December 7 in Pop Culture History

 

December 7th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

December 7th History Highlights

  • 1787 – Delaware became the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.
  • December 7, 1891 Birthday (fictional) Vito Corleone, The Godfather
  • 1941 – Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA attacked by Japan.
  • 2002 – In Amsterdam, Netherlands, two Van Gogh paintings were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum. The two works were “View of the Sea st Scheveningen” and “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen.” They were found, along with the thieves shortly after the heist.
  • If you were born on December 7th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… March 15th (same year)

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.”

There were 2,403 people killed, 68 of those were civilians. 1,178 were wounded in the attack at Pearl Harbor.
The USS Arizona, the USS Nevada, the USS Oklahoma, and the USS West Virginia were all destroyed in the attack.

There were two waves of planes that attacked the U.S Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor that morning. The first arrived at 7:55 a.m. and consisted of 181 planes. The second wave arrived almost an hour later with 170 planes.
Japanese losses were light, they lost only 29 planes.
A total of twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged during the attack.

December 7th is…

International Civil Aviation Day
Letter Writing Day
National Cotton Candy Day
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

December 7th Birthday Quotes

Oh, if a man tried to take his time on earth and prove before he died what one man’s life could be worth, I wonder what would happen to this world?
– Harry Chapin

I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.
– Larry Bird

Music is something that always lifts my spirits and makes me happy, and when I make music I always hope it will have the same effect on whoever listens to it.
-Aaron Carter

Being able to do as one pleases is the natural goal of the libertarian, but having nothing to do is not. While it may be correct to say that the human species is badly prepared for having nothing to do, it is quite a different matter to say that it is badly prepared for the freedom to do as one pleases. People who are able to do as they please may work very hard, given the opportunity to do interesting work.
– Noam Chomsky

Hello my Country
I once came to tell everyone your story
Your passion was my poetry
And your past my most potent glory
Your promise was my prayer
Your hypocrisy my nightmare
And your problems fill my present
Are we both going somewhere?

– Harry Chapin

We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness. We are monkeys with money and guns.
– Tom Waits

December 7th Birthdays

1863 – Richard Warren Sears, American businessman, co-founder of Sears (died in 1914)
1904 – Clarence Nash, American voice actor, Donald Duck (died in 1985)
1910 – Louis Prima, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and performer (died in 1978)
1915 – Eli Wallach, American actor (died in 2014)
1923 – Ted Knight, American actor, and comedian (died in 1986)
1924 – Bent Fabric (Bent Fabricius-Bjerre), Danish pianist and composer
1928 – Noam Chomsky, American linguist, and philosopher
1932 – Ellen Burstyn, American actress
1942 – Harry Chapin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died in 1981)
1949 – Tom Waits, American singer-songwriter
1956 – Larry Bird, American basketball player
1958 – Rick Rude (Richard Erwin Rood), American wrestler
1966 – C. Thomas Howell, American actor
1973 – Terrell Owens, American football player, and actor
1979 – Sara Bareilles, American singer-songwriter
1987 – Aaron Carter, American singer-songwriter
1989 – Nicholas Hoult, English actor

December 7th History

1732
The Covent Garden Theatre Royal (now the Royal Opera House) was opened on London.

1787
Delaware became ‘The First State’ to ratify the US Constitution.

1842
The first concert of the New York Philharmonic, founded by Ureli Corelli Hill.

1869
American outlaw Jesse James committed his first bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri.

1891
December 7, 1891 Birthday (fictional) Vito Corleone, The Godfather, Film

1909
Leo Baekeland of Yonkers, New York, received the patent for a thermosetting artificial plastic which he called ‘Bakelite’ (patent #942,699)

1932
The first gyro-stabilized ship to cross the Atlantic, the Conte di Savoia, arrived in New York City.

1946
A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta killed 119 people.

1957
#1 Hit December 7, 1957December 27, 1957: Sam Cooke – You Send Me

1963
#1 Hit December 7, 1963January 3, 1964: The Singing Nun – Dominique

1960
Coronation Street, the longest-running TV soap opera in the world, began on Granada Television.

1972
Apollo 17 (December 7-19, 1972) Crew: Eugene Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Harrison H. Schmitt. The Blue Marble (planet Earth) photograph was taken on December 7, 1972, captured by Harrison Schmitt and Ron Evans of the Apollo 17 crew about 18,000 miles from the Earth while on their way to the moon.

1974
#1 Hit December 7, 1974December 20, 1974: Carl Douglas – Kung Fu Fighting

1979
The National Fire Safety Council was founded.

1980
#1 Hit December 27, 1980January 30, 1981: John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over

1982
Murderer Charles Brooks, Jr. was the first criminal executed by lethal injection in Texas.

1984
City Heat debuted in theaters.

1985
#1 Hit December 7, 1985 – December 20, 1985: Mr. Mister – Broken Wings

1988
(Earthquake) Armenia killed over 60,000 people, with over 500,000 homeless.

1990
Edward Scissorhands was released in theaters.

1991
#1 Hit December 7, 1991January 24, 1992: Michael Jackson – Black Or White

1995
The Galileo spacecraft arrived at the planet Jupiter on its mission to study the planet and its moons.

1996
#1 Hit December 7, 1996February 21, 1997: Toni Braxton – Un-Break My Heart

2001
Ocean’s Eleven, starring George Clooney, opened in theaters.

2007
The Golden Compass debuted in theaters.

2008
Leverage premiered on TNT.

2016
December 7, 2016Hairspray Live!, hosted by Darren Criss, aired on NBC

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

Gyms would be more successful if they hounded you to come in and work out as they hound you to come back after your membership expires.

“How you spend your time when you are not working or studying says everything about who you are and what is motivating your life.” – Jennifer Elisabeth

The Capital of Bhutan is Thimphu

“I’ll have what she’s having.” – Customer (Estelle Reiner) in When Harry Met Sally…, 1989

Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman

When they start with the punchline . . . How do you know if your friend is a bad comedian?

“I hope you get everything you deserve” can be taken as a blessing or a curse, depending on the person saying it and the person hearing it.

“Here’s looking at you, kid.” – Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) #moviequotes

“Oh no, I’ve seen way too many Bond movies to know that you never reveal all the details of your plan, no matter how close you may think you are to winning. ” – Azrael

A group of Salamanders is called a Congress.

If there are infinite universes, there’s one in which coin flips always result in heads, and a scientist is deemed as crazy for saying there’s a 50% chance that a coin flip results in tails.

Meatloaf – Real Name: Marvin Lee Aday

The best way to get rid of mosquitos would be with a really big laser aimed at the sky. They could see it for miles, fly to it, and get obliterated when they touched it. #offtobuyagiantruby

The Capital of Belgium is Brussels

More Pop Culture History Resources