On This Day: 7 May

The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus (son–in–law of Constantine the Great, and brother–in–law of Constantius II) breaks out, after Gallus arrives at his capital, Antioch (modern Turkey – very close to the border with Syria)		351
The dome of the Hagia Sofia, in Constantinople, collapses; Justinian I immediately orders its rebuilding		588
The first Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opens		1663
Louis XIV begins the construction of the Palace of Versailles		1664
The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean–Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville		1718
Native Americans under Chief Pontiac attack the British garrison at Detroit		1763
HMS Victory launched at Chatham		1765
In France's National Convention, Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being as the new state religion of the French First Republic		1794
Beethoven supervises the first performance of his Ninth Symphony, in Vienna		1824
Greece is recognised as a separate kingdom, under the terms of the Treaty of London		1832
In Natchez, Mississippi, 317 people lose their lives in the second deadliest tornado in US history		1840
America's oldest surviving weekly newspaper – the Cambridge Chronicle – is published for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts		1846
American Medical Association founded		1847
US Civil War: the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards; Battle of Spotsylvania begins		1864
The clipper ship City of Adelaide – used to carry passengers and goods to Australia, and in 2019 the world's oldest surviving clipper ship – is launched in Sunderland		1864
George Eastman's Kodak camera goes on sale in the USA		1888
Volcano Soufriere (St. Vincent) erupts – over 1,000 killed		1902
The first Isle of Man TT race takes place – won by Charles Collier at an average speed of 38.22 mph		1907
Cunard flagship Lusitania torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland – 1,198 die		1915
Romania and the Central Powers ratify a peace treaty		1918
Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognises the independence of Georgia – only to invade it six months later		1920
Stockport County play Leicester City at Old Trafford, because Edgeley Park is closed following crowd trouble; the official attendance is 13, the lowest ever for a Football League game (although unofficial reports estimate the crowd at up to 2,000)		1921
Qualifying age for women voters in Britain reduced from 30 to 21 ('The Flappers' Vote')		1928
Paul Doumer, president of France, assassinated by Russian Paul Gorgoulov		1932
The German Condor Legion arrives in Spain to assist Franco's forces		1937
Neville Chamberlain resigns as prime minister		1940
Japanese and US naval forces engage in the Coral Sea		1942
Allied forces capture Tunis from the Germans		1943
General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in World War II – effective from the following day		1945
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded		1946
The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress		1948
Geoffrey Dummer, an electronics engineer at the UK government's Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern, Worcs, publishes the concept of the integrated circuit (microchip)		1952
Vietminh capture Diem Bien Phu from the French		1954
First meeting of the Western European Union Council		1955
St. Paul's Cathedral's new High Altar is dedicated as a Commonwealth war memorial		1958
An agreement is reached enabling Britain to buy components of atomic weapons (but not nuclear warheads) from the USA		1959
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his country is holding American U–2 pilot Gary Powers		1960
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward win the Pulitzer Prize for their investigative work on Watergate		1973
Canadian Patrick Morrow becomes the first person to attain the Seven Summits (the highest point on each continent)		1986
Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February		1994
Jacques Chirac elected as President of France		1995
Londoners vote by a majority of three to one in favour of an elected mayor		1998
Mercedes–Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion, forming DaimlerChrysler – the largest industrial merger in history		1998
During the Kosovo War, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft apparently inadvertently bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia		1999
Pope John Paul II travels to Romania – the first papal visit to a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054		1999
Donald Dewar becomes the First Minister for Scotland, as leader of a Labour / Liberal Democrat coalition		1999
João Bernardo Vieira is ousted as President of Guinea–Bissau, in a military coup		1999
Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as President of Russia		2000
Ronnie Biggs lands at RAF Northolt and goes back to prison		2001
112 people lose their lives when a China Northern Airlines MD–82 plunges into the Yellow Sea		2002
American radio tower repairman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants in Iraq – an act recorded on videotape and released on the Internet		2004

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On This Day: 7 May