Important Events From Today in History – 07 September

Today in History

• 1978 Georgi Markov is murdered

  The Bulgarian writer and dissenter had left Bulgaria in 1969 and was working at the BBC in London at the time of his assassination. His murder, dubbed the Umbrella Murder, occurred while he was crossing the Waterloo Bridge in London. Piccadilly, the assassin, used a modified umbrella to fire a ricin-laced pellet into Markov’s leg. Markov died of ricin poisoning four days later, on September 11.

• 1977 Treaty giving the Panama Canal to Panama is Signed

  The Torrijos-Carter Treaties were two treaties signed by the United States and Panama presidents. The treaties gave Panama control of the canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The United States built the canal and has been under its control since 1904.

• 1940 Germans Begin the Blitz over London

  On this day, the Germans began strategically bombing the United Kingdom and London. The German Luftwaffe bombed London for 57 days, killing over 20,000 people and destroying over a million homes. The strategy lasted until May 1941 but failed to break British resolve. By 1941, Germany’s focus had shifted to the Soviet Union.

• 1936 The Tasmanian Tiger Becomes Extinct

  The last surviving Tasmanian Tiger, a carnivorous marsupial, died in captivity at Tasmania’s Hobart Zoo. As the species was known, Benjamin, the thylacine is thought to have died due to neglect. Thylacines were native to Australia and New Guinea before becoming extinct due to overhunting and the introduction of invasive species such as dingoes.