Today in history: Sept. 7
On Sept. 7, 1940, Nazi Germany began its eight-month blitz of Britain during World War II with the first air attack on London.
1936: Buddy Holly
In 1936, rock-and-roll legend Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas.
1940: London
In 1940, Nazi Germany began its eight-month blitz of Britain during World War II with the first air attack on London.
1972: Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett
In 1972, the International Olympic Committee banned Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett of the U.S. from further competition for talking to each other on the victory stand in Munich during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” after winning the gold and silver medals in the 400-meter run.
1977: The Panama Canal Treaties
In 1977, the Panama Canal treaties, calling for the U.S. to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama, were signed in Washington by President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos.
1986: Desmond Tutu
In 1986, Desmond Tutu was installed as the first Black clergyman to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.
1996: Tupac Shakur
In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally wounded on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later.
2005: New Orleans
In 2005, police and soldiers went house to house in New Orleans to try to coax the last stubborn holdouts into leaving the city shattered by Hurricane Katrina.
2008: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
In 2008, troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed in government conservatorship.
2011: Plane Crash
In 2011, a private Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team slammed into a riverbank moments after takeoff from the airport near the western city of Yaroslavl, killing 44 people. (Investigators blamed pilot error.)
2011: Republican Presidential Debate
In 2011, the latest in a series of Republican presidential debates brought together Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum in Simi Valley, California.
2015: Hillary Clinton
In 2015, Hillary Clinton, interviewed by The Associated Press during a campaign swing through Iowa, said she did not need to apologize for using a private email account and server while at the State Department because “what I did was allowed.”
2017: Earthquake
In 2017, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in Mexico struck off the country’s southern coast, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing at least 90 people. (A deadlier quake would strike central Mexico nearly two weeks later.)
2019: The Taliban
In 2019, President Donald Trump said he had canceled a secret weekend meeting at Camp David with Taliban and Afghan leaders, just days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, after a bombing in Kabul that killed 12 people, including an American soldier.
2020: India
In 2020, India’s increasing coronavirus caseload made the Asian giant the world’s second-worst-hit country behind the United States.
2020: Malden, Washington
In 2020, about 80% of the small eastern Washington farming town of Malden was leveled by flames from a fast-moving wildfire.