Summary of the Day ✨ 7 December (07/12)
In a day marked by both triumph and tragedy, British racing driver Lando Norris claimed the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship with McLaren while Benin thwarted an attempted coup that threatened to destabilize the nation. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition forces advanced toward Damascus in the ongoing civil conflict, a gunman killed two students at Aztec High School, and a Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed near Havelian, tragically claiming all 47 lives on board.
Historical Events 📜
- 2025: British racing driver Lando Norris wins the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 2025 with McLaren.
- 2025: An attempted coup takes place in Benin, but is thwarted, and order restored.
- 2024: Battle of Damascus (2024): Syrian opposition forces enter the Rif Dimashq Governorate, reaching within 20 km of the capital Damascus.
- 2017: Aztec High School shooting: William Atchison kills two students at his former high school.
- 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.
- 2015: The JAXA probe Akatsuki successfully enters orbit around Venus five years after the first attempt.
- 2014: The annual furry convention Midwest FurFest is targeted in an unsolved chlorine gas attack.
- 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.
- 2003: The Conservative Party of Canada is officially registered, following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
- 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.
- 1993: Long Island Rail Road shooting: Passenger Colin Ferguson murders six people and injures 19 others on the LIRR in Nassau County, New York.
- 1988: The 6.8 Ms 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.
- 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.
Famous Births 👶
- 2002: Torri Huske, American swimmer
- 2001: Jalen McMillan, American football player
- 2000: Dane Belton, American football player
- 1999: Boo Buie, American basketball player
- 1999: Pavol Regenda, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1998: Tony Yike Yang, Canadian pianist
- 1997: Abi Harrison, Scottish footballer
- 1997: Tommy Nelson, American actor
- 1994: Pete Alonso, American baseball player
- 1994: Geno Chiarelli, American politician
- 1994: Yuzuru Hanyu, Japanese figure skater
- 1994: Hunter Henry, American football player
- 1993: Rahama Sadau, Nigerian actress
- 1993: Alex Singleton, American football player
- 1992: Sean Couturier, American-Canadian ice hockey player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Doudou Adoula, Congolese atalaku and composer (born 1965)
- 2023: Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and dub poet (born1958)
- 2023: Refaat Alareer, Palestinian professor and writer (born1979)
- 2023: Emiko Miyamoto, Japanese volleyball player (born 1937)
- 2020: Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor (born 1942)
- 2020: Chuck Yeager, American aviator (born 1923)
- 2019: Remilia, American professional gamer (born 1995)
- 2019: Ron Saunders, English football player and manager (born 1932)
- 2017: Steve Reevis, Native American actor (born 1962)
- 2016: Junaid Jamshed, Pakistani recording artist, television personality, fashion designer, occasional actor, singer-songwriter and preacher. (born 1964)
- 2016: Greg Lake, English musician (born 1947)
- 2015: Gerhard Lenski, American sociologist and academic (born 1924)
- 2015: Hyron Spinrad, American astronomer and academic (born 1934)
- 2015: Peter Westbury, English race car driver (born 1938)
- 2015: Shirley Stelfox, English actress (born 1941)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Armed Forces Flag Day (India)
- Christian feast day:
Aemilianus (Greek Church) - Christian feast day:
Ambrose - Christian feast day:
Buíte of Monasterboice - Christian feast day:
Maria Giuseppa Rossello - Christian feast day:
Sabinus of Spoleto - Christian feast day:
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)