August 7 Birthday
On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division landed at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands — the first American offensive of the Pacific War. The landing was unopposed, but the Japanese counterattacked by sea and air. The campaign lasted six months. The battle for Guadalcanal was the first time the Japanese were stopped, and the strategic initiative shifted to the Americans. The waters around Guadalcanal became known as "Ironbottom Sound" for the number of ships sunk there — 50 ships, both Allied and Japanese. Ralph Bunche, born this day in 1904, was the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He received it in 1950 for negotiating the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors. He was a diplomat at the UN who brokered the deal after the chief mediator was assassinated. He was also the first African American to earn a PhD in political science from Harvard. People born on August 7 fall under the zodiac sign of Leo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 7 include 1782: General Washington creates Badge of Military Merit (forerunner of Purple Heart), 1942: US Marines land at Guadalcanal (first US offensive in Pacific), 1990: President Bush announces deployment of US troops to Saudi Arabia. Famous people born on August 7 include Mata Hari (1876), Ralph Bunche (1904), Garrison Keillor (1942).