May 7th Major News Events

1934 Philippines World's largest Pearl Found

1934 : The 9.45-inch, 14.1 lb "Pearl of Lao Tzu" is found by a diver in a giant clam in the Palawan Sea. Gemologists do not consider this to be a true pearl, as it does not have the mother of pearl, i.e. it does not have the iridescence that true pearls (which come from pearl oysters and pearl characteristics ). Clam pearls have no intrinsic value as a "gemstone", but only as a curiosity.

1941 Germany Bombing UK Cities

1941 : Germany continues to send large numbers of Bombers laden with bombs targeting Liverpool, North East, North West, Bristol and London, and each night British fighters go out trying to stop the destruction to towns and cities around the country , during last nights raids some 40 + German bombers were downed by British fighter pilots.

1947 U.S.A. Levittown, New York

1947 : Levitt and Sons, Builders announce a 2,000 home rental community at Island Trees later becoming Levittown, Hempstead, Long Island, New York ideal for GI's returning home following the end of World War II, the project used a new type of construction based on mass-production housing never used before, due to the prefabricated design they could build 30 houses a day. Following the success of the project they announced a further 4,000 homes which would be for sale not rental, offering ownership on a 30-year mortgage with no down payment and monthly costs the same as rental. After two years they began offering a larger home "a ranch house" 32 feet by 25 feet ( 800 Sq Ft ) for $7,990. The concept was copied all over the United States and modern suburbia was born.

1950 U.S.A. Major Storm

1950 : A major storm on the East Coast has caused a number of deaths and major flooding between New York and Boston with winds reaching 65 MPH.

1962 U.S.A. Wage Restraint Urged

1962 : JFK has warned unions to show responsible wage restraint or inflation could damage the US Economy the UAW was a big supporter for the JFK presidency.

1965 Rhodesia Ian Smith Wins

1965 : White voters in Rhodesia have overwhelmingly backed Prime Minister Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front which will unilaterally declare independence from the UK.

1977 U.S.A. Seattle Slew

1977 : Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, the first of his Triple Crown victories for three-year-old thoroughbred horses. The Three Races for the Triple Crown in the US are (1) The Kentucky Derby, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky; (2) The Preakness Stakes, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland; (3) The Belmont Stakes, at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

1992 U.S.A. Space Shuttle Endeavour

1992 : The space shuttle Endeavour, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1998 U.S.A. Chrysler

1998 : Daimler-Benz AG agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.

2001 UK Cattle Slaughter

2001 : The Ministry of Agriculture (Maff) says it will press ahead with the slaughter of 1,600 cattle on two farms near Exmoor, after four new cases of foot-and-mouth confirmed around the village of Wiveliscombe, near Taunton. Maff officials are concerned that the disease could spread further into Exmoor itself and affect wild deer and the pony population.

2001 UK Ronnie Biggs Returns To Finish Sentence

2001 : Ronnie Biggs, one of the "Great Train Robbers" who had eluded capture and settled in Brazil following his prison escape in on July 8th 1965, voluntarily returned to Britain, where he was arrested and jailed to complete the 28 remaining years of his sentence. He is currently still in Norwich prison.

2006 UK Arsenal Plays Last Game at Highbury

2006 : The British football club Arsenal played its last game at its ninety-three year old stadium and beat Wigan 4 to 2.

2007 Queen Elizabeth II Meets President Bush on Visit

2007 : Queen Elizabeth II met with President George W. Bush near the end of their visit to the United States. The two addressed the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom in their respective speeches and the White House held a banquet to honor the Queen later in the evening. The trip marked her fifth visit to the United States, with her previous trip taking place in 1991 when George Bush Sr. was president.

2013 North Korea Moves Missiles

2013 : North Korea has moved two medium-range missiles away from their coastal launch site. The move is seen as a lowing of tension in the region. In recent months, North Korea had been threatening attacks in the region and increasing tension between itself and the West. Moving the missiles is seen as the first step in backing away from previous threats.

2008 California Students in Drug Raid

2008 : Twenty-nine people were arrested after a drug raid in California. Many of those arrested were students at San Diego State University and were members of fraternities involved in an organized drug ring. The police found firearms, large amounts of money, over four pounds of cocaine, and over fifty pounds of marijuana. The investigation was year-long and conducted by undercover drug enforcement administration agents.

2012 Google Found to Have Violated Oracle Copyright

2012 : A jury in the United States found major internet corporation Google to be guilty of violating Oracle's Java copyright. However, the jury was unable to decide whether or not the use of the Oracle's programming language fell under "fair use" in terms of copyright law.