April 7: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Asia-Pacific stock markets experienced their largest decline in decades after Trump announced tariffs of up to 46%.

New York and New Jersey were struck by the strongest earthquake in over one hundred years.

The 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt across New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area, as well as parts of Virginia and Maine. The last quake of its size to hit New Jersey was in 1783.

Donald Trump launched 59 missiles into Syria.

The attack came three days after a chemical attack on Khan Shaykhun.

US forces circled the city of Baghdad, which led to the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime two days later.

NASA launched the 2001 Mars Odyssey space probe from Cape Canaveral.

The space probe was initially called the Astrobiological Reconnaissance and Elemental Surveyor (ARES). However, the naming committee faced heavy criticism and was forced to reconsider its options. 2001 Mars Odyssey had previously come up as an option, but due to licensing concerns, they rejected it.

The Soviet K-278 Komsomolets nuclear submarine caught fire and sank off the coast of Norway.

Donald Trump married his first wife, Ivana Zelníčková, in Manhattan, New York.

The two met at a New York City watering hole for singles.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned due to health concerns.

The United Nations formed the World Health Organization (WHO).

Car engineer Henry Ford died at the age of 83.

Booker T. Washington became the first Black person pictured on a US postage stamp.

Booker T. Washington, a former slave, was an American author, educator, and advisor to several US presidents. He was a prominent leader in the Black community.

Mount Vesuvius volcano erupted, devastating Naples in the process.

Texaco was formed.

Originally named "The Texas Company," it started from the Fee Oil Well No. 3 in Sour Lake, Texas.

Englishman John Walker invented modern-day wooden matches that create a flame through friction.

The Territory of Mississippi was formally organized.

The region had previously been contested territory between the USA and Spain, but Spain signed away their claims in 1795 with the Treaty of Madrid. At its point of organization, Mississippi Territory only included the lower halves of modern-day Mississippi and Alabama.

France initiated the War of the League of Cambra against Venice.

The League of Cambra was a coalition of Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire, Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, and Ferdinand II of Aragon (NW Spain).