On This Day: May 7 - The New York Times
- ️Wed May 07 1919
Updated May 7, 2014, 8:54 am
On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II.
On May 7, 1919, Eva Peron, who was a powerful political influence as the wife of the president of Argentina, was born. Following her death on July 26, 1952, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
| 1812 | English poet Robert Browning was born in London. |
|---|---|
| 1833 | Composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany. |
| 1840 | Composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia. |
| 1915 | A German torpedo sank the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast, killing nearly 1,200 people. |
| 1939 | Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance, the Rome-Berlin Axis. |
| 1954 | The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended after 55 days with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces. |
| 1977 | Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby on his way to horse racing's Triple Crown. |
| 1984 | A $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans. |
| 1992 | A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it. |
| 2000 | President Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in Russia's first democratic transfer of power. |
| 2008 | Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia's president. |
Historic Birthdays
Eva Peron
5/7/1919 - 7/26/1952
Argentine wife of Juan Peron; developed independent political power base.Go to obituary »
| 86 |
Germain Boffrand 5/7/1667 - 3/18/1754 French architect; worked in the Baroque and Rococo styles |
|---|---|
| 65 |
David Hume 5/7/1711 - 8/25/1776 Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist |
| 77 |
Robert Browning 5/7/1812 - 12/12/1889 English poet and writer |
| 63 |
Johannes Brahms 5/7/1833 - 4/3/1897 German composer |
| 78 |
Oskar von Miller 5/7/1855 - 4/9/1934 German engineer; founded the Munich Museum of Science and Technology |
| 57 |
Marcus Loew 5/7/1870 - 9/5/1927 American film executive and movie theatre chain owner |
| 89 |
Archibald MacLeish 5/7/1892 - 4/20/1982 American poet, playwright and government official |
| 96 |
Kitty Godfree 5/7/1896 - 6/19/1992 English tennis player; won Olympic gold medal in 1920 |
| 60 |
Gary Cooper 5/7/1901 - 5/13/1961 American motion-picture actor |
| 81 |
Edwin Herbert Land 5/7/1909 - 3/1/1991 American inventor and physicist; developed the Polaroid Land Camera |