On This Day, May 7: U-boat sinks British liner Lusitania killing 1,200
In 1718, the French established the city of New Orleans on land inhabited by the Chitimacha tribe. The actual date of the city's founding is unknown, but the anniversary is traditionally observed May 7.
In 1789, the first U.S. presidential inaugural ball, celebrating the inauguration of George Washington, was conducted in New York City.
In 1824, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time.
In 1913, homemade bombs found under the bishop's throne in St. Paul's Cathedral and opposite the offices of Evening Star in Bouverie Street, were deemed by police to have been the work of suffragettes.
A stone bust of Ludwig van Beethoven stands near the Old Playground Pavilion in Tower Grove Park in St. Louis on March 3, 2021. On May 7, 1824, Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" was performed for the first time. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
In 1915, a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland, killing nearly 1,200 people.
In 1921, in an exclusive interview with the United Press, Sun Yat Sen, president of the Canton Chinese government, outlined his policy proposals as he sought recognition for his fledgling government.
The St. Anne Parade marches down Royal St in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday, February 21. On May 7, 1718, the French established the city of New Orleans on land inhabited by the Chitimacha tribe. File Photo by AJ Sisco/UPI
File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI
In 1945, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany from Gen. Alfred Jodl.
Germany's Gen. Gustav Jodl (C) signs the unconditional surrender documents on May 7, 1945, in Reims, France, ending the war in Europe. He is flanked by Col. Wilhelm Oxenius (L), his aide, and German Adm. Hans Georg von Friedeburg. UPI File Photo
In 1954, rebel Viet Minh forces overran the French stronghold of Dien Bien Phu, bringing about the end of French control in Indochina and creating the division of Vietnam.
In 1987, Rep. Stewart McKinney, R-Conn., died at age 56, the first member of Congress identified as a victim of AIDS. McKinney contracted the virus following a tainted blood transfusion.
On May 7, 1994, "The Scream," Edvard Munch's famed expressionist painting, was found in a hotel room south of the Norwegian capital of Oslo three months after it was stolen. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
In 1994, The Scream, Edvard Munch's famed expressionist painting, was found in a hotel room south of the Norwegian capital of Oslo three months after it was stolen. Thieves stole the painting again in 2004 and it was recovered a second time in 2006.
In 2000, Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia's second president in the first democratic transfer of executive power in the nation's 1,000-year history.
France's newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron, addresses a crowd of well-wishers at the Louvre in Paris on May 7, 2017. Macron won the presidency over nationalist leader Marine. File Photo by Clement Martin/UPI
In 2007, officials reported no survivors in the crash of a Kenyan Airlines plane that went down in a Cameroon mangrove swamp with 114 people aboard.
In 2014, a Thai court, in an abuse-of-power ruling, removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office.
File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI
In 2017, France elected Emmanuel Macron, of La République En Marche! Party, president over Marine Le Pen of the National Front.
In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated to his fifth term in office despite much of the Western world boycotting the ceremony because of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


UPI
33 minutes ago
- UPI
Guyana faces elections amid oil boom, Maduro's threats
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has intensified his rhetoric over a long-standing territorial claim to the Essequibo, a region that makes up more than 60% of Guyana's territory. File Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA Aug. 14 (UPI) -- With less than three weeks before Guyana's general elections Sept. 1, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has intensified his rhetoric over a long-standing territorial claim to the Essequibo, a region that makes up more than 60% of Guyana's territory and that Caracas claims as its own. The region bordered by Venezuela on the west, Brazil on the southwest and the Atlantic Ocean on the north: It contains dense rainforests, highlands, savannas and low coastal plains. In his weekly address Tuesday, Maduro said Venezuela "will recover the Essequibo sooner rather than later," a statement that heightens diplomatic tensions at a sensitive moment for the English-speaking nation, which is preparing to elect a new parliament and president amid an unprecedented oil boom and growing regional polarization. "No matter what ExxonMobil, imperialism or the International Court of Justice do, the Essequibo is and will be Venezuela's," the Venezuelan president said, firmly rejecting any ruling from the Hague-based court. While such remarks are not new in Venezuela's official rhetoric, they come as Guyana gains international prominence thanks to the rapid development of its oil industry in the offshore area adjacent to the Essequibo. Major companies such as ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC operate there under concessions challenged by Caracas. Guyana President Irfaan Ali, seeking re-election with the People's Progressive Party/Civic, has avoided direct confrontations with Venezuela, but has firmly defended Guyanese territory before the international community. The country has brought the dispute before the international court since 2018 and has reiterated its willingness to accept the court's ruling as binding. The case is moving forward in The Hague, with hearings held in April. Venezuela continues to reject the court's jurisdiction, while Guyana's government has received diplomatic backing from Caribbean nations, the Commonwealth, the United States and the Organization of American States. "The sovereignty of the Essequibo is not at stake. Guyana is committed to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in accordance with international law," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said recently. Analysts say the Venezuelan government may be using the territorial claim for electoral purposes as it faces international sanctions and the recent U.S. announcement of a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused him of working with criminal organizations, calling him one of the world's most dangerous drug traffickers and a threat to U.S. national security. By contrast, for Guyana, defending the Essequibo is a matter of national unity. In 2023, after a consultative referendum promoted by Maduro -- in which Venezuelans backed creating a state called "Guayana Esequiba" -- the Guyanese government strengthened its diplomatic strategy and stepped up its appeals at the United Nations. Guyana's political climate remains tense but stable, with seven parties registering candidates for the elections. The vote will be monitored by missions from the European Union, the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, and the Carter Center, which already has personnel deployed across the country. The Essequibo has not dominated the campaign debates, which are focused instead on economic development, equitable access to oil revenues and the fight against corruption. Guyana is undergoing an unprecedented economic transformation, driven by a surge in oil production. In 2024, the economy grew 43.6%, with the oil sector expanding 57.7% and the non-oil sector 13.1%. The International Monetary Fund projects average annual growth of 14% over the next five years, supported by stronger infrastructure and higher productivity, with non-oil GDP expected to grow about 6.75%. On the oil front, Guyana has begun production from its fourth floating production, storage and offloading unit, boosting capacity to more than 900,000 barrels per day -- already surpassing Venezuela's current output -- with a goal of reaching between 1.3 million barrels by 2027 and up to 1.7 million by 2030.


UPI
33 minutes ago
- UPI
Hunter Biden won't apologize for linking Melania Trump to Epstein amid lawsuit threat
1 of 2 | Hunter Biden has refused to apologize for saying that First Lady Melania Trump met husband President Donald Trump via Jeffrey Epstein. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo Aug. 14 (UPI) -- First Lady Melania Trump is demanding Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, retract statements that he said about how President Donald Trump met her. A legal notice dated Aug. 6 and written by the first lady's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, demanded Biden "immediately retract the false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements made about Mrs. Trump" including claims by Hunter Biden that Trump met his wife through convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The comments were made during an interview earlier in the month on the YouTube show Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan. On Thursday, Biden revisited the show and did not retract his statements. "They spent an enormous amount of time together," Biden said of the president and Epstein. "That's how Melania, the first lady and the president met. Yeah, according to Michael Wolff," he said, referring to the author of several biographies of Trump. Callaghan asked Biden if he would like to apologize to the first lady, and he said, "That's not going to happen." He cited news reports dating back to 2019 that "reported that sources said that Jeffrey Epstein claimed to be the person to introduce Donald Trump to Melania at that time." Melania Trump said she will sue for $1 billion. Attention to the Epstein case has ballooned in recent weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Trump's name is in the Epstein files. Trump was once close friends with Epstein, who trafficked underage girls to adult men, but has denied visiting Epstein's private islands in the Caribbean. He died by suicide in prison. Since then, Congress and the Department of Justice have requested files and sent out subpoenas, and Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has recently given testimony about the case. Hunter Biden called Melania Trump's lawsuit threat a "designed distraction." "I don't think that these threats of a lawsuit add up to anything other than a designed distraction, because it's not about who introduced whom to who," he said. "I don't know how that's in any way rises to the level of defamation to begin with."


UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Ukraine-Russia swap prisoners; one man kept for more than 10 years
Ukrainian prisoners of war were released from Russian custody Thursday in a prisoner swap. Here, some of them posed for a photo with Ukrainian flags draped around them. Photo courtesy of Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky via X Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Ukraine and Russia participated in a prisoner swap that released 84 Ukrainians from Russian captivity, with more to come over the next few days. "We are bringing Ukrainians back home to Ukraine," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X. "A new exchange, 84 people, both military personnel and civilians. Almost all of them require medical care and significant rehabilitation." We are bringing Ukrainians back home to Ukraine. A new exchange, 84 people, both military personnel and civilians. Almost all of them require medical care and significant rehabilitation. Among the civilians released today are those who had been held by the Russians since 2014,... Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 14, 2025 Some of the prisoners returned to Ukraine were those captured before the war broke out in 2022. One of which, a resident of the Donetsk region, had been detained for nearly 11 years, since 2014, the Kyiv Post reported. The military personnel that were freed were defenders of Mariupol, some in the Ukrainian navy and members of the state Border Guard Service. Vitalii Atamanchuk, 74, was the oldest person in the swap. He was arrested by Russia in 2018 in Donetsk. At the time, his wife and son were taken with him but were later released, the Kyiv Independent reported. Home Вдома Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 14, 2025 The swap started on Friday and will continue on Saturday and Sunday, with Kyiv and Moscow expected to swap 2,000 people -- 1,000 from each side, CNN reported. It was the only significant outcome of a meeting in Istanbul last week. It was the first time the two sides had met in person since the invasion.