This Day in History on 7 December

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam.

On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 7 December. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

International Civil Aviation Day

Important Events

1825: The first steam-powered ship ‘Enterprise’ reached Kolkata.

1856: Ishwar Chandra took the challenge and performed the first widow remarriage in Kolkata on this day on his own dime.

1902: Janardhan Gyanoba Navle, cricketer, India’s first Test wicket-keeper, was born at Fulgaon, Maharashtra. He played against England at Lord’s in 1932.

1941: Japanese planes attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, killing 2043 people.

1944: General Radescu formed the government in Romania.

1972: America launched Apollo 17 as part of its mission to the moon.

1979: First International Children’s Films Festival was held in Bombay.

1995: South Asia Preference Trade Agreement (SAPTA) came into effect. India launched a communication satellite INSAT-2C.

1988: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Armenia killed 25,000 people.

1989: Hemananda Biswal sworn in as Orissa Chief Minister.

1992: Religious riots swept across India in the wake of the destruction of the ancient Babri Masjid mosque by rampaging Hindu fanatics in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya yesterday. More than 800 people had been killed and hundreds injured as Muslim and Hindu mobs stabbed, shooted and beat each other. The violence had thrown the government into chaos and had spilled into the neighboring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The army had been called out to restore order in Bombay, where street battles left 41 dead. The stock market had been closed down and Parliament forced to adjourn. Advani quit as the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.

1993: BJP leaders Advani, Joshi and Kalyan Singh arrested in connection with Ayodhya demolition case.

1993: Lalthanhwala sworn in CM of Mizoram.

1995: Indian, UN Mission in Bosnia & Herzegovina begin (UNMIBH – Dec 95 To Till Date).

1995: Indian National Satellite (INSAT-2C), third indigenous satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched. This has additional capabilities such as mobile satellite service, business communication and television outreach beyond Indian boundaries. This is still in service. It was launched by Ariane launch vehicle at French Guyana.

1997: Leander Paes awarded ‘The Sportstar’ award.

1998: A. B. Vajpayee questions Pakistan’s decision to hand over part of occupied Kashmir to China and says the area belongs to India.

1999: Nareshwar Dayal is appointed India’s High Commissioner to UK.

1999: A. B. Vajpayee, Prime Minister, rejects the Opposition demand for resignation of three Central Ministers L. K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati in the Ayodhya case.

2000: A five-member ULFA group guns down 26 non-Assamese people, mostly Hindi and Bengali-speaking, at Sonpura near Arunachal Pradesh Border in Upper Assam.

2001: Vikram Singhe appointed as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

2003, 7th December: Raman Singh became the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.

2004: Hamid Karzai sworn in as the first elected President of Afghanistan.

2008: Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh won the Japan Tour title.

2017: The Marriage Amendment Bill to legally recognize same-sex marriages passed in Australia’s parliament.

Birth/Birth Anniversary

1598: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, an Italian sculptor, and archit

1921 – Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Indian guru and scholar (d. 2016)

Pramukh Swami Maharaj was the guru and Pramukh, or president, of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a major branch of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a Hindu denomination

Pramukh-Swami-Maharaj-Indian-guru-and-scholar
Intizar Hussain


1923: Intizar Hussain, Indian-Pakistani author and scholar (d. 2016)

1928: Avram Noam Chomsky, an American linguist, and philosopher.

1979: Ramandeep Singh Gill, Soccer(Football) player, was born in Oslo, Norway.

Death/ Death Anniversary

1782: Hyder Ali, warrior of Mysore, passed away in a camp near Chittur.

1894: Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French businessman, and diplomat co-developed the Suez Canal.

1970: Rube Goldberg, an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor.

2001: Subrato Mitra, Famous Indian cameraman.

2004: Jay Van Andel, an American businessman, and philanthropist, co-founded Amway.

2016: Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani singer, and preacher of Islam, died in a plane crash.

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History