Today in History, August 7th
On August 7, 1942, U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal. Plus Philippe Petit's Twin Towers walk and Barry Bonds' 756th home run.
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August 7 is best known for 1942, when U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, opening the first U.S. offensive of World War II. The date also saw Philippe Petit walk a high wire between the Twin Towers in 1974 and Barry Bonds hit his record-breaking 756th home run in 2007.
The big story: U.S. Marines land on Guadalcanal (1942)
In the summer of 1942, Japanese forces had come ashore on Guadalcanal and started building an airfield there. The American answer was Operation Watchtower. On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division hit five islands in the Solomon chain at once, with more than 11,000 Marines going ashore on Guadalcanal itself. Bad weather had kept Japanese scout planes on the ground, so the landing came as a surprise, and the airfield fell quickly. The easy start did not last. Japan rushed in reinforcements, and the campaign turned into months of brutal hand-to-hand jungle fighting and costly battles at sea, where each side lost 24 warships. By February 1943, the Japanese had quietly pulled out. History.com counts more than 25,000 Japanese dead against about 1,600 Americans. It had been the first U.S. offensive of the war, and it ended in an American victory.
More events on August 7
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1782 | George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit, the forerunner of the Purple Heart. |
| 1909 | Alice Ramsey and three friends reached San Francisco from New York, finishing the first cross-country road trip by an all-female crew in 59 days. |
| 1912 | The new Progressive Party, better known as the Bull Moose Party, nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president. |
| 1947 | Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa raft Kon-Tiki ended a 4,300-mile voyage from Peru to the Tuamotu islands in Polynesia. |
| 1959 | The U.S. launched the satellite Explorer 6, which sent back a crude picture of Earth’s surface and clouds. |
| 1964 | Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad power to expand the U.S. role in Vietnam. |
| 1974 | French high-wire artist Philippe Petit walked a cable strung between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. |
| 1987 | Lynne Cox swam the Bering Strait, becoming the first recorded swimmer to go from the U.S. to the Soviet Union. |
| 1990 | President George H.W. Bush ordered Operation Desert Shield, sending U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia after Iraq invaded Kuwait. |
| 1998 | Truck bombs exploded outside the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people. |
| 2005 | Seven crew members of a Russian mini-submarine trapped on the Pacific seafloor were rescued. |
| 2007 | Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run, passing Hank Aaron’s all-time record. |
Born on August 7
- 1876: Mata Hari, Dutch dancer whose name became shorthand for a seductive spy, born Margaretha Zelle in Leeuwarden.
- 1904: Ralph Bunche, American diplomat who won the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering an Arab-Israeli truce, born in Detroit.
- 1932: Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian runner and the first athlete to win two Olympic marathons.
Sources
- U.S. forces invade Guadalcanal, History.com
- This Day in History: August 7, History.com
- Barry Bonds, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Mata Hari, Biography.com
- Ralph Bunche, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Abebe Bikila, Encyclopaedia Britannica
