7 December in history
8 events that happened on 7 December, from 43 BCE to 1975.
✦ Anniversary of the day
43 BCE 2,068 years ago
Cicero is killed on Mark Antony's orders
Proscribed by the Second Triumvirate, Marcus Tullius Cicero was overtaken by soldiers near Formiae and killed. His head and hands were displayed in the Forum, where he had attacked Antony in his Philippics.
574 CE 1,452 years ago
Justin II proclaims his general Tiberius caesar
During a respite from a severe mental illness, the Eastern Roman emperor Justin II proclaimed his general Tiberius caesar and adopted him as his son. Tiberius became co-emperor in 578 and reigned until 582 as Tiberius II Constantine.
1724 CE 302 years ago
The mayor of Toruń and nine Lutheran officials are executed
After a Protestant crowd vandalised the Jesuit college in Toruń (Thorn) in Royal Prussia, the Polish supreme court blamed Mayor Johann Gottfried Rösner and nine other Lutheran officials for neglect of duty. They were sentenced to death and executed.
1815 CE 211 years ago
Marshal Ney is executed by firing squad
Michel Ney, whom Napoleon called 'the bravest of the brave', was shot in Paris for treason after joining his former emperor during the Hundred Days. He refused a blindfold and is said to have given the order to fire.
1941 CE 85 years ago
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Japanese carrier aircraft struck the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing more than 2,400 Americans and sinking or damaging 19 ships. The United States entered the Second World War the next day.
1975 CE 51 years ago
Indonesia invades East Timor
Indonesian forces invaded East Timor nine days after Fretilin declared independence from Portugal. The occupation cost an estimated 100,000 to 180,000 lives before a UN-supervised vote led to independence.
Born on 7 December 5
Died on 7 December 9
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.