7 October on the globe: what happened in the world on this day, and who was born

The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar.

Fatimid Caliph al-Amir is assassinated.

Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon.

Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year.

War of the League of Cambrai: Spain defeats Venice.

The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat.

The charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.

King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing Indigenous lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements.

American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat British forces under general John Burgoyne in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, compelling Burgoyne's eventual surrender.

American Revolutionary War: American militia defeat royalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, often regarded as the turning point in the war's Southern theater.

French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent.

Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Akkerman Convention, under which the Ottomans accept Russian territorial demands in the Balkans, Caucasus and the Danubian river basin.

The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

Morea expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force.

Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.

American writer Edgar Allan Poe died under mysterious circumstances at Washington Medical College four days after being found on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, in a delirious and incoherent state.

American Civil War: A US Navy ship captures a Confederate raider in a Brazilian seaport.

Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

Ōdate, the last castle of the Satake clan in Japan's Tōhoku region, was captured during the Boshin War.

Franco-Prussian War: Léon Gambetta escapes the siege of Paris in a hot-air balloon.

The state funeral of Mindon Min, who ruled Myanmar for 25 years, took place; his death was reportedly preceded by strange omens, and his senior princes were unable to attend as they had all been arrested.

Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.

The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.

Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving vehicle assembly line.

Japan captured Pohnpei from Germany, eventually leading to large-scale Japanese immigration to Micronesia.

Seven-year-old Theo Faiss, later memorialized in speeches by Rudolf Steiner and a sculpture by Edith Maryon, was killed by an overturned wagon in Switzerland.

Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.

KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes prime minister of Greece for a short period of time.

Photius II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

World War II: The McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

World War II: The Sonderkommando Revolt in Auschwitz was an uprising of prisoners (especially the Sonderkommando) at the Auschwitz concentration camp, they burnt down Crematorium IV.

The communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.

Mother Teresa establishes the Missionaries of Charity.

The 1958 Pakistani coup d'état inaugurates a prolonged period of military rule.

The U.S. crewed space-flight project is renamed to Project Mercury.

The Soviet probe Luna 3 transmits the first-ever photographs of the far side of the Moon.

A Douglas Dakota IV operated by Derby Aviation (later renamed to British Midland International) crashes in Canigou, France, killing 34 people.

Buddhist crisis: Amid worsening relations, outspoken South Vietnamese First Lady Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu arrives in the US for a speaking tour, continuing a flurry of attacks on the Kennedy administration.

President Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The Fourth Soviet Constitution is adopted.

Aeroflot Flight 1080 crashes after takeoff from Koltsovo International Airport, killing 38.

Swissair Flight 316 crashes at Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, killing 14.

Four men from the Palestine Liberation Front hijack the MS Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt.

The Mameyes landslide kills almost 200 people in Puerto Rico.

Sikh nationalists declare the independence of Khalistan from India; it is not internationally recognized.

A hunter discovers three gray whales trapped under the ice near Alaska; the situation becomes a multinational effort to free the whales.

Croatian War of Independence: Bombing of the Banski Dvori in Zagreb, Croatia.

The flood of '93 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, as the Mississippi River falls below flood stage.

Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Hezbollah militants capture three Israeli Defense Force soldiers in a cross-border raid.

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground, starting the longest war in American history.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-112 to continue assembly of the International Space Station.

Three bombs explode at Taba and Nuweiba in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, killing 34.

Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human-rights activist, was assassinated in the elevator of her apartment block in Moscow.

The battle of Mirali begins in which the Pakistan Armed Forces and Taliban militias clash for four days.

Asteroid 2008 TC3 impacts the Earth over Sudan, the first time an asteroid impact is detected prior to its entry into Earth's atmosphere.

Qantas Flight 72 experiences an in-flight upset near Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia, injuring 112.

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rises to over 800.

Ales Bialiatski, along with two organisations, Memorial & Center for Civil Liberties, are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ten people are killed and eight are injured in an explosion at a petrol station in Creeslough, Ireland.

Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launch an attack into Israel, which results in the deaths of around 1,200, mostly civilians, and the taking of 251 hostages, including civilians and soldiers.

Vladimir Putin, Russian colonel and politician, 4th President of Russia

Niels Bohr, Danish physicist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1962)

Heinrich Himmler, Nazi politician, head of the SS and senior official responsible for the Holocaust (died 1945)

Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)

María Corina Machado, Venezuelan Nobel Prize Laureate

Diego da Silva Costa, Brazilian footballer

Henry A. Wallace, American agronomist and politician, 33rd Vice President of the United States (died 1965)

Thom Yorke, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Harry Kroto, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016)

Ulrike Meinhof, German left-wing militant, co-founder of the Red Army Faction, journalist (died 1976)

Yo-Yo Ma, French-American cellist and educator

Charlotte Perrelli, Swedish singer

Jermain Defoe, English footballer

R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and author (died 1989)

Charles XIII of Sweden (died 1818)

Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian colonel, economist, and politician, 4th President of Tanzania

Toni Braxton, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Dida, Brazilian footballer

Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer

Simon Cowell, English businessman and record producer

Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer and manager

June Allyson, American actress (died 2006)

Nicholas I of Montenegro (died 1921)

Frederick I of Denmark (died 1533)

Thomas Keneally, Australian novelist, playwright, and essayist

Alesha Dixon, English singer-songwriter and dancer

Paulino Alcántara, Spanish Filipino football player and manager (died 1964)

Sebastián Coates, Uruguayan footballer

Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian architect and politician, President of Peru (died 2002)

Lewis Capaldi, Scottish singer-songwriter

Irma Grese, German SS officer (died 1945)

Sam Querrey, American tennis player

Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (died 2014)

Enki Bilal, French comic book creator, comics artist and film director

Holland Roden, American actress

Kira Kosarin, American actress and singer

Elizabeth of Luxembourg (died 1442)

Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer and manager

Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor

William Laud, English archbishop and academic (died 1645)

Catharine MacKinnon, American lawyer, activist, and author

Georges Duby, French historian and author (died 1996)

Joe Hill, Swedish-born American labor activist and poet (died 1915)

Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (died 1975)

Donald Tsang, Chinese civil servant and politician, 2nd Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist

Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Turkish footballer

Dylan Baker, American actor

Madjid Bougherra, Algerian footballer

Simon Poulsen, Danish footballer

Drusus Julius Caesar, Roman politician (died 23 AD)

Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria (died 1631)

Raymond Goethals, Belgian footballer and coach (died 2004)

Marco Beltrami, Italian-American composer and conductor

Li Yundi, Chinese pianist

Bree Olson, American actress, model, and former pornographic actress

Guglielmo Vicario, Italian footballer

Robert Z. Leonard, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1968)

Ann Jones, English tennis player and sportscaster

Tico Torres, American drummer