November 7
Today in America's Present Past
1637 | Civil Rights: Puritan reformist Anne Hutchinson was tried in Massachusetts Bay Colony as a heretic, found guilty and banished.
1775 | War of Independence: British Governor of Virginia Dunmore promised freedom to male slaves who joined British army.
1786 | The oldest performing musical organization was founded as the Stoughton Musical Society.
1805 | The Lewis and Clark Expedition first sighted the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River.
1808 | POTUS: James Madison was elected President.
1811 | War of 1812: The Battle of Tippecanoe was waged.
1832 | Historian and educator Andrew Dickson White was born.
1837 | Civil Rights: In Illinois, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy shot dead by pro-slavery mob.
1848 | POTUS: Zachary Taylor was elected President.
1861 | Civil War: The Battle of Belmont, Missouri.
1861 | Civil War: The Battle of Port Royal, South Carolina.
1863 | Civil War: The Battles of Rappahannock Station and Kelly’s Ford, Virginia.
1874 | The first cartoon depicting an elephant as the Republican Party symbol was published.
1874 | Entrepreneur and author George S. Clason was born.
1876 | Cleric Albertus van Raalte died.
1876 | Edward Bouchet was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from a U.S. college (Yale).
1876 | POTUS: Republican President Hayes was re-elected.
1907 | Delta Sigma Pi was founded.
1908 | Outlaw Butch Cassidy died.
1909 | Knights of St Peter Claver was founded in Mobile, Alabama.
1910 | The first air freight shipment was undertaken by the Wright Brothers.
1913 | The Great Lakes Storm the “White Hurricane” begins with 90 mph winds and 35 foot waves, sinking 19 ships and strand 19 more, killing over 250 people.
1914 | “The New Republic” debuted.
1916 | POTUS: Democrat President Wilson was re-elected.
1916 | Congress: Republican Jeannette Rankin became the first elected woman Member of Congress.
1918 | Cleric Billy Graham was born.
1919 | Civil Rights: U.S. police raid offices of Union of Russian Workers throughout the country.
1929 | The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opens in New York City, New York.
1932 | Radio: “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” debuted.
1943 | Historian Stephen Greenblatt was born.
1944 | POTUS: Democrat President Roosevelt was re-elected President for a fourth term.
1950 | Neurosurgeon Alexa Canady was born in Lansing, Michigan.
1951 | Novelist Wessel H. Smitter died.
1952 | General David Petraeus was born.
1954 | Cold War: The U.S. Navy shoots down a Soviet fighter.
1956 | WWII hero Charles J. French died.
1957 | POUTS: The Eisenhower Administration released “The Gaither Report (Deterrence & Survival in the Nuclear Age).”
1962 | First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt died.
1967 | POTUS: Democrat President Johnson signed a bill establishing the tax funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
1972 | POTUS: Republican President Nixons was re-elected.
1973 | Civil Rights: New Jersey becomes the first state to allow girls to participate in Little League.
1975 | Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell was born.
1976 | Rapper One Be Lo was born in Pontiac, Michigan.
1980 | Actor Steve McQueen died.
1981 | Historian Will Durant died.
1981 | Pro Wrestler Muhammad Hassan was born.
1983 | War on Terror: A bomb exploded in the Capitol, causing damage but no injury.
1992 | Actor Jack Kelly died.
1995 | Writer John Patrick died.
2000 | POTUS: Republican George W. Bush is elected President.
2011 | Boxer Joe Frazier died.
2023 | Astronaut Frank Borman died.