Construction Workers on Dam Building Site

1930

Preliminary work begins on the Hoover Dam

Born on This Day

Pitcher Satchel Paige Standing in Dugout

Satchel Paige

1906 - 1982

Baseball pitcher who set records in the Negro Leagues before becoming the oldest rookie in MLB history in 1948.

Shelley Duvall

Shelley Duvall

1949 - 2024

Actress and producer known for her work with Robert Altman ("Nashville") as well as her role in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."

Olympic Skater MIchelle Kwan Portrait

Michelle Kwan

1980 -

Two-time Olympic medalist in figure skating who later served as U.S. Ambassador to Belize.

Satchel Paige

Bettmann Archive

Shelley Duvall

Toronto Star via Getty Images

Michelle Kwan

Getty Images

1456

JUL

7

Joan of Arc's conviction for heresy is overturned at an appeal proceeding held at the archbishop's palace in Rouen, France. Unfortunately, she had been burned at the stake 25 years earlier.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on July 7th

1797

First impeachment of a U.S. Senator

For the first time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives exercises its constitutional power of impeachment and votes to charge Senator William Blount of Tennessee with “a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public duty and trust as a Senator.” In 1790, President George Washington appointed Blount, who had fought in the American Revolution, […]

1:24m read read

1798

U.S. launches the Quasi-War with France, the first conflict since the Revolution

On July 7, 1798—15 years after the Revolutionary War ended—Congress rescinds treaties with France and starts two and a half years of what is called the Quasi-War with its former ally. President John Adams and Benjamin Stoddert, secretary of the Navy, led this undeclared naval war, triggered by France’s seizure of more than 300 neutral […]

1:28m read read

1863

Kit Carson begins his campaign against Native Americans

On July 7, 1863, the Union’s Lt. Colonel Christopher “Kit” Carson leaves Santa Fe with his troops, beginning his campaign against the Native Americans of New Mexico and Arizona. A mountain man before the Civil War, Kit Carson was responsible for waging a destructive war against the Navajo that resulted in their removal from the […]

1865

Mary Surratt is first woman executed by U.S. federal government

Mary Surratt is executed for her role as a conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. She is the first woman put to death by the U.S. government. Surratt, who owned a tavern in Surrattsville (now Clinton), Maryland, had to convert her row house in Washington, D.C., into a boardinghouse as a result of financial difficulties. Located […]

1912

Jim Thorpe begins Olympic pentathlon

On July 7, 1912, Jim Thorpe wins the pentathlon at the fifth modern Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. At the time, Thorpe, a Native American who attended Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Indian School, was only beginning to establish his reputation as the greatest all-around athlete in the world. Born May 28, 1887, in Prague, Oklahoma, on a Sac-and-Fox […]

2:58m read read

Sport. 1912 Olympic Games. Stockholm, Sweden. James Thorpe, U.S.A. Thorpe was part Indian and was one of the greatest all-round athletes ever, he won the Decathlon and Pentathlon Gold medals at the 1912 Olympic Games and achieved high placings in the High

1917

British Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps is officially established

On July 7, 1917, British Army Council Instruction Number 1069 formally establishes the British Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), authorizing female volunteers to serve alongside their male counterparts in France during World War I. By 1917, large numbers of women were already working in munitions factories throughout Britain, serving the crucial function of supplying sufficient […]

2:16m read read

1942

Himmler decides to begin medical experiments on Auschwitz prisoners

On July 7, 1942, Heinrich Himmler, in league with three others, including a physician, decides to begin experimenting on women in the Auschwitz concentration camps and to investigate extending this experimentation on males. Himmler, architect of Hitler’s program to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population, convened a conference in Berlin to discuss the prospects for using concentration […]

1:50m read read

1946

Future President Jimmy Carter marries

On July 7, 1946, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter marries Eleanor Rosalynn Smith at the Plains Methodist Church in Plains, Georgia. When the couple met, she was 18 and working in a hair salon. He was 21 and a recent graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy. During the first seven years of their marriage, Jimmy and […]

2:52m read read

1976

Female cadets enrolled at West Point

For the first time in history, women are enrolled into the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. On May 28, 1980, 62 of these female cadets graduated and were commissioned as second lieutenants. The United States Military Academy—the first military school in America—was founded by Congress in 1802 for the purpose of […]

1:16m read read

West Point, New York: For the first time in its 174-year history, women cadets have been admitted to the U. S. Military Academy. Of the 1,485 cadets in the new Class of 1980, 105 are women.

1981

Reagan announces Sandra Day O’Connor as pick for the Supreme Court

On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announces his intention to nominate Sandra Day O’Connor, an Arizona court of appeals judge, to be the first woman Supreme Court justice in U.S. history, pending her clearing FBI checks. On September 21, the Senate unanimously approved her appointment to the nation’s highest court, and on September 25 […]

1983

11-year-old Samantha Smith leaves for visit to the USSR

Samantha Smith, an 11-year-old American girl, begins a two-week visit to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov. Some American observers believed that Smith was merely being used by the Soviets for their own propaganda purposes, while others saw her visit as a positive step toward improving U.S.-Russian relations. In April […]

1986

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter spend wedding anniversary building Habitat for Humanity home

On July 7, 1986, former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter spend a hot summer day in Chicago, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary while building a home in the West Garfield Park neighborhood for the Georgia-based nonprofit Habitat for Humanity. The Carters helped build a new, four-unit townhouse, located at the southeast corner […]

2:26m read read

2005

Terrorists attack London transit system at rush hour

On the morning of July 7, 2005, bombs are detonated in three crowded London subways and one bus during the peak of the city’s rush hour. The synchronized suicide bombings, which were thought to be the work of al-Qaeda, killed 56 people including the bombers and injured another 700. It was the largest attack on […]

2019

U.S. women’s soccer team wins record 4th World Cup title

On July 7, 2019, after a dominating tournament showing, the U.S. women’s national team brings home a record fourth FIFA World Cup title—its second in a row. Held in host country France, the 2-0 final saw the United States facing the Netherlands, with the first goal scored in the match’s 61st minute. Following a video […]

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