Major historical events recorded on August 7

Nicosia, Cyprus. August 7 has marked major developments in World War Two, decolonisation, anti-apartheid negotiations, international security and global finance.

War and exploration

In 1942, the first U.S. land offensive of World War Two in the Pacific began on Guadalcanal in the Southern Solomon Islands.

In 1947, the raft Kon Tiki ran aground on the Tuamotu Archipelago in the Pacific, 101 days after departing Peru. The expedition, led by Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl, sought to demonstrate that pre-Incan South American Indians could have colonised Polynesian islands by drifting on ocean currents.

Independence and political change

In 1960, Ivory Coast proclaimed its independence from France.

In 1990, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress suspended its 29-year guerrilla campaign against white rule, opening the way for talks aimed at ending South Africa’s apartheid system.

Deaths and attacks

In 1957, Oliver Hardy, the comedy partner of Stan Laurel, died.

In 1998, car bombs exploded at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing at least 213 people in Nairobi and 11 in Dar es Salaam. More than 5,000 people were wounded, and followers of Islamist militant Osama bin Laden were later convicted in New York.

In 2000, Jean-Michel Rossi, a founder of Corsica’s main separatist guerrilla group, was assassinated with his associate Jean-Claude Fratacci in L’Ile Rousse.

Economic and energy developments

In 2002, the International Monetary Fund approved a $30 billion bailout for Brazil, its largest at the time, to support the country’s economy.

In 2006, BP Plc shut its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska because of a damaged pipeline, prompting the U.S. government to consider releasing emergency stockpiles as prices rose.