May 7 in History

The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force conduct surgical strikes code-named Operation SINDOOR on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam Attack that killed 26 people.

Tanur boat disaster: At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India.

American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamist militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.

An EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 crashes on approach to Tunis–Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.

A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.

Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.

Pope John Paul II travels to Romania, becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

Kosovo War: Three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia.

In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.

Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.

Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.

Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.

Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, STS-49.

Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first "fast-food murder" in Canada.

A fire and explosion occurs at a fireworks factory at Sungai Buloh, Malaysia, killing 26.

Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.

Pacific Airlines Flight 773 is hijacked by Francisco Gonzales and crashes in Contra Costa County, California, killing 44.

Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.

Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Viet Minh victory (the battle began on March 13).

The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer.

The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.

Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded.

World War II: Last German U-boat attack of the war, two freighters are sunk off the Firth of Forth, Scotland.

World War II: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

World War II: The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.

Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.

The stand-off between criminal Francis Crowley and 300 members of the New York Police Department takes place in his fifth-floor apartment on West 91st Street, New York City.

The 7.1 Mw Salmas earthquake shakes northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Up to three-thousand people were killed.

Polish–Soviet War: Kyiv offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Piłsudski and Edward Rydz-Śmigły and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kyiv only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.

Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.

World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,199 people, including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many former pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.

The Republic of China accedes to 13 of the 21 Demands, extending the Empire of Japan's control over Manchuria and the Chinese economy.

In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector—a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.

American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.

The world's oldest surviving clipper ship, the City of Adelaide is launched by William Pile, Hay and Co. in Sunderland, England, for transporting passengers and goods between Britain and Australia.

The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.

Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.

World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.

French Revolutionary Wars: A French force attempting to dislodge a small British garrison on the Îles Saint-Marcouf is repulsed with heavy losses.

French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.

The Ottoman Empire cedes Bukovina to the Habsburg monarchy.

HMS Victory is launched at Chatham Dockyard, Kent. She is not commissioned until 1778.

Pontiac's War begins with Pontiac's attempt to seize Fort Detroit from the British.

The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.

Stockholm's medieval castle Tre Kronor is destroyed by fire. It is replaced in the 18th century by the current Royal Palace.

Battle of Vrtijeljka between rebels and Ottoman forces.

Inaugural celebrations begin at Louis XIV's new Palace of Versailles.

State funeral of James VI and I (1566–1625) is held at Westminster Abbey.

The Burning of Edinburgh by an English army is the first action of the Rough Wooing.

The Siege of Málaga commences during the Spanish Reconquista.

In Avignon, France, Cardinal Pierre Roger is elected Pope and takes the name Clement VI.

In France, the Second Council of Lyon opens; it ratified a decree to regulate the election of the Pope.

The Crusader army of emperor Frederick Barbarossa defeats an army of the Rum Seljuks in the battle of Philomelion.

The Seljuk emirs of Mosul and Mardin defeat the Crusader States of Antioch and Edessa.

In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.

The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.

Ashlyn Krueger, American tennis player

Minji, South Korean singer

Jake Bongiovi, American model and actor

Andrew Barth Feldman, American actor and singer

Tommy Fury, English boxer

Cody Gakpo, Dutch footballer

MrBeast, American YouTuber

Dani Olmo, Spanish footballer

Jesse Puljujärvi, Finnish ice hockey player

Daria Kasatkina, Russian tennis player

Youri Tielemans, Belgian footballer

Cameron Young, American golfer

Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, South Korean League of Legends pro gamer

Seko Fofana, Ivorian international footballer

Will Ospreay, English wrestler

Ajla Tomljanovic, Australian tennis player

Alexander Ludwig, Canadian actor and musician

Sydney Leroux, Canadian-American footballer

Earl Thomas, American football player

Aidy Bryant, American actress and comedian

Mark Reynolds, Scottish footballer

Matt Helders, English drummer

J Balvin, Colombian singer-songwriter and producer

James Loney, American baseball player

Kevin Owens, Canadian wrestler

Alex Smith, American football player

Katie Douglas, American basketball player

Dette Escudero, Filipino politician

Shawn Marion, American basketball player

Elton Flatley, Australian rugby player

Calvin Booth, American basketball player and executive

Stacey Jones, New Zealand rugby league player and coach

Michael P. Murphy, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2005)

Ayelet Shaked, former Israeli Minister of Justice

Martina Topley-Bird, English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist

Breckin Meyer, American actor, writer, and producer

Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist and wrestler

Dave Karpa, Canadian ice hockey player

Billy Moore, Australian rugby league player

Thomas Piketty, French economist

Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter

Traci Lords, American actress and singer

Lisa Raitt, Canadian lawyer and politician, 30th Canadian Minister of Transport

Roberto d'Amico, Belgian politician

Martin Bryant, Australian mass murderer

Joe Rice, American colonel and politician

Reuben Davis, American football player

Owen Hart, Canadian wrestler (died 1999)

Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer and manager

Ronnie Harmon, American football player

Leslie O'Neal, American football player

Tony Campbell, American basketball player and coach

Sue Black, Scottish anthropologist and academic

Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham, Iraqi-English surgeon and academic

Almudena Grandes, Spanish author (died 2021)

Anne Marie Rafferty, English nurse and academic

William Ridenour, American politician

Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch jurist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Anne Dudley, English pianist and composer

Nicholas Hytner, English director and producer

Jean Lapierre, Canadian talk show host and politician (died 2016)

Amy Heckerling, American director, producer, and screenwriter

John Dowling Coates, Australian lawyer, sports administrator and businessman

Randall "Tex" Cobb, American boxer and actor

Tim Russert, American television journalist and lawyer (died 2008)

Thelma Houston, American R&B/disco singer and actress

Marv Hubbard, American football player (died 2015)

Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer

Michael Rosen, English author and poet

Christy Moore, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robin Strasser, American actress

Terry Allen, American singer and painter

John Bannon, Australian academic and politician, 39th Premier of South Australia (died 2015)

Peter Carey, Australian novelist and short story writer

Angela Carter, English novelist and short story writer (died 1992)

Sidney Altman, Canadian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022)

Ruggero Deodato, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2022)

Ruud Lubbers, Dutch economist and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (died 2018)

Johnny Maestro, American pop/doo-wop singer (died 2010)

Tony O'Reilly, Irish rugby player and businessman (died 2024)

Michael Hopkins, English architect (died 2023)

Johnny Unitas, American football player and sportscaster (died 2002)

Pete Domenici, American lawyer and politician, 37th Mayor of Albuquerque (died 2017)

Derek Taylor, English journalist and author (died 1997)

Teresa Brewer, American singer (died 2007)

Gene Wolfe, American author (died 2019)

Babe Parilli, American football player and coach (died 2017)

Dick Williams, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2011)

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-American author and screenwriter (died 2013)

Anne Baxter, American actress (died 1985)

Darren McGavin, American actor and director (died 2006)

Rendra Karno, Indonesian actor (died 1985)

Eva Perón, Argentinian actress, 25th First Lady of Argentina (died 1952)

Domenico Bartolucci, Italian cardinal and composer (died 2013)

Lenox Hewitt, Australian public servant (died 2020)

David Tomlinson, English actor (died 2000)

Simon Ramo, American physicist and engineer (died 2016)

Ishirō Honda, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)

Edwin H. Land, American scientist and inventor, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (died 1991)

Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino, Native American teacher (died 2005)

Philip Baxter, Welsh-Australian chemical engineer (died 1989)

Nikolay Zabolotsky, Russian-Soviet poet and translator (died 1958)

Gary Cooper, American actor (died 1961)

Alfred Gerrard, English sculptor and academic (died 1998)

Kathleen McKane Godfree, English tennis and badminton player (died 1992)

Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager (died 1985)

Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (died 1982)

Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (died 1980)

Harry McShane, Scottish engineer and activist (died 1988)

Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (died 1943)

George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (died 1969)

Willem Elsschot, Belgian author and poet (died 1960)

George E. Wiley, American cyclist (died 1954)

Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Bharat Ratna awardee (died 1972)

Bill Hoyt, American pole vaulter (died 1951)

Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)

Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1941)

Tom Norman, English businessman (died 1930)

William A. MacCorkle, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of West Virginia (died 1930)

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1929)

Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (died 1926)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (died 1893)

Karl Mauch, German geographer and explorer (died 1875)

Joseph Gurney Cannon, American lawyer and politician, 40th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1926)

Johannes Brahms, German pianist and composer (died 1897)

Robert Browning, English poet and playwright (died 1889)

Jacques Viger, Canadian archaeologist and politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (died 1858)

William Bainbridge, American commodore (died 1833)

Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (died 1820)

Józef Poniatowski, Polish general (died 1813)

Stephen Badlam, American artisan and military officer (died 1815)

Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and philosopher (died 1793)

Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police officer and general (died 1814)

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, French-Austrian field marshal (died 1797)

David Hume, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (died 1776)

Carl Heinrich Graun, German tenor and composer (died 1759)

Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician (died 1772)

Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (died 1700)

Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (died 1681)

Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia (died 1618)

Louis, Prince of Condé (died 1569)

John III of the Palatinate, archbishop of Regensburg (died 1538)

Steve Albini, American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist (born 1962)

Aase Foss Abrahamsen, Norwegian writer (born 1930)

Frank DiPascali, American businessman (born 1956)

John Dixon, Australian-American author and illustrator (born 1929)

Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (born 1923)

Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (born 1943)

Dick Welteroth, American baseball player (born 1927)

Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (born 1948)

George Sauer, Jr., American football player (born 1943)

Sammy Barr, Scottish trade union leader (born 1931)

Ferenc Bartha, Hungarian economist and politician (born 1943)

Dennis E. Fitch, American captain and pilot (born 1942)

Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (born 1957)

Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)

Big George, English songwriter, producer, and radio host (born 1957)

Victor Nosach, Soviet historian (born 1929)

Adele Mara, American actress, singer and dancer (born 1923)

Wally Hickel, American politician, Governor of Alaska and Secretary of the Interior (born 1919)

David Mellor, English designer (born 1930)

Danny Ozark, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1923)

Isabella Blow, English magazine editor (born 1958)

Diego Corrales, American boxer (born 1977)

Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (born 1926)

Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader, founded the Nation of Yahweh (born 1935)

Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (born 1943)

Joan C. Edwards, American singer and philanthropist (born 1918)

Tristan Egolf, American author and activist (born 1971)

Peter Rodino, American captain and politician (born 1909)

Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (born 1980)

Waldemar Milewicz, Polish journalist (born 1956)

Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (born 1912)

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American captain, actor, and producer (born 1909)

Allan McLeod Cormack, South African-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924)

Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)

Ray McKinley, American drummer, singer, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (born 1910)

Clement Greenberg, American art critic (born 1909)

Sam Tambimuttu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (born 1932)

Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor (born 1930)

Paul Popham, American soldier and activist, co-founded Gay Men's Health Crisis (born 1941)

Haldun Taner, Turkish playwright and author (born 1915)

Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (born 1915)

Alison Uttley, English children's book writer (born 1884)

Margaret Larkin, American writer and poet (born 1899)

Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (born 1880)

Warner Baxter, American actor (born 1889)

Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian journalist and politician (born 1864)

Fethi Okyar, Turkish colonel and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1880)

Felix Weingartner, Croatian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1863)

James George Frazer, Scottish-English anthropologist and academic (born 1854)

George Lansbury, English journalist and politician (born 1859)

Octavian Goga, Romanian politician, former Prime Minister (born 1881)

Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and author (born 1886)

William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, English businessman and politician (born 1851)

Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (born 1897/1898)

Max Wagenknecht, German pianist and composer (born 1857)

Eva Schiroky, Czech anarchist and cook (born 1840)

Albert Ball, English fighter pilot (born 1896)

Agostino Roscelli, Italian priest and saint (born 1818)

H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (born 1861)

C. F. W. Walther, German-American religious leader and theologian (born 1811)

Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias, Brazilian general and statesman (born 1803)

William Buell Sprague, American clergyman, historian, and author (born 1795)

Alexander Loyd, American carpenter and politician, 4th Mayor of Chicago (born 1805)

Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1778)

Caspar David Friedrich, German painter and educator (born 1774)

Antonio Salieri, Italian composer and conductor (born 1750)

Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (born 1739)

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1737)

Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (born 1728)

Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (born 1722)

Mary of Modena, Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland (born 1658)

Bajo Pivljanin (born 1630)

Feodor III of Russia (born 1661)

Johann Jakob Froberger, German organist and composer (born 1616)

David Fabricius, German astronomer and theologian (born 1564)

Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (born 1466)

Franz von Sickingen, German knight (born 1481)

Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (born 1471)

Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English priest (born 1352)

Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel

Otto I, Duke of Merania (born c. 1180)

Ladislaus III of Hungary (born 1201)

Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey

William I of Sicily

Remigius de Fécamp, English monk and bishop

Bagrat III, 1st King of Georgia (born 960)

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 912)

Ibn Hisham, Egyptian Muslim historian

John of Beverley, bishop of York