May 7, 1718
The city of
New Orleans is founded.
1763
Odawa war chief
Pontiac attempts to seize
Fort Detroit from the British, leading to
Pontiac's War.
1824
World premiere of
Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony in Vienna.
1840
The
Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
1915
The
RMS Lusitania is sunk by the German sub
U-20, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans.
1942
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 the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between the warring ships.
1974
Willy Brandt resigns as West German Chancellor.
1976
The
Honda Accord is officially launched.
1998
Mercedes-Benz buys
Chrysler for US$40 billion USD and forms
DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
2000
Russia inaugurates
Vladimir Putin as President.
2004
American businessman
Nick Berg, is beheaded by Islamic militants.
2007
The tomb of
Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.
Births
1812 Robert Browning; 1833 Johannes Brahms; 1840 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; 1885 George "Gabby" Hayes; 1892 Archibald MacLeish; 1892 Josip Broz Tito; 1901 Gary Cooper; 1909 Edwin H. Land (co-founded Polaroid Corp.); 1919 Eva Perσn; 1922 Darren McGavin (
Kolchak: The Night Stalker); 1923 Anne Baxter; 1930 Totie Fields; 1933 Johnny Unitas; 1946 Bill Kreutzmann, Jerry Nolan; 1948 Susan Atkins (follower of Charles Manson); 1950 Randall "Tex" Cobb (boxer), Tim Russert; 1951 Bernie Marsden; 1961 Phil Campbell (Motorhead); 1965 Owen Hart (wrestler); 1968 Traci Lords; 1969 Eagle-Eye Cherry
Deaths
1896 H. H. Holmes (serial killer); 1998 Eddie Rabbitt; 2000 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; 2007 Yahweh ben Yahweh; 2011 Seve Ballesteros; 2013 Ray Harryhausen