You all know about Pearl Harbor, but other notable events happened on December 7.
574 – The Byzantine Emperor Justin II abdicates due to recurring insanity brought on by waging too many wars in the Middle East.
Darnley and the Queen, before his “accident”
1545 – Lord Darnley is born. He marries Mary, Queen of Scots in 1565. He has Mary’s secretary and rumored lover killed in 1566. He is killed in an explosion in 1567, probably planned by the man who would become Mary’s next husband. Game of Thrones, you ain’t got nothin’ on the Scots.
1672 – Richard Bellingham, former Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, dies. Lawsuits over his estate were blamed for the delays in Boston’s Big Dig project (1982 – 2038?).
1787 – Delaware ratifies the U.S. Constitution. 2,643 firms immediately incorporate there to avoid taxes.
Bligh in one of his cheerier moments
1817 – William Bligh dies. It’s a shame he’s remembered only as the failed captain of the HMS Bounty. He was also the failed Governor of New South Wales as well.
1862 – The Battle of Prairie Grove, the only Civil War battle fought by armies of prairie dogs, ends when all the prairie dogs jump off a cliff and drown.
1869 – A misunderstanding over an illegible withdrawal slip leads to Jesse James’s first bank robbery.
1902 – Thomas Nast dies. He popularized the Republican elephant, the Democratic donkey, Uncle Sam, the modern Santa Claus, and Donald Trump’s hair style.
1905 – Gerard Kuiper is born. His belt size increased so much that it now circles the Solar System beyond Neptune.
1917 – The United States Congress declares war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire after debating for six days whether it really exists.
1930 – The worst disaster in United States history: the first television commercial is broadcast.
Every taxi ride deserves a sequel
1942 – Harry Chapin is born. They tell us he died, but I think he’s still driving a taxi.
1965 – The Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople say they were just kidding when they excommunicated each other more than nine centuries earlier.
1972 – Apollo 17, which the U.S. Government would have you believe was the last manned moon mission, is launched. Either it was all a fake and we never landed on the moon, or it was just the preliminary steps for Apollo 18 setting up a permanent base on the dark side of the moon to defeat the Nazis there; possibly both.
(N.B.: Not to be used to prepare for a history test, to write a history paper, or to drive a taxi.)
Sillyhistory 
Very fun post! I agree, commercials are a disaster. History may show that Dec. 7th, 1930 was the beginning of the western downfall.
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It was fun to construct, using the Wikipedia list of events for the day as the starting point. So all these BEGAN as real events.
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Loved it! Can’t believe I never thought of that. But then again, you are much better at written humor than I am. Well done sir, well done!
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And I was expecting the serious and morally profound! 🙂
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It isn’t? 😉
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Well, I wish Harry Chapin was still with us and one should never follow prairie dogs over a cliff!
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Yep, good list. You forgot one. This day 1949 my brother was born. Destined to be a successful self-made man, he made an early start on worshiping his creator! His talents shone forth even in childhood when he gave me a male guinea pig to keep my female company—and then sold their offspring, time and time again. And again, in persuading my mother to negotiate with a neighbour to acquire some hens–which she then fed, and collected the eggs, which he then charged her for. Yes, a managing director in the making. Now in retirement he has become a consultant. Only none of the family knows what the hell is the consultancy is about. May I usurp your blog to wish my brother a happy birthday. He’s somewhere out there in the world, gadding and reeling in dosh! Chalk and cheese, I tell you, chalk and cheese.
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Have you ever watched Drunk History for entertainment?
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I’ve seen it a few times. Been tempted to try it myself. 😉
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Ha! That would be great! I’d watch.
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Very interesting dear.<3
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