April 7

Scott Winters April 7, 2025 1 Comment

A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1795 – France adopted the meter as the basic measure of length.

1827 – An English chemist, John Walker, sold the first friction match. He invited it a year earlier.

1864 – To raise money for charity, the first camel race in America was held in Sacramento, CA.

1888 – P.F. Collier published a weekly periodical for the first time under the name “Collier’”s.

1927 – The first long-distance TV transmission was sent from Washington, DC, to New York, NY. The audience saw an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.

1930 – The first steel columns were set for the Empire State Building.

1933 – Prohibition in the United States was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the 21st Amendment.

1940 – Booker T. Washington became the first black to be pictured on a U.S. postage stamp.

1948 – The United Nations’ World Health Organization began operations.

1953 – IBM unveiled the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine. It was IBM’s first commercially available scientific computer.

1957 – In New York, NY, the last of city’s electric trolleys completed its final run from Queens to Manhattan.

1963 – At the age of 23, Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer to win the Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament.

1964 – IBM announced the System/360.

1966 – The U.S. recovered a hydrogen bomb it had lost off the coast of Spain.

1969 – The Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

1970 – John Wayne won his first and only Oscar for his role in “True Grit.” He had been in over 200 films.

1971 – President Richard Nixon pledged to withdraw 100,000 soldiers from Vietnam by December.

1978 – In Grand Rapids, MI, John Ball Park Zoo’s only elephant, Zooella, died.

1978 – Development of the neutron bomb was cancelled by President Jimmy Carter.

1982 – It was cold! Temperatures dropped to near zero around the Great Lakes as arctic high pressure moved into the area. Lansing fell to -2° for their latest sub-zero temperature on record. Muskegon dropped down to 1° and Grand Rapids saw a low of 3° for the coldest April temperatures on record.

1983 – Specialist Story Musgrave and Don Peterson made the first Space Shuttle spacewalk.

1983 – The Chinese government canceled all remaining sports and cultural exchanges with the U.S. for 1983.

1984 – Jack Morris threw a no hitter in a 4-0 shutout of Chicago. He was only the fourth Detroit Tiger to do so. It was the first time it had happened since 1958.

1990 – At Farm Aid IV, Elton John performed “Candle in the Wind” for Ryan White. White, a young boy with AIDS, died later the same day.

1990 – John Poindexter was found guilty of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial. The convictions were later reversed on appeal.

1990 – At Cincinnati, OH’s Contemporary Arts Center a display of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs went on display. On the same day the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges. The charges resulted in acquittal.

1993 – The movie “The Sandlot” premiered in theaters.

1998 – George Michael was arrested in a public restroom in Beverly Hills, CA for lewd conduct. He was sentenced to community service for the incident.

1998 – Mary Bono, the widow of Sonny Bono, won a special election to serve out the remainder of her husband’s Congressional term.

2000 – President Bill Clinton signed the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000. The bill reversed a Depression-era law and allows senior citizens to earn money without losing Social Security retirement benefits.

2001 – The Mars Odyssey was launched.

2003 – U.S. troops captured Baghdad. Saddam Hussein’s regime fell two days later.

2006 – Meredith Viera confirmed she was leaving ABC’s “The View” to replace Katie Couric on “Today”.

2008 – More than 10 years after Princess Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, died in a car wreck in Paris, a jury in London concluded that the two were killed by a combination of the “grossly negligent driving” of their chauffeur and the paparazzi pursuing their car.

2008 – Kathie Lee Gifford returned to TV, as co-host of the fourth hour of the “Today” show.

2016 – The final episode of the final season of TV’s “American Idol” aired on FOX.

2016 – The longest-ever python was captured in Malaysia. The snake was 26 feet long.

2021 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant had become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States.

2021 – Action Comics #1, which introduced Superman for the first time, sold at auction. It brought in a recording-breaking price of $3.25 million.

2022 – Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first black female justice when she was confirmed for the Supreme Court of the United States.

BIRTHDAYS:

Bobby Bare – 90 a old (1935) – Country singer (“Detroit City”)

Francis Ford Coppola – 86 a old (1939) – Director (“Godfather” movies, “Apocalypse Now”, “The Conversation”, “American Graffiti”, “Patton”). Born in Detroit, MI.

Mick Abrahams – 82 a old (1943) – Guitarist (Jethro Tull)

Carol Douglas – 77 a old (1948) – Singer (“Doctor’s Orders”)

John Oates – 77 a old (1948) – Songwriter, singer (Hall and Oates)

Janis Ian – 74 a old (1951) – Singer

Jackie Chan – 71 a old (1954) – Actor (“Rush Hour” movies, “The Karate Kid”, “The Tuxedo”, “Around the World in 80 Days”, “The Spy Next Door”)

Tony Dorsett – 71 a old (1954) – Football player

James “Buster” Douglas – 65 a old (1960) – Boxer

Russell Crowe – 61 a old (1964) – Actor (“A Beautiful Mind,” “”he Insider”)

Bill Bellamy – 60 a old (1965) – Actor (“The Brothers”, “Any Given Sunday”, “How to Be a Player”, “Love Jones”, “Love Stinks”)

Tiki and Ronde Barber – 50 a old (1975) – Football players, identical twin brothers both played in the NFL

Alexis Jordan – 33 a old (1992) – Singer (TV’s “America’s Got Talent” Season 1 contestant)

TODAY IS:

National No Housework Day: Give yourself a break. Eat off paper plates, order in, and ignore that vacuum. Do whatever you want on National No Housework Day—just so long as it’s not chores.
World Health Day: Listen to the World Health Organization and begin taking steps to improve your health: join a gym, start taking vitamins, or get outside on World Health Day.
SAAM Day of Action: Spreading awareness on eliminating harm, fostering safety, and empowering communities to end the silence against sexual violence.
Girl, Me Too Day: Fostering unity, women empower, uplift, and champion one another, creating a powerful network of solidarity.
International Beaver Day: Beavers are very important for the environment, creating natural dams and helping cleanse water. Help raise awareness about the threats facing this declining species.
Metric System Day:
National Beer Day: Visit a brewery, crack open a cold one with your friends, or learn how to brew your own beer on this hoppy holiday. Not a drinker? Try alcohol-free beer!
National Schwa Day: Discover the enigmatic sound at the heart of linguistics, a subtle symbol of linguistic nuance and pronunciation variance.
National Coffee Cake Day: Marrying layers of delicate sweetness, this culinary masterpiece beckons discerning palates to savor its timeless allure.
National Making The First Move Day: Join founder Greshun De Bouse and take the pledge to prevent and end bullying and its effects. Make the first move in being kind to yourself and others.
International Snailpapers Day:
Edinburgh Science Festival:
National Public Health Week: The well-being of communities — disease prevention, and better living through knowledge and action, towards a healthier world.
Discover National Parks Fortnight:
FOP Awareness Month: Raising awareness for a rare condition, efforts unite to support those facing the challenges of Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.
National Robotics Week:
Bee Active Bee Healthy Bee Happy Week:
Community Garden Week:
Laugh at Work Week:
International Pooper Scooper Week:
Be Kind to Spiders Week:
Blue Ribbon Week:
National Green Week:
World Hula Week (Merrie Monarch Festival):
National Bake Week:
America Saves Week:
National Cherry Blossom Festival:
National Window Safety Week:
Orthodox Holy Week:
Passover Begins:
The Masters Tournament: Golf's elite gather, showcasing unparalleled skill and sportsmanship in a prestigious event that captivates fans worldwide.