The Battle of Midway concluded as USS Yorktown, fatally damaged by Japanese aircraft, was torpedoed by the submarine I-168 and sank the following day. The four-day battle had cost Japan four fleet carriers and permanently shifted the balance of power in the Pacific.
Related articleAfter a three-year march across Europe and Asia Minor, the surviving army of the First Crusade reached the walls of Jerusalem and began the siege that would capture the city five weeks later and establish the crusader kingdom.
Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress declaring "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States," setting the stage for the Declaration of Independence.
Newly raised African American Union regiments repulsed a Confederate assault at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, in savage hand-to-hand fighting. The battle was one of the first significant combat engagements fought primarily by Black soldiers in the Civil War.
British forces detonated 19 enormous mines under the German positions at Messines Ridge in Belgium, killing an estimated 10,000 German soldiers instantly in the largest man-made explosion before the atomic age.
USS Yorktown sank after being torpedoed by submarine I-168, ending the Battle of Midway, the most decisive naval engagement of World War II.
Related articleJapanese Special Naval Landing Force troops went ashore unopposed on the American-owned islands of Attu and Kiska in the western Aleutians, establishing the only Japanese occupation of North American soil during the war.
Allied forces consolidated their Normandy beachheads on the day after D-Day, linking several beaches together and pushing inland against stiffening German resistance.
British 50th Infantry Division troops entered Bayeux without a fight, making it the first major French town liberated in the Normandy campaign. The intact medieval city became Montgomery's forward headquarters and a symbol of French liberation.
Israeli paratroopers of the 55th Brigade fought through the Lions' Gate and secured the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, on the third day of the Six-Day War. It was the first Jewish control of the site in nineteen centuries.
Israeli F-16 fighters, escorted by F-15s, destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad in Operation Opera, a preemptive strike that set back Iraq's nuclear weapons program by years.
The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a US airstrike near Baqubah, Iraq, when two 500-pound bombs struck his safehouse, ending the career of one of the Iraq War's most brutal insurgent leaders.
Get daily military history, analysis, and technology delivered to your inbox.
British dandy and former cavalry officer whose influence on men's fashion led to the adoption of the modern military dress uniform style.
American explorer and journalist whose reports on Russia's Siberian exile system influenced American understanding of Russian military power and informed early Cold War strategy.
British mathematician and codebreaker whose work at Bletchley Park cracking the German Enigma cipher was among the most significant intelligence achievements of World War II.
11 military events occurred on June 7, spanning multiple centuries. Key events include: Battle of Midway Concludes: Yorktown Sinks (1942), Richard Henry Lee's Resolution for Independence (1776), Battle of Messines Ridge (1917), Israeli Air Force Destroys Iraqi Nuclear Reactor (1981), Israeli Paratroopers Take the Old City of Jerusalem (1967).
The most significant military event on June 7 is Battle of Midway Concludes: Yorktown Sinks (1942). The Battle of Midway concluded as USS Yorktown, fatally damaged by Japanese aircraft, was torpedoed by the submarine I-168 and sank the following day. The four-day battle had cost Japan four fleet carriers and permanently shifted the balance of power in the Pacific.
Notable military figures born on June 7 include George Bryan Brummell (1778–present), George Kennan (1845–present).
Events on June 7 span World War II, the Colonial & Revolutionary era, World War I, the Cold War, the Modern Era, the Civil War, covering 11 events across 5 centuries of military history.
Events on June 7 involve 4 branches of the U.S. and allied armed forces, reflecting the global scope of military operations throughout history.
Explore military history from the day you were born.
June 6
The Allied invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious assault in history.
December 7
Japan attacks the U.S. Pacific Fleet, bringing America into World War II.
September 11
The deadliest terrorist attack in history transforms U.S. national security.
August 6
The first atomic bomb is dropped on a city, ushering in the nuclear age.
May 8
Nazi Germany surrenders unconditionally, ending World War II in Europe.
November 11
Armistice Day marks the end of World War I and honors all who served.
June 4
The turning point of the Pacific War as the U.S. Navy destroys four Japanese carriers.
July 4
The Declaration of Independence is adopted, sparking the American Revolution.
In June 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor, a handful of American dive bombers caught four Japanese carriers with their flight decks full of armed planes. In roughly five minutes, three of those carriers were fatally hit, and Japan's dominance in the Pacific was broken forever.
15 essential WW2 books covering every theater. Narrative histories, memoirs, and visual references ranked.
On April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers did something no one thought possible: they launched from the deck of an aircraft carrier, flew 650 miles to Japan, and bombed Tokyo. Every aircraft was lost. The damage was negligible. The consequences changed the war.
Compare 85+ WW2 scale model kits across aircraft, tanks, and ships. Beginner builds from $9 to museum-grade showpieces at $580. Covers Tamiya, Eduard, HK Models, Trumpeter, and more with honest reviews, trade-offs, and pricing.
