August 7
1789 - Congress establishes the U.S. War Department.
1942 - U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
1947 - The wooden raft Kon-Tiki, which carried Thor Heyerdahl and five companions more than 4,000 miles, crashed into a reef in the Pacific.
1959 - The United States launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.
1960 - Cote d'Ivorire (Ivory Coast) gained independence from France.
1964 - Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which expanded President Lyndon B. Johnson's use of military powers in the Vietnam War.
1971 - The Apollo 15 moon mission ended with a successful splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
1974 - French highwire artist Philippe Petit performed an unapproved tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, over 1,300 feet above the ground; the event would be chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary film "Man on Wire."
1978 - President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal environmental disaster in Niagara Falls, New York a federal health emergency; it would later top the initial list of Superfund cleanup sites.
1987 - Lynne Cox became the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, making the 2.7 mile trip through the frigid waters of the Bering Strait. Cox is surprised by the relatively warm welcome she receives from the Soviets.
1989 - A plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Texas) and 15 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later with no survivors.)
1990 - President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.
1998 - U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by terrorists, killing 224 and injuring more than 5,500.
2000 - Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut was tabbed by Al Gore to be his vice presidential running mate on the 2000 Democratic ticket, becoming the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket.
2012 - To avoid a possible death penalty, Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison, accepting that he went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering in 2011 that left six people dead and 13 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.
2015 - Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a jury in Centennial failed to agree on whether he should be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead.
Birthdays
25 - Sydney McLaughlin (track & field athlete)
26 - Jalen Hurts (football player)
27 - Evaluna Montaner (singer)
28 - Liam James (actor)
29 - Sasha Calle (actress)
33 - Mike Trout (baseball player)
35 - DeMar DeRozan (basketball player)
37 - Sidney Crosby (hockey player)
38 - Natalie Taylor (singer)
41 - Tina O'Brien (actress)
42 - Brit Marling (actress)
43 - Randy Wayne (actor)
45 - Eric Johnson (actor)
49 - Charlize Theron (actress)
50 - Michael Shannon (actor)
52 - Greg Serano (actor)
53 - Sydney Penny (actress)
57 - Charlotte Lewis (actress)
58 - David Mann (actor)
59 - Raul Malo (singer)
61 - Harold Perrineau (actor)
64 - David Duchovny (actor)
66 - Bruce Dickinson (singer)
69 - Wayne Knight (actor)
72 - Caroline Aaron (actress)
74 - Alan Keyes (talk show host, diplomat)
80 - David Rasche (actor)
80 - John Glover (actor)
81 - Lana Cantrell (singer)
82 - Tobin Bell (actor)
=================================
Today in Sports History - August 7
1907 - Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators records the first of his 416 career wins with a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.
1956 - At 51 years old, Satchel Paige of the Miami Marlins wins a game before the largest crowd in minor league history as more than 57,000 show up at Miami's Orange Bowl Stadium to see Paige lead the Marlins to a 6-2 win over the Columbus Jets in an International League game.
1956 - Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams is fined $5,000 for spitting at heckling Boston fans.
1968 - In his major league debut, Joe Keough of the Oakland Athletics hit a home run in his first at-bat.
1972 - Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez, Early Wynn, Josh Gibson, Will Harridge, Buck Leonard and Ross Youngs are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1978 - Eddie Mathews, Addie Joss and Larry MacPhail are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1984 - In the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the United States women's basketball team wins its first gold medal with a 85-55 win over South Korea.
1985 - A five-year agreement between the major league baseball players union and team owners ended a two-day mid-season players’ strike. The season resumed the next day.
1987 - The Pittsburgh Pirates retired Bill Mazeroski's #9.
1999 - Wade Boggs of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays becomes the first player in MLB history to hit a home run to record his 3,000th career hit.
2004 - Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux records his 300th career win.
2007 - Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run, breaking Hank Aaron's MLB career home run record.
2010 - Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2016 - Jim Furyk fires a 12-under-par 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, becoming the first player to shoot 58 in a PGA Tour event and the first PGA Tour pro to shoot to sub-60 rounds.
2016 - Ichiro Suzuki of the Miami Marlins becomes the 30th player in MLB history with 3,000 career hits.
2016 - As a part of the winning 4x100 meter freestyle relay team at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games, American swimmer Michael Phelps collects a record 19th career Olympic gold medal.
2021 - As a member of the winning American 4x400 meter relay team at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, American track star Allyson Felix wins her 11th career Olympic medal, making her the most decorated female Olympian in track and field history.
2021 - Kevin Durant scores 29 points to lead the U.S. men's basketball team to its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal with a 87-82 win over France at the Tokyo Summer Games.
1789 - Congress establishes the U.S. War Department.
1942 - U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
1947 - The wooden raft Kon-Tiki, which carried Thor Heyerdahl and five companions more than 4,000 miles, crashed into a reef in the Pacific.
1959 - The United States launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.
1960 - Cote d'Ivorire (Ivory Coast) gained independence from France.
1964 - Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which expanded President Lyndon B. Johnson's use of military powers in the Vietnam War.
1971 - The Apollo 15 moon mission ended with a successful splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
1974 - French highwire artist Philippe Petit performed an unapproved tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, over 1,300 feet above the ground; the event would be chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary film "Man on Wire."
1978 - President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal environmental disaster in Niagara Falls, New York a federal health emergency; it would later top the initial list of Superfund cleanup sites.
1987 - Lynne Cox became the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, making the 2.7 mile trip through the frigid waters of the Bering Strait. Cox is surprised by the relatively warm welcome she receives from the Soviets.
1989 - A plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Texas) and 15 others disappeared over Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the plane was found six days later with no survivors.)
1990 - President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.
1998 - U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by terrorists, killing 224 and injuring more than 5,500.
2000 - Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut was tabbed by Al Gore to be his vice presidential running mate on the 2000 Democratic ticket, becoming the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket.
2012 - To avoid a possible death penalty, Jared Lee Loughner agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison, accepting that he went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering in 2011 that left six people dead and 13 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.
2015 - Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was spared the death penalty in favor of life in prison after a jury in Centennial failed to agree on whether he should be executed for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere that left 12 people dead.
Birthdays
25 - Sydney McLaughlin (track & field athlete)
26 - Jalen Hurts (football player)
27 - Evaluna Montaner (singer)
28 - Liam James (actor)
29 - Sasha Calle (actress)
33 - Mike Trout (baseball player)
35 - DeMar DeRozan (basketball player)
37 - Sidney Crosby (hockey player)
38 - Natalie Taylor (singer)
41 - Tina O'Brien (actress)
42 - Brit Marling (actress)
43 - Randy Wayne (actor)
45 - Eric Johnson (actor)
49 - Charlize Theron (actress)
50 - Michael Shannon (actor)
52 - Greg Serano (actor)
53 - Sydney Penny (actress)
57 - Charlotte Lewis (actress)
58 - David Mann (actor)
59 - Raul Malo (singer)
61 - Harold Perrineau (actor)
64 - David Duchovny (actor)
66 - Bruce Dickinson (singer)
69 - Wayne Knight (actor)
72 - Caroline Aaron (actress)
74 - Alan Keyes (talk show host, diplomat)
80 - David Rasche (actor)
80 - John Glover (actor)
81 - Lana Cantrell (singer)
82 - Tobin Bell (actor)
=================================
Today in Sports History - August 7
1907 - Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators records the first of his 416 career wins with a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.
1956 - At 51 years old, Satchel Paige of the Miami Marlins wins a game before the largest crowd in minor league history as more than 57,000 show up at Miami's Orange Bowl Stadium to see Paige lead the Marlins to a 6-2 win over the Columbus Jets in an International League game.
1956 - Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams is fined $5,000 for spitting at heckling Boston fans.
1968 - In his major league debut, Joe Keough of the Oakland Athletics hit a home run in his first at-bat.
1972 - Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez, Early Wynn, Josh Gibson, Will Harridge, Buck Leonard and Ross Youngs are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1978 - Eddie Mathews, Addie Joss and Larry MacPhail are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1984 - In the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the United States women's basketball team wins its first gold medal with a 85-55 win over South Korea.
1985 - A five-year agreement between the major league baseball players union and team owners ended a two-day mid-season players’ strike. The season resumed the next day.
1987 - The Pittsburgh Pirates retired Bill Mazeroski's #9.
1999 - Wade Boggs of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays becomes the first player in MLB history to hit a home run to record his 3,000th career hit.
2004 - Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux records his 300th career win.
2007 - Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run, breaking Hank Aaron's MLB career home run record.
2010 - Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau are inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2016 - Jim Furyk fires a 12-under-par 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, becoming the first player to shoot 58 in a PGA Tour event and the first PGA Tour pro to shoot to sub-60 rounds.
2016 - Ichiro Suzuki of the Miami Marlins becomes the 30th player in MLB history with 3,000 career hits.
2016 - As a part of the winning 4x100 meter freestyle relay team at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games, American swimmer Michael Phelps collects a record 19th career Olympic gold medal.
2021 - As a member of the winning American 4x400 meter relay team at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, American track star Allyson Felix wins her 11th career Olympic medal, making her the most decorated female Olympian in track and field history.
2021 - Kevin Durant scores 29 points to lead the U.S. men's basketball team to its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal with a 87-82 win over France at the Tokyo Summer Games.
