September 7 in History

Henry Every (also spelled Avery) captured the Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai on September 7, 1695, in the richest pirate haul in history. The ship was returning to India from the annual Hajj pilgrimage carrying gold, silver, and hundreds of passengers. Every's crew subjected the passengers to days of rape, torture, and murder. When Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb learned of the attack, he threatened to destroy every English trading post in India and imprison all English merchants. The East India Company, desperate to protect its Indian operations, offered an enormous bounty for Every's capture. Every vanished, becoming the first truly global fugitive. He was never caught and likely died in poverty under an assumed name.

Sergeant Ezra Lee piloted the Turtle, a one-man submersible designed by David Bushnell, against HMS Eagle in New York Harbor on September 7, 1776. The Turtle was the first submarine used in combat: a hand-cranked, egg-shaped vessel that submerged by flooding ballast tanks and steered using a compass visible through a phosphorescent patch. Lee's mission was to drill a hole into Eagle's copper-sheathed hull and attach a timed explosive charge. He couldn't penetrate the hull, possibly hitting an iron fitting. After 30 minutes of trying, he released the explosive and retreated. The charge detonated harmlessly in the harbor. The British were rattled enough to move their fleet further from shore, demonstrating that underwater warfare could influence naval strategy.

The Luftwaffe launched its first massive daylight bombing raid on London on September 7, 1940, sending 348 bombers and 617 fighters to attack the docks and industrial areas of the East End. This marked the beginning of the Blitz, 57 consecutive nights of bombing that killed over 30,000 Londoners and destroyed over a million homes. Hitler had switched from attacking RAF airfields to bombing cities, a strategic blunder that gave the battered Fighter Command time to recover. Londoners sheltered in Underground stations, and the government organized mass evacuation of children to the countryside. The Blitz failed to break British morale or industrial production, and by May 1941, Hitler redirected the Luftwaffe east for the invasion of the Soviet Union.

China signed the Boxer Protocol on September 7, 1901, agreeing to pay an indemnity of 450 million taels of silver (roughly $333 million, or $10 billion today) to the eight foreign powers whose legations had been besieged during the Boxer Uprising. The payments were spread over 39 years at 4% interest, ultimately costing China roughly $740 million. Foreign troops were stationed permanently in Beijing for the first time. Chinese forts between the capital and the coast were demolished. Government officials who had supported the Boxers were executed or exiled. The humiliation radicalized a generation of Chinese intellectuals and accelerated the collapse of the Qing dynasty, which fell in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.

Desmond Tutu was elected Archbishop of Cape Town on September 7, 1986, becoming the first Black leader of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa. Tutu had already won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid, and his elevation to the highest ecclesiastical office in South Africa gave him an even larger platform. He used the position to advocate for international sanctions against the apartheid government, organized mass peaceful protests, and repeatedly put himself between police and demonstrators. After apartheid ended, President Nelson Mandela appointed Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated human rights abuses from both sides and chose restorative justice over retribution.

Dom Pedro I was the son of the Portuguese king — sent to Brazil specifically to keep it loyal to the Crown. Portugal wanted him back. When he refused and the colonial parliament threatened consequences, he was standing on the banks of the Ipiranga River with his imperial guard. He tore the Portuguese insignia from his uniform, drew his sword, and shouted 'Independence or death.' His troops cheered. His father was still the king of Portugal. Brazil's first emperor had just declared independence from his own family.