Today in History, September 7th
On September 7, 1940, German bombers struck London, beginning the Blitz. Plus Brazil's independence and the Panama Canal treaty.
Published · Last updated
September 7 is best known for 1940, when hundreds of German bombers struck London and opened the Blitz, a bombing campaign that lasted into May 1941. The date also saw Brazil declare independence in 1822 and the U.S. and Panama sign a treaty to hand over the Panama Canal in 1977.
The big story: The Blitz begins (1940)
Germany’s air force had spent the summer of 1940 trying to knock out Britain’s Royal Air Force, and it had not worked. So Hitler changed targets. On the afternoon of September 7, 1940, about 300 German bombers hit London, dropping 337 tons of bombs. The docks and crowded neighborhoods of the East End took the worst of it, and 448 civilians died that day. That evening, British units got the code word “Cromwell,” meaning an invasion might be underway. It was not, but the raids kept coming, every night for 57 nights straight. Coventry, Plymouth, Belfast, Hull and other cities and ports were hit in the months that followed. Londoners eventually sheltered in Underground stations, a step officials were slow to allow but that saved many lives. When Germany turned its planes east to invade the Soviet Union, the raids faded out in May 1941. About 43,000 British civilians had been killed. Britain had not broken, and Ed Murrow’s radio broadcasts helped convince Americans of that.
More events on September 7
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1191 | Saladin’s army attacked Richard I’s Crusaders at the Battle of Arsuf. Richard struck back, but his march on Jerusalem was delayed. |
| 1776 | The American submarine Turtle tried to attach a bomb to a British flagship in New York Harbor, the first use of a submarine in war. |
| 1812 | Napoleon’s army narrowly defeated the Russians under Mikhail Kutuzov at the Battle of Borodino. |
| 1822 | Dom Pedro declared Brazil independent from Portugal. |
| 1876 | Townspeople in Northfield, Minnesota, foiled a daytime bank robbery by the James-Younger gang, nearly wiping the gang out. |
| 1901 | The Boxer Protocol was signed, formally ending the Boxer Rebellion in China. |
| 1911 | French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. |
| 1963 | The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio, with a first class that included Jim Thorpe and George Halas. |
| 1977 | President Jimmy Carter and Panama’s leader Omar Torrijos signed a treaty to gradually turn the Panama Canal over to Panama. |
| 1979 | ESPN, a cable channel devoted entirely to sports, went on the air. |
| 1996 | Rapper and actor Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas. He died six days later. |
| 2005 | Egypt held its first presidential election with more than one candidate. Hosni Mubarak was declared the winner amid low turnout and charges of irregularities. |
Born on September 7
- 1533: Elizabeth I, queen of England from 1558 to 1603, born in Greenwich, near London.
- 1860: Grandma Moses, self-taught American painter of country life, born in Greenwich, New York.
- 1936: Buddy Holly, rock and roll singer and songwriter, born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas.
Sources
- The Blitz begins, History.com
- The Blitz, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- This Day in History: September 7, History.com
- On This Day: September 7, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Elizabeth I, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Grandma Moses, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Buddy Holly, Encyclopaedia Britannica
