civil War: Future U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant engaged in his first combat leadership role in the Battle of Belmont in Mississippi County, Missouri.
• 1825Jereboam O. Beauchamp murdered Kentucky legislator Solomon P. Sharp; Beauchamp later became the first person legally executed in the state.
• 1811Tecumseh's War: American forces led by William Henry Harrison defeated the forces of Shawnee leader Tecumseh's growing confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana.

Born on 7 November

• 1981Anushka Shetty, Indian actressIndia
• 1966Calvin Borel, American jockey
• 1954Kamal Haasan, Tamil actor, director, producer, and screenwriterIndia
• 1952David Petraeus, American general, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• 1927Hiroshi Yamauchi, Japanese businessman (died 2013)
• 1888C. V. Raman, Indian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970)India

Died on 7 November

• 2020Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth and member of the House of Lords (born 1948)
• 2006Polly Umrigar, Indian cricketer and manager (born 1926)India
• 2000Chidambaram Subramaniam, Indian publisher and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (born 1910)India
• 1991Tom of Finland, Finnish illustrator (born 1920)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 7 November in history?

2004: Iraq War: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day state of emergency as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. 2000: Hillary Clinton was elected as a US senator from New York, the first time a first lady had been elected to public office. 2000: The controversial US presidential election is later resolved in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, electing George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States. 2000: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration discovers one of the country's largest LSD labs inside a converted military missile silo in Wamego, Kansas.

Which famous people were born on 7 November?

Anushka Shetty, Indian actress (1981); Calvin Borel, American jockey (1966); Kamal Haasan, Tamil actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (1954); David Petraeus, American general, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1952).

Which day is observed on 7 November?

National Cancer Awareness Day; Students' Day, the anniversary of B. R. Ambedkar's school entry day. (Maharashtra, India); Commemoration Day, the anniversary of Ben Ali's succession. (Tunisia); Hungarian Opera Day (Hungary); International Inuit Day.