September 7 Birthday
On September 7, 1940, the German Luftwaffe shifted from attacking RAF airfields to bombing London — the beginning of the Blitz. For fifty-seven consecutive nights, German bombers targeted London. 43,000 civilians died and over a million homes were destroyed. The Blitz was intended to break British morale; it failed. Churchill toured the bombed-out East End, and his approval ratings soared. The decision to bomb cities rather than airfields was a strategic mistake — it allowed the RAF to recover and ultimately win the Battle of Britain. Queen Elizabeth I, born this day in 1533, was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her mother was executed when she was three. She was declared illegitimate and raised as a minor royal. She became queen at twenty-five and never married — the "Virgin Queen." She ruled for forty-four years, during which England defeated the Spanish Armada, Shakespeare wrote his plays, and the country became a global power. She died in 1603. People born on September 7 fall under the zodiac sign of Virgo. The birthstone is Sapphire and the birth flower is Aster. Historical events on September 7 include 1940: London Blitz begins — Germany shifts to bombing civilian targets, 1978: Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, dies of overdose at 32, 1986: Desmond Tutu becomes first Black Archbishop of Cape Town. Famous people born on September 7 include Queen Elizabeth I (1533), Grandma Moses (1860), Buddy Holly (1936).