7 April in history

8 events that happened on 7 April, from 529 to 1994.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    529 CE 1,497 years ago

    Justinian promulgates the first Code of Roman law

    Emperor Justinian issued the Codex Justinianus, gathering imperial constitutions into a single authoritative collection. Revised in 534, it became the core of the Corpus Juris Civilis that shaped European law.

    Byzantine EmpireCorpus Juris CivilisCodex JustinianusRoman law

  2. 1348 CE 678 years ago

    Charles IV founds the university in Prague

    Charles IV, King of Bohemia, issued the charter founding a university in Prague, the first in Central Europe. Now Charles University, it later became a centre of the Hussite reform movement.

    Kingdom of BohemiaKing of BohemiaCentral EuropeCharles IV

  3. 1449 CE 577 years ago

    Antipope Felix V renounces his claim to the papacy

    Felix V, the former Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, renounced his claim to the papacy, ending the reign of the last antipope. The Council of Basel had elected him in 1439, after he had retired to a hermitage.

    Amadeus VIII, Duke of SavoyPapacy

  4. 1739 CE 287 years ago

    Highwayman Dick Turpin is hanged at York

    Dick Turpin, convicted of horse theft, was hanged on the Knavesmire at York. The violent robber was later romanticised in fiction as a dashing gentleman of the road.

  5. 1798 CE 228 years ago

    Congress creates the Mississippi Territory

    The US Congress organised the Mississippi Territory on land ceded by Spain in 1795. It was later enlarged and divided into the states of Mississippi and Alabama.

  6. 1827 CE 199 years ago

    John Walker records the first sale of friction matches

    Stockton-on-Tees chemist John Walker sold his newly invented 'friction lights', matches struck against sandpaper. He never patented them, and others soon copied the idea.

  7. 1939 CE 87 years ago

    Italy invades Albania

    Mussolini's forces landed at Durrës and other ports, and within days King Zog had fled. Albania was joined to the Italian crown, and the invasion later served as a base for Italy's attack on Greece.

    Greece

  8. 1994 CE 32 years ago

    Genocide against the Tutsi begins in Rwanda

    Hours after President Habyarimana's aircraft was shot down, extremists began killing Tutsi and moderate Hutu. In about 100 days an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 people were murdered.

    Genocide

Born on 7 April 5

Died on 7 April 8

Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.

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