Today in history: Dec. 7
In 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and more events that happened on this day in history.
1941: Pearl Harbor
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In 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as well as targets in Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippines and Wake Island; the United States declared war against Japan the next day.
1946: Winecoff Hotel
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In 1946, fire broke out at the Winecoff (WYN’-kahf) Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze killed 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff.
1987: Mikhail S. Gorbachev
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In 1987, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time, arriving for a Washington summit with President Ronald Reagan.
1987: Plane Crash
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In 1987, 43 people were killed after a gunman aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California apparently opened fire on a fellow passenger, the pilots and himself, causing the plane to crash.
1988: Earthquake
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In 1988, a major earthquake in the Soviet Union devastated northern Armenia; official estimates put the death toll at 25-thousand.
2004: Hamid Karzai
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In 2004, Hamid Karzai (HAH’-mihd KAHR’-zeye) was sworn in as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president.
2017: Al Franken
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In 2017, Democratic Sen. Al Franken said he would resign after a series of sexual harassment allegations.
2017: Michael Slager
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In 2017, a white former South Carolina police officer, Michael Slager, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black motorist, Walter Scott, in North Charleston in 2015.
2020: Charles "Chuck" Yeager
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One year ago: Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who in 1947 became the first person to fly faster than sound, died at 97.
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Pearl Harbor survivor Ira Schab is planning to return to the Hawaii naval base 82 years after Japan's bombing propelled the U.S. into World War II. Schab is expected to be one of just six survivors at a remembrance ceremony.
