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What happened on December 7
Every December 7 carries a layer of history: wars that began or ended, inventions, premieres, treaties, and people born or lost on this day across the centuries. We gathered 12 of the most striking events recorded on December 7, plus notable births and deaths, each with its year and a link to the Wikipedia article where the story continues. It is a fast way to answer "what happened on December 7" without digging through many sources: the list arrives ranked by relevance and dated.
Notable events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2015 | The JAXA space probe Akatsuki entered into orbit around Venus to study the planet's atmosphere, five years after its first attempt failed. JAXA |
| 2014 | The annual furry convention Midwest FurFest was targeted in an unsolved chlorine gas attack. Furry convention |
| 2011 | The United States transferred its last base in the Al Anbar Governorate to the Iraqi government, ending the Anbar campaign. Al Anbar Governorate |
| 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. Galileo (spacecraft) |
| 1988 | A 6.8 Ms earthquake struck the Spitak region of Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people (aftermath pictured). Spitak |
| 1975 | The Indonesian military began a lengthy occupation of East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism. Indonesian occupation of East Timor |
| 1972 | Construction 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. Martin Bormann |
| 1942 | Second 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. World War II |
| 1936 | Australian cricketer Jack Fingleton became the first player to score centuries in four consecutive Test innings. Cricket |
| 1862 | American Civil War: The Battle of Prairie Grove ended a Confederate attempt to regain control of northwestern Arkansas. American Civil War |
| 1837 | British 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. William Lyon Mackenzie |
| 574 | Suffering from mental illness, Eastern Roman emperor Justin II had his general Tiberius proclaimed Caesar, adopting him as his own son. Justin II |
Births
| Year | Who |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Torri Huske, American swimmer Torri Huske |
| 2000 | Dane Belton, American football player Dane Belton |
| 1999 | Boo Buie, American basketball player Boo Buie |
| 1999 | Pavol Regenda, Slovak ice hockey player Pavol Regenda |
Deaths
| Year | Who |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and dub poet (born1958) Benjamin Zephaniah |
| 2023 | Refaat Alareer, Palestinian professor and writer (born1979) Refaat Alareer |
| 2023 | Emiko Miyamoto, Japanese volleyball player (born 1937) Emiko Miyamoto |
| 2020 | Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor (born 1942) Dick Allen |
A single anniversary does not explain on its own why a day matters: one December 7 can hold a scientific milestone, a tragedy and the birth of an artist, centuries apart. That is why we date every row and link the source, so you can follow what interests you. The selection mixes 12 events, 4 births and 4 deaths; the full list, with every reference, lives on Wikipedia.
Source, license and method
This page curates the day's anniversaries for December 7 from Wikipedia, delivered through the Wikimedia "On this day" feed (the encyclopedia's own open dataset). It is not original research: the facts, years and wording come from Wikipedia and are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike (CC BY-SA 4.0), which requires crediting the source and keeping the same license. We pick each day's most relevant items, favouring the editors' own selection and the most prominent articles, and every row links back to the matching entry. For the full list and primary references, see the day's article on Wikipedia (December 7).
Continue in the dates cluster
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Last updated: · Methodology and sources