What happened today
1892
Famous birthdays
1914
Get history's greatest tales
Subscribe to our HistoryNet Now! newsletter for a blast from the past each week in your inbox.
more events on September 7
-
2008
US Government assumes conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country’s two largest mortgage financing companies, during the subprime mortgage crisis.
-
2004
Hurricane Ivan damages 90% of buildings on the island of Grenada; 39 die in the Category 5 storm.
-
1988
Pilot and cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan to travel to outer space, returns to earth after 9 days aboard the Soviet space station Mir.
-
1986
Desmond Tutu becomes first black leader of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of South Africa).
-
1979
ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programing Network, debuts.
-
1978
Secret police agent Francesco Gullino assassinates Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London by firing a ricin pellet from a specially designed umbrella.
-
1977
Panama and US sign Torrijos-Carter Treaties to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the US to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
-
1970
Jockey Bill Shoemaker earns 6,033rd win, breaking Johnny Longden’s record for most lifetime wins; Shoemaker’s record would stand for 29 years.
-
1965
Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio.
-
1956
Michael Feinstein, singer, musician; archivist for Great American Songbook.
-
1954
Integration of public schools begins in Washington D.C. and Maryland.
-
1953
Nikita Krushchev elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
-
1950
Margaret “Peggy” Noonan, author, The Wall Street Journal columnist; special assistant to President Ronald Reagan.
-
Julie Kavner, Emmy Award–winning actress (Rhoda, 1968) and voice actress (The Simpsons, 1992); best known as the voice of Marge Simpson in The Simpsons.
-
1949
Gloria Gaynor, Grammy Award–winning singer (“I Will Survive”).