December 7

"December 7th" redirects here. For the film, see December 7th: The Movie.

December 7 in recent years

2023 (Thursday)

2022 (Wednesday)

2021 (Tuesday)

2020 (Monday)

2019 (Saturday)

2018 (Friday)

2017 (Thursday)

2016 (Wednesday)

2015 (Monday)

2014 (Sunday)

December 7 is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 24 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

Pre-1600

• 43 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated in Formia on orders of Marcus Antonius.
• 574 – Byzantine Emperor Justin II, suffering recurring seizures of insanity, adopts his general Tiberius and proclaims him as Caesar.
• 927 – The Sajid emir of Adharbayjan, Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj is defeated and captured by the Qarmatians near Kufa.

1601–1900

• 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, makes landfall. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
• 1724 – Tumult of Thorn: Religious unrest is followed by the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.
• 1732 – The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, England.
• 1776 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arranges to enter the American military as a major general.
• 1787 – Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.
• 1837 – The Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, the only battle of the Upper Canada Rebellion, takes place in Toronto, where the rebels are quickly defeated.
• 1842 – First concert of the New York Philharmonic, founded by Ureli Corelli Hill.

1901–present

• 1904 – Comparative fuel trials begin between warships HMS Spiteful and HMS Peterel: Spiteful was the first warship powered solely by fuel oil, and the trials led to the obsolescence of coal in ships of the Royal Navy.
• 1917 – World War I: The United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
• 1922 – The Parliament of Northern Ireland votes to remain a part of the United Kingdom and not unify with Southern Ireland.
• 1930 – W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts telecasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The telecast also includes the first television advertisement in the United States, for I.J. Fox Furriers, which also sponsored the radio show.
• 1932 – German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
• 1936 – Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton becomes the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings.
• 1941 – World 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 targets, see December 8.)
• 1942 – World War II: British commandos conduct Operation Frankton, a raid on shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
• 1944 – An earthquake along the coast of Wakayama Prefecture in Japan causes a tsunami which kills 1,223 people.
• 1946 – A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia kills 119 people, the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history.
• 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Government of the Republic of China moves from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.
• 1962 – Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his power to advisory and legislative councils.
• 1963 – Instant replay makes its debut during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
• 1965 – Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
• 1971 – The Battle of Sylhet is fought between the Pakistani military and the Indian Army.
• 1971 – Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a coalition government with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Deputy Prime Minister.
• 1972 – Apollo 17, the last Apollo Moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
• 1982 – In Texas, Charles Brooks Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.
• 1982 – The Senior Road Tower collapses in less than 17 seconds. Five workers on the tower are killed and three workers on a building nearby are injured.
• 1983 – An 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.
• 1987 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, a British Aerospace 146-200A, crashes near Paso Robles, California, killing all 43 on board, after a disgruntled passenger shoots his ex-boss traveling on the flight, then shoots both pilots and steers the plane into the ground.
• 1988 – The 6.8 M_s  Armenian earthquake shakes the northern part of the country with a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating), killing 25,000–50,000 and injuring 31,000–130,000.
• 1993 – Long Island Rail Road shooting: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.
• 1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
• 1995 – Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 crashes into the Bo-Dzhausa Mountain, killing 98.
• 1995 – An Air Saint Martin (now Air Caraïbes) Beechcraft 1900 crashes near the Haitian commune of Belle Anse, killing 20.
• 2003 – The Conservative Party of Canada is officially registered, following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
• 2005 – Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of U.S. federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.
• 2015 – The JAXA probe Akatsuki successfully enters orbit around Venus five years after the first attempt.
• 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.
• 2017 – Aztec High School shooting: Former student William Atchison opens fire on former high school, killing 2.

Births

Pre-1600

• 521 – Columba, Irish missionary, monk, and saint (d. 597)
• 903 – Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Persian astronomer and author (d. 986)
• 967 – Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr, Persian Sufi poet (d. 1049)
• 1302 – Azzone Visconti, Italian nobleman (d. 1339)
• 1532 – Louis I, German nobleman and politician (d. 1605)
• 1545 – Henry Stuart, English-Scottish husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1567)
• 1561 – Kikkawa Hiroie, Japanese daimyō (d. 1625)
• 1595 – Injo of Joseon, Korean king (d. 1649)
• 1598 – Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian sculptor and painter (d. 1680)

1601–1900

• 1643 – Giovanni Battista Falda, Italian architect and engraver (d. 1678)
• 1637 – Bernardo Pasquini, Italian organist and composer (d. 1710)
• 1756 – John Littlejohn, American sheriff and Methodist preacher (d. 1836)
• 1764 – Claude Victor-Perrin, French general and politician (d. 1841)
• 1784 – Allan Cunningham, Scottish author and poet (d. 1842)
• 1791 – Ferenc Novák, Hungarian-Slovene priest and poet (d. 1836)
• 1792 – Abraham Jacob van der Aa, Dutch author and academic (d. 1857)
• 1801 – Johann Nestroy, Austrian actor and playwright (d. 1862)
• 1810 – Josef Hyrtl, Hungarian-Austrian anatomist and biologist (d. 1894)
• 1810 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist and biologist (d. 1882)
• 1823 – Leopold Kronecker, Polish-German mathematician and academic (d. 1891)
• 1838 – Thomas Bent, Australian businessman and politician, 22nd Premier of Victoria (d. 1909)
• 1860 – Joseph Cook, English-born Australian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1947)
• 1861 – Henri Mathias Berthelot, French general during World War I (d. 1931)
• 1862 – Paul Adam, French author (d. 1920)
• 1863 – Felix Calonder, Swiss soldier and politician, 36th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1952)
• 1863 – Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1945)
• 1863 – Richard Warren Sears, American businessman, co-founded Sears (d. 1914)
• 1869 – Frank Laver, Australian cricketer (d. 1919)
• 1873 – Willa Cather, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Akiko Yosano, Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer (d. 1942)
• 1879 – Rudolf Friml, Czech-American pianist, composer, and academic (d. 1972)
• 1884 – John Carpenter, American sprinter (d. 1933)
• 1885 – Mason Phelps, American golfer (d. 1945)
• 1885 – Peter Sturholdt, American boxer and painter (d. 1919)
• 1887 – Ernst Toch, Austrian-American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
• 1888 – Joyce Cary, Irish novelist (d. 1957)
• 1888 – Hamilton Fish III, American captain and politician (d. 1991)
• 1892 – Stuart Davis, American painter and academic (d. 1964)
• 1893 – Fay Bainter, American actress (d. 1968)
• 1893 – Hermann Balck, German general (d. 1982)
• 1894 – Freddie Adkins, English author and illustrator (d. 1986)
• 1900 – Kateryna Vasylivna Bilokur, Ukrainian folk artist (d. 1961)

1901–present

• 1902 – Hilda Taba, Estonian architect, author, and educator (d. 1967)
• 1903 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician, physicist, and academic (d. 1987)
• 1904 – Clarence Nash, American voice actor and singer (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Gerard Kuiper, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (d. 1973)
• 1906 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (d. 2005)
• 1907 – Fred Rose, Polish-Canadian politician and spy (d. 1983)
• 1909 – Nikola Vaptsarov, Bulgarian poet and author (d. 1942)
• 1910 – Duncan McNaughton, Canadian high jumper and geologist (d. 1998)
• 1910 – Louis Prima, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and actor (d. 1978)
• 1912 – Daniel Jones, Welsh captain and composer (d. 1993)
• 1913 – Kersti Merilaas, Estonian author and poet (d. 1986)
• 1915 – Leigh Brackett, American author and screenwriter (d. 1978)
• 1915 – Eli Wallach, American actor (d. 2014)
• 1920 – Tatamkhulu Afrika, South African poet and author (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Fiorenzo Magni, Italian cyclist (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Walter Nowotny, Austrian-German soldier and pilot (d. 1944)
• 1921 – Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Indian guru and scholar (d. 2016)
• 1923 – Intizar Hussain, Indian-Pakistani author and scholar (d. 2016)
• 1923 – Ted Knight, American actor and comedian (d. 1986)
• 1924 – Bent Fabric, Danish pianist and composer (d. 2020)
• 1924 – John Love, Zimbabwean race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1924 – Mary Ellen Rudin, American mathematician (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Mário Soares, Portuguese historian, lawyer, and politician, 17th President of Portugal (d. 2017)
• 1925 – Hermano da Silva Ramos, French-Brazilian race car driver
• 1925 – Max Zaslofsky, American basketball player and coach (d. 1985)
• 1926 – William John McNaughton, American bishop (d. 2020)
• 1927 – Jack S. Blanton, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Helen Watts, Welsh opera singer (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Noam Chomsky, American linguist and philosopher
• 1928 – Mickey Thompson, American race car driver (d. 1988)
• 1930 – Christopher Nicole, Guyanese-English author (d. 2017)
• 1930 – Hal Smith, American baseball player (d. 2020)
• 1931 – Allan B. Calhamer, American game designer, created Diplomacy (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Bobby Osborne, American bluegrass singer and musician (d. 2023)
• 1932 – Ellen Burstyn, American actress
• 1932 – Oktay Ekşi, Turkish journalist and politician
• 1932 – Rosemary Rogers, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
• 1932 – J. B. Sumarlin, Indonesian economist and politician, 17th Indonesian Minister of Finance (d. 2020)
• 1932 – Bobby Whitton, Australian rugby league player (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Armando Manzanero, Mexican musician, singer and composer (d. 2020)
• 1937 – Stan Boardman, English comedian
• 1937 – Thad Cochran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
• 1940 – Gerry Cheevers, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1941 – Melba Pattillo Beals, American journalist and activist
• 1942 – Harry Chapin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
• 1942 – Alex Johnson, American baseball player (d. 2015)
• 1942 – Reginald F. Lewis, American businessman (d. 1993)
• 1942 – Peter Tomarken, American game show host and producer (d. 2006)
• 1943 – Susan Isaacs, American author and screenwriter
• 1943 – Jóhann Ársælsson, Icelandic politician
• 1943 – Nick Katz, American mathematician and academic
• 1943 – Bernard C. Parks, American police officer and politician
• 1943 – John Bennett Ramsey, American businessman and pilot
• 1944 – Daniel Chorzempa, American organist and composer (d. 2023)
• 1944 – Miroslav Macek, Czech dentist and politician (d. 2024)
• 1947 – Johnny Bench, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1947 – Anne Fine, English author
• 1947 – James Keach, American actor, producer, and director
• 1947 – Garry Unger, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1948 – Gary Morris, American country singer-songwriter and actor
• 1948 – Tony Thomas, American screenwriter and producer
• 1949 – James Rivière, Italian sculptor and jeweler
• 1949 – Tom Waits, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1950 – Ron Hynes, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Susan Collins, American politician
• 1952 – Eckhard Märzke, German footballer and manager
• 1954 – Mary Fallin, American businesswoman and politician, 27th Governor of Oklahoma
• 1955 – John Watkins, Australian educator and politician, 14th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• 1956 – Larry Bird, American basketball player and coach
• 1956 – Chuy Bravo, Mexican-American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
• 1956 – Anna Soubry, British politician
• 1957 – Geoff Lawson, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
• 1957 – Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigerian career-diplomat, President of the United Nations General Assembly (2019)
• 1957 – Tom Winsor, English lawyer and civil servant
• 1958 – Tim Butler, English bass player and songwriter
• 1958 – Rick Rude, American wrestler and sportscaster (d. 1999)
• 1959 – Saleem Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer
• 1960 – Craig Scanlon, English guitarist and songwriter
• 1962 – Alain Blondel, French decathlete
• 1962 – Jeffrey Donaldson, Northern Irish politician
• 1962 – Imad Mughniyah, Lebanese activist (d. 2008)
• 1963 – Theo Snelders, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1963 – Katsuya Terada, Japanese illustrator
• 1963 – Barbara Weathers, American R&B/soul singer
• 1964 – Hugo Blick, English filmmaker
• 1964 – Patrick Fabian, American actor
• 1964 – Peter Laviolette, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1965 – Deborah Bassett, Australian rower
• 1965 – Colin Hendry, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1965 – Jeffrey Wright, American actor
• 1966 – C. Thomas Howell, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1966 – Shinichi Ito, Japanese motorcycle racer
• 1966 – Kazue Itoh, Japanese actress
• 1966 – Andres Kasekamp, Canadian-Estonian historian and academic
• 1966 – Louise Post, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 – Mark Geyer, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
• 1967 – Tino Martinez, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1967 – Nina Turner, American politician
• 1971 – Vladimir Akopian, Azerbaijani-Armenian chess player
• 1972 – Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
• 1972 – Tammy Lynn Sytch, American wrestler and manager
• 1973 – İbrahim Kutluay, Turkish basketball player
• 1973 – Hack Meyers, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2015)
• 1973 – Terrell Owens, American football player
• 1973 – Fabien Pelous, French rugby player and coach
• 1973 – Damien Rice, Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
• 1974 – Nicole Appleton, Canadian singer and actress
• 1974 – Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez, Spanish shot putter and actor
• 1975 – Jamie Clapham, English footballer and coach
• 1976 – Alan Faneca, American football player
• 1976 – Ivan Franceschini, Italian footballer
• 1976 – Georges Laraque, Canadian ice hockey player and politician
• 1976 – Derek Ramsay, Filipino-British actor, model and television personality
• 1976 – Sunny Sweeney, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Benoît Tréluyer, French race car driver
• 1976 – Joris Vandenbroucke, Belgian politician
• 1977 – Eric Chavez, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1977 – Luke Donald, English golfer
• 1977 – Dominic Howard, English drummer and producer
• 1978 – Shiri Appleby, American actress, director, and producer
• 1978 – Suzannah Lipscomb, English historian, academic and television presenter
• 1979 – Sara Bareilles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
• 1979 – Jennifer Carpenter, American actress
• 1979 – Lampros Choutos, Greek-Italian footballer
• 1979 – Ayako Fujitani, Japanese actress and screenwriter
• 1980 – Dan Bilzerian, American poker player and internet celebrity
• 1980 – John Terry, English footballer
• 1982 – Lou Amundson, American basketball player
• 1982 – Jack Huston, English actor
• 1983 – Mike Mucitelli, American mixed martial artist
• 1983 – Al Thornton, American basketball player
• 1984 – Aaron Gray, American basketball player
• 1984 – Robert Kubica, Polish race car driver
• 1984 – Milan Michálek, Czech ice hockey player
• 1984 – Luca Rigoni, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Jon Moxley, American wrestler
• 1986 – Billy Horschel, American golfer
• 1986 – Nita Strauss, American guitarist
• 1987 – Aaron Carter, American singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, and actor (d. 2022)
• 1988 – Nathan Adrian, American swimmer
• 1988 – Emily Browning, Australian actress and singer
• 1988 – Angelina Gabueva, Russian tennis player
• 1988 – Andrew Goudelock, American basketball player
• 1989 – Kyle Hendricks, American baseball player
• 1989 – Nicholas Hoult, English actor
• 1989 – Philip Larsen, Danish ice hockey player
• 1989 – Alessandro Marchi, Italian footballer
• 1989 – Kevin Séraphin, French basketball player
• 1990 – Cameron Bairstow, Australian basketball player
• 1990 – David Goffin, Belgian tennis player
• 1990 – Aleksandr Menkov, Russian long jumper
• 1990 – Yasiel Puig, Cuban baseball player
• 1990 – Urszula Radwańska, Polish tennis player
• 1991 – Eugenio Pisani, Italian race car driver
• 1992 – Sean Couturier, American-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1993 – Rahama Sadau, Nigerian actress
• 1994 – Pete Alonso, American baseball player
• 1994 – Geno Chiarelli, American politician
• 1994 – Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater
• 1994 – Hunter Henry, American football player
• 1997 – Abi Harrison, Scottish footballer
• 1997 – Tommy Nelson, American actor
• 1998 – Tony Yike Yang, Canadian pianist
• 1999 – Pavol Regenda, Slovak ice hockey player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 43 BC – Cicero, Roman philosopher, lawyer, and politician (b. 106 BC)
• 283 – Eutychian, pope of the Catholic Church
• 881 – Anspert, archbishop of Milan
• 983 – Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 955)
• 1254 – Innocent IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1195)
• 1279 – Bolesław V, High Duke of Poland (b. 1226)
• 1295 – Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, English officer (b. 1243)
• 1383 – Wenceslaus I, duke of Luxembourg (b. 1337)
• 1498 – Alexander Hegius von Heek, German poet (b. 1433)
• 1562 – Adrian Willaert, Dutch-Italian composer and educator (b. 1490)

1601–1900

• 1649 – Charles Garnier, French missionary and saint (b. 1606)
• 1672 – Richard Bellingham, English-American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1592)
• 1680 – Peter Lely, Dutch-English painter (b. 1618)
• 1683 – Algernon Sidney, English philosopher and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1623)
• 1723 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk and Karlova Koruna Chateau (b. 1677)
• 1725 – Florent Carton Dancourt, French actor and playwright (b. 1661)
• 1772 – Martín Sarmiento, Spanish monk, scholar, and author (b. 1695)
• 1775 – Charles Saunders, English admiral and politician (b. 1715)
• 1793 – Joseph Bara, French soldier and drummer (b. 1779)
• 1803 – Küçük Hüseyin Pasha, Turkish admiral and politician (b. 1757)
• 1815 – Michel Ney, German-French general (b. 1769)
• 1817 – William Bligh, English admiral and politician, 4th Governor of New South Wales (b. 1745)
• 1837 – Robert Nicoll, Scottish poet (b.1814)
• 1842 – Thomas Hamilton, Scottish philosopher and author (b. 1789)
• 1874 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German theologian, scholar, and academic (b. 1815)
• 1879 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic scholar and politician, 1st Speaker of the Parliament of Iceland (b. 1811)
• 1891 – Arthur Blyth, English-Australian politician, 9th Premier of South Australia (b. 1823)
• 1894 – Ferdinand de Lesseps, French businessman and diplomat, co-developed the Suez Canal (b. 1805)
• 1899 – Juan Luna, Filipino painter and sculptor (b. 1857)

1901–present

• 1902 – Thomas Nast, German-American cartoonist (b. 1840)
• 1906 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1833)
• 1913 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian cardinal (b. 1828)
• 1917 – Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1826)
• 1918 – Frank Wilson, English-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1859)
• 1941 – Attack on Pearl Harbor:
  • Mervyn S. Bennion, American captain (b. 1887)
  • Frederick Curtice Davis, American sailor (b. 1915)
  • Julius Ellsberry, American sailor (b. 1921)
  • John C. England, American sailor (b. 1920)
  • Edwin J. Hill, American sailor (b. 1894)
  • Ralph Hollis, American sailor (b. 1906)
  • Herbert C. Jones, American sailor (b. 1918)
  • Isaac C. Kidd, American admiral (b. 1884)
  • Robert Lawrence Leopold, American sailor (b. 1916)
  • Herbert Hugo Menges, American sailor (b. 1917)
  • Thomas James Reeves, American sailor (b. 1895)
  • Aloysius Schmitt, American priest and sailor (b. 1909)
  • Robert R. Scott, American sailor (b. 1915)
  • Peter Tomich, American sailor (b. 1893)
  • Robert Uhlmann, American sailor (b. 1919)
  • Franklin Van Valkenburgh, American captain (b. 1888)
  • Eldon P. Wyman, American sailor (b. 1917)
• 1947 – Tristan Bernard, French author and playwright (b. 1866)
• 1947 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
• 1949 – Rex Beach, American author, playwright, and water polo player (b. 1877)
• 1956 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian-American actor (b. 1887)
• 1956 – Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Turkish author and playwright (b. 1889)
• 1960 – Ioannis Demestichas, Greek admiral and politician (b. 1882)
• 1962 – Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian opera singer (b. 1895)
• 1969 – Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player and manager (b. 1897)
• 1969 – Eric Portman, English actor (b. 1903)
• 1970 – Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist, sculptor, and author (b. 1883)
• 1975 – Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (b. 1897)
• 1975 – Hardie Albright, American actor (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Paul Bragg, American nutritionist (b. 1895)
• 1977 – Paul Gibb, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1913)
• 1977 – Peter Carl Goldmark, Hungarian-American engineer (b. 1906)
• 1977 – Georges Grignard, French race car driver (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist and paleontologist (b. 1886)
• 1979 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, English-American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1900)
• 1980 – Darby Crash, American punk rock vocalist and songwriter (b. 1958)
• 1984 – Jack Mercer, American voice actor (b. 1910)
• 1984 – LeeRoy Yarbrough, American race car driver (b. 1938)
• 1985 – J. R. Eyerman, American photographer and journalist (b. 1906)
• 1985 – Robert Graves, English poet, novelist, critic (b. 1895)
• 1985 – Potter Stewart, American soldier and jurist (b. 1915)
• 1989 – Haystacks Calhoun, American wrestler and actor (b. 1934)
• 1989 – Hans Hartung, French-German painter (b. 1904)
• 1990 – Joan Bennett, American actress (b. 1910)
• 1990 – Jean Paul Lemieux, Canadian painter and educator (b. 1904)
• 1992 – Richard J. Hughes, American politician, 45th Governor of New Jersey, and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court (b. 1909)
• 1993 – Abidin Dino, Turkish-French painter and illustrator (b. 1913)
• 1993 – Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivoirian physician and politician, 1st President of Ivory Coast (b. 1905)
• 1995 – Kathleen Harrison, English actress (b. 1892)
• 1997 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1942)
• 1998 – John Addison, English-American composer and conductor (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Martin Rodbell, American biochemist and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Carl F. H. Henry American journalist and theologian (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Azie Taylor Morton, American educator and politician, 36th Treasurer of the United States (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Frederick Fennell, American conductor and educator (b. 1914)
• 2004 – Jerry Scoggins, American singer and guitarist (b. 1913)
• 2004 – Jay Van Andel, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Bud Carson, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American academic and diplomat, 16th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Herbert Hutner, American banker and lawyer (b. 1908)
• 2010 – Elizabeth Edwards, American lawyer and author (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Kari Tapio, Finnish singer (b. 1945)
• 2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Roelof Kruisinga, Dutch physician and politician, Dutch Minister of Defence (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Ralph Parr, American colonel and pilot (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Marty Reisman, American table tennis player and author (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Saul Steinberg, American businessman and financier (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Édouard Molinaro, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Chick Willis, American singer and guitarist (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Mark Lewis, American author and educator (b. 1954)
• 2015 – Gerhard Lenski, American sociologist and academic (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Hyron Spinrad, American astronomer and academic (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Peter Westbury, English race car driver (b. 1938)
• 2016 – Junaid Jamshed, Pakistani recording artist, television personality, fashion designer, occasional actor, singer-songwriter and preacher. (b. 1964)
• 2015 – Shirley Stelfox, English actress (b. 1941)
• 2016 – Greg Lake, English musician (b. 1947)
• 2017 – Steve Reevis, Native American actor (b. 1962)
• 2019 – Ron Saunders, English football player and manager (b. 1932)
• 2020 – Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor (b. 1942)
• 2020 – Chuck Yeager, American aviator (b. 1923)
• 2023 – Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and dub poet (b.1958)
• 2023 – Refaat Alareer, Palestinian professor and writer (b.1979)
• 2023 – Emiko Miyamoto, Japanese volleyball player (b.1937)

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Flag Day (India)
• Christian feast day:
  • Aemilianus (Greek Church)
  • Ambrose
  • Maria Giuseppa Rossello
  • Sabinus of Spoleto
  • December 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• 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)
• National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (United States)
• Spitak Remembrance Day (Armenia)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on December 7