Today in History: Leaning Tower of Pisa Closed to Visitors for the First Time in Its 800-Year History

January 7 is the 7th day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. There are 358 days left until the end of the year (359 in leap years)

Events

• 1558 - France also captures Calais, England's last Continental territory.
• 1598 - Boris Godunov becomes Tsar of Russia.
• 1610 - Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei detects two of Jupiter's moons (Ganymede, Callisto).
• 1634 – IV. By order of Murad, Sheikhul-Islam Ahizade Hüseyin Efendi was strangled to death. Thus, a sheikh al-Islam was killed for the first time in the Ottoman Empire.
• 1714 - English engineer Henry Mill patented the typewriter machine.
• 1785 - French aviator Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American physicist John Jeffries crossed the English Channel in a balloon.
• 1789 - The first American Presidential elections were held. The electorate delegates, and they named the nation's first President a month later: George Washington.
• 1887 - Thomas Stevens becomes the first person to complete a round-the-world bike tour.
• 1904 - The first international Morse code emergency signal "CQD" is adopted, but will be superseded by the SOS signal two years later.
• 1913 - The production of gasoline from crude oil is patented.
• 1924 – The Ministry of National Education in Turkey issued a circular for the removal of religious symbols and signs inside the buildings of foreign schools.
• 1927 - The first transatlantic telephone call was made from New York to London.
• 1935 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini met with the French Foreign Minister in Rome. According to the official statement, agreements were made regarding the interests of the two countries in Africa.
• 1942 - The Hamlet trial is concluded. The sentences given to Muhsin Ertuğrul, Peyami Sefa and Celaleddin Ezine were suspended.
• 1944 – The right to manufacture socks was given to Sümerbank.
• 1946 – Celâl Bayar and Adnan Menderes, Fuad Köprülü and Refik Koraltan, who left the CHP, applied for the founding of the Democrat Party.
• 1946 - The first successful high-speed electronic computer, the "Eniac", comes into use in the United States. Eniac was used until 1955 as one of the big steps on the way to electronic-digital computer.
• 1950 – The Democratic Party issued a statement on the new Election Law: “Next elections must be honest.”
• 1950 – The blast furnace called “Zeynep” was put into service in Karabük Iron and Steel Plant.
• 1953 - United States President Harry Truman announces that his country is developing a hydrogen bomb.
• 1954 – The Democratic Party founded a youth organization called “Young Democrats”.
• 1957 – The National Turkish Students' Union demanded that "rock and roll" and "striptease" be banned.
• 1959 - The United States recognizes Fidel Castro's new Cuban Government.
• 1960 – First test of the underwater Polaris nuclear missile is conducted.
• 1963 – 3500 workers boycotted food at Cibali Tobacco Factory.
• 1967 – Ministry of Health and Social Welfare made a statement; “There are 25.000 people with syphilis, 10.000 with leprosy, and 750.000 with tuberculosis in Turkey.”
• 1979 – The Vietnamese Army captures Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and puts an end to the Khmer Rouge regime.
• 1980 – Indira Gandhi's Congress Party won the elections in India.
• 1981 – Left-wing militant Mustafa Özenç in Tarsus, with the pistol he could hide in the Tarsus Central Gendarmerie Station, where he was captured and brought; Gendarmerie Petty Officer Sergeant Hasan Hüseyin Özcan, Petty Officer Sergeant Nihat Özsoy, Gendarmerie Specialist Şaban Öztürk and Forest Guard Guard Hayri Şimşek were killed and escaped.
• 1984 – Prime Minister Turgut Özal held his first press conference.
• 1990 - Leaning Tower of PisaFor the first time in its 800-year history, it was closed to visitors for security reasons.
• 1992 – Cemal Süreya Poetry Award was given to Adnan Özer and Süreyya Berfe.
• 1997 – The Democrat Turkey Party was founded, Hüsamettin Cindoruk was elected as the General Chairman of the party.
• 1999 – The lawsuit filed against the dismissal of the United States President Bill Clinton began.
• 2015 – humor magazine based in Paris Charlie Hebdo'or armed attack. 12 people died.
• 2019 – Mattia Binotto replaces Maurizio Arrivabene at Ferrari.

Births

• 1502 – Pope XIII. Gregory, 226th Pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1585)
• 1768 – Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples and Spain (brother of Napoleon Bonaparte) (d. 1844)
• 1777 – Lorenzo Bartolini, Italian sculptor (d. 1850)
• 1800 – Millard Fillmore, American politician and 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
• 1830 – Albert Bierstadt, American painter (d. 1902)
• 1844 – Bernadette Soubirous, Roman Catholic saint (d. 1879)
• 1851 – Nikolai Tchaikovsky, Russian revolutionary and one of the first leaders of the popular movement in Russia (d. 1926)
• 1855 – Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Jewish newspaper editor (d. 1922)
• 1864 – Phillip Jaisohn, Korean activist, journalist, politician, and doctor (d. 1951)
• 1871 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and politician (d. 1956)
• 1873 Charles Péguy, French poet (d. 1914)
• 1873 – Rudolf Eisler, Jewish-Austrian philosopher (d. 1926)
• 1885 – Ernesto Brown, Argentine football player (d. 1935)
• 1887 – Kurt Schneider, German psychiatrist (d. 1967)
• 1890 Henny Porten, German actress (d. 1960)
• 1895 – Clara Haskil, Romanian pianist (d. 1960)
• 1895 – Vasily Blokhin, Soviet general (d. 1955)
• 1898 – Al Bowlly, Mozambican-born English singer, jazz guitarist and composer (d. 1941)
• 1899 Francis Poulenc, French composer (d. 1963)
• 1901 – Fahrelnisa ​​Zeyd, Turkish painter (d. 1991)
• 1901 – Fikret Adil, Turkish writer (d. 1973)
• 1903 – Antanas Sniečkus, Lithuanian communist, partisan and politician (d. 1974)
• 1907 – Baha Gelenbevi, Turkish photographer and cinematographer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Red Allen, African-American jazz musician (d. 1967)
• 1914 – İhsan Devrim, Turkish actor (d. 2010)
• 1916 – Elena Ceausescu, Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Romania (d. 1989)
• 1916 – Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (d. 1975)
• 1922 – Mario Almada, Mexican actor (d. 2016)
• 1922 – Orhan Asena, Turkish playwright, poet and pediatrician (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Atanas Zabaznoski, Macedonian communist activist, soldier of the Yugoslav Front and recipient of the Order of the People's Hero (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Peri Han, Turkish film actress (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Tasos Papadopoulos, President of the Republic of Cyprus and politician (d. 2008)
• 1935 – Sophie Behr, German writer
• 1938 – Roland Topor, French playwright (d. 1997)
• 1941 – John E. Walker, English chemist and Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry
• 1945 – David Spangler, American philosopher
• 1947 – Sadik Ahmet, Western Thrace Turkish medical doctor and politician (known for his struggle for the rights of Western Thrace Turks) (d. 1995)
• 1948 – Rana Alagöz, Turkish pop singer
• 1956 – Leonard Lansink, German actor
• 1957 - Katie Couric, American newscaster
• 1960 – Emrullah İşler, Turkish academic and politician
• 1962 – Aleksandr Dugin, Russian political scientist and strategist known for his fascist views
• 1962 - Hallie Todd, American film and TV actress
• 1964 – Nicolas Cage, American actor and winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor
• 1967 – Claudia Amengual, Uruguayan translator and writer
• 1967 – Nick Clegg, British politician
• 1969 – Marco Simone, Italian football player and manager
• 1970 – Saruhan Hünel, Turkish actor
• 1971 – Jeremy Renner, American actor, filmmaker, and musician
• 1973 – Liu Bolin, Chinese artist
• 1977 – Sofi Oksanen, Estonian-Finnish writer
• 1979 - Aloe Blacc, American soul singer and rapper
• 1979 - Monica Foster, American pornographic film actress
• 1985 – Lewis Hamilton, British Formula 1 driver
• 1985 - Wayne Routledge, English football player
• 1987 – Davide Astori, Italian football player (d. 2018)
• 1987 – Lyndsy Fonseca, American actress
• 1987 – Stefan Babović, Serbian national football player
• 1988 – Hardwell, Dutch DJ and producer
• 1990 – Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper
• 1990 – Liam Aiken, American actor
• 1991 – Caster Semenya, South African middle-distance runner
• 1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian football player
• 1992 – Lynn Knippenborg, Dutch handball player

Deaths

• 312 – Luke of Antioch, Christian theologian and martyr (b. 240)
• 1220 – Izzeddin Keykavus I, Sultan of the Seljuk State of Turkey (b. 1180)
• 1285 – Carlo I, King of France VIII. Louis' youngest son (b. 1226)
• 1325 – Diniz I, 6th King of the Kingdom of Portugal (b. 1261)
• 1451 – VIII. Amadeus, Duke of Savoy (b. 1383)
• 1536 – Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (b. 1485)
• 1548 – Fenarîzade Muhyiddin Çelebi, Ottoman sheikh (b. ?)
• 1655 – Innocent X, 236th Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1574)
• 1715 – François Fénelon, French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet, and author (b.
• 1786 – Jean-Étienne Guettard, French naturalist, botanist, and mineralogist (b. 1715)
• 1838 – Josef Grassi, Austrian painter (b. 1757)
• 1847 – Maria Schicklgruber, paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (b. 1795)
• 1858 – Mustafa Reşit Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier, diplomat and architect of the Tanzimat in the Ottoman Empire (b. 1800)
• 1882 – Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish pharmacist and oil industry pioneer (b. 1822)
• 1892 – Tevfik Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (b. 1852)
• 1920 – Edmund Barton, Australian politician, judge, and first Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
• 1927 – ‎Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos‎‎, Greek politician (b. 1851)
• 1932 – André Maginot, French statesman (who gave the Magino Line its name) (b. 1877)
• 1934 – Anton Hanak, Austrian sculptor (b. 1875)
• 1935 – James Alfred Ewing, Scottish physicist and engineer (b. 1855)
• 1943 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist (b. 1856)
• 1944 – Muslihiddin Adil Taylan, Turkish academic and administrative law professor (b. 1881)
• 1945 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (b. 1870)
• 1951 – René Guénon, French metaphysician writer (b. 1886)
• 1968 – Fahri Kopuz, Turkish composer (b. 1882)
• 1988 – Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
• 1995 – Murray Rothbard, American economist (Libertarian economist of the Austrian School) (b. 1926)
• 1996 – Károly Grósz, Hungarian communist politician (b. 1930)
• 1998 – Richard Hamming, American mathematician (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry (b. 1906)
• 2001 – Charles Helu, Lebanese politician and President of Lebanon (b. 1913)
• 2004 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
• 2006 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, traveler, geographer, and writer (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Philippe Séguin, French politician (b. 1943)
• 2013 – David R. Ellis, American film director, stuntman, and actor (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Huell Howser, American comedian, actor, and voice actor (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Huban Öztoprak, Turkish theater, TV series and film actress (b. 1987)
• 2014 – Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong entrepreneur and producer (b. 1906)
• 2015 – Bernard Maris, French economist, journalist and author (b. 1946)
• 2015 – Cabu (Jean Cabut), French comics artist and cartoonist (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Charb (Stéphane Charbonnier), French illustrator, journalist and cartoonist (b. 1967)
• 2015 – David Rolfe, Australian swimmer (b. 1964)
• 2015 – Elsa Cayat, French psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and columnist (b. 1960)
• 2015 – Georges Wolinski, French cartoonist (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Jean Paul Parise, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1941)
• 2015 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana politician (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Mustapha Ourrad, Algerian-French publisher and editor (b. 1954)
• 2015 – Philippe Honoré, French illustrator and comics artist (b. 1941)
• 2015 – Rod Taylor, Australian actor (b. 1930)
• 2015 – Tignous (Bernard Verlhac), French cartoonist (b. 1957)
• 2016 – Richard Libertini, American stage, film and television actor (b. 1933)
• 2016 – Remzi Evren, Turkish cinema artist (b. 1957)
• 2016 – Sergey Shustikov, Russian football player and manager (b. 1970)
• 2016 – Valerio Zanone, Italian politician (b. 1936)
• 2017 – Lech Trzeciakowski, Polish historian (b. 1931)
• 2017 – Mário Soares, Portuguese politician and President of Portugal (b. 1924)
• 2017 – Nat Hentoff, American novelist, historian, and music critic (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Osman Bayezid Osmanoğlu, head of the Ottoman Dynasty (b. 1924)
• 2017 – Refik Erduran, Turkish playwright, publisher and journalist (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Anna Mae Hayes, American soldier (b. 1920)
• 2018 – France Gall, French singer (b. 1947)
• 2018 – Jim Anderton, New Zealand politician (b. 1938)
• 2019 – Aline Kiner, French female journalist and novelist (b. 1959)
• 2019 – Aristeo Benavídez, Argentine skier (b. 1927)
• 2019 – Barbara Elaine Ruth Brown, American biologist and philanthropist (b. 1929)
• 2019 – Bernard Tchoullouyan, French judoka (b. 1953)
• 2019 – Carmencita Reyes, Filipino politician and lawyer (b. 1931)
• 2019 – Clydie King, American singer (b. 1943)
• 2019 – Dave Laing, English journalist, author, and historian (b. 1947)
• 2019 – Edwin Erickson, American politician and businessman (b. 1938)
• 2019 – Ivan Mašek, Czech politician (b. 1948)
• 2019 – Jocelyne Saab, Lebanese journalist and film director (b. 1948)
• 2019 – John Joubert, South African-born English composer (b. 1927)
• 2019 – John Mendelsohn, American physicist (b. 1936)
• 2019 – Moshe Arens, Israeli politician (b. 1925)
• 2019 – Thomas Rukavina, American politician (b. 1950)
• 2020 – Elizabeth Wurtzel, American feminist, lawyer, author, and journalist (b. 1967)
• 2020 – Khamis ed-Dusari, Saudi football player (b. 1973)
• 2020 – Larry Gogan, Irish radio host and DJ (b. 1938)
• 2020 – Neil Peart, Canadian musician, songwriter and author (b. 1952)
• 2020 – Silvio Horta, American screenwriter, television producer, and writer (b. 1974)
• 2021 – Biserka Cvejić, Serbian opera singer and academic (b. 1923)
• 2021 – Deezer D, American actor and rapper (b. 1965)
• 2021 – Genival Lacerda, Brazilian forró singer and songwriter (b. 1931)
• 2021 – Jamie O'Hara, American country singer, songwriter, and guitarist (b. 1950)
• 2021 – Marion Ramsey, American actress, singer, and songwriter (b. 1947)
• 2021 – Michael Apted, English actor, screenwriter, film producer and director (b. 1941)
• 2021 – Munira Yamin Satti, Pakistani female politician (b. 1966)
• 2021 – Tommy Lasorda, American baseball player and sports administrator (b. 1927)
• 2021 – Valeri Hlevinski, Soviet-Russian theater, film and television actress (b. 1943)
• 2022 – Deanna Booher, American actress, professional wrestler, and speed skater (b. 1948)
• 2022 – Mark Forest, American actor, opera singer, educator, and bodybuilder (b. 1933)

Holidays and special occasions

• The liberation of Osmaniye from the French occupation (1922)
• White Stick Visually Impaired Week (7-14 January)