So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

August 7th


- Assyrian Martyrs Day (Assyrian community)
- Battle of Boyacá Day (Colombia)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Republic Day (Côte d'Ivoire)
- Youth Day (Kiribati)

August 7th


- 2008 - Georgia launches a military offensive against South Ossetia to counter the alleged Russian invasion, starting the South Ossetia War.
- 2007 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks baseball great Hank Aaron's record by hitting his 756th home run.
- 1999 - Second Chechen War began.
- 1998 - The United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people.
- 1989 - U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
- 1988 - Rioting in New York City's Tompkins Square Park.
- 1985 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
- 1981 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
- 1979 - Several tornadoes struck the city of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada and the surrounding communities.
- 1978 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal.
- 1976 - Viking program: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars.
- 1974 - Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.
- 1970 - California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
- 1967 - Vietnam War: the People's Republic of China agrees to give North Vietnam an undisclosed amount of aid in the form of a grant.
- 1966 - Race riots occur in Lansing, Michigan.
- 1965 - The infamous first party between Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and motorcycle gang the Hells Angels takes place at Kesey's estate in La Honda, California introducing psychedelics to the gang world and forever linking the hippie movement to the Hell's Angels.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: the U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving US President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
- 1964 - Prometheus, a bristlecone pine and the world's oldest tree, is cut down.
- 1960 - Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent.
- 1959 - The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design and is still in use.
- 1959 - Explorer program: Explorer 6 launches from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- 1955 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, sells its first transistor radios in Japan.
- 1947 - Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.
- 1947 - The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
- 1944 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- 1942 - World War II: the Battle of Guadalcanal begins – United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
- 1940 - World War II: Alsace Lorraine is annexed by the Third Reich.
- 1933 - The Simele massacre: The Iraqi Government slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Sumail. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.
- 1930 - The last lynching in the Northern United States occurs in Marion, Indiana. Two men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, are killed.
- 1927 - The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.
- 1890 - Anna Månsdotter becomes the last woman in Sweden to be executed, for the 1889 Yngsjö murder.
- 1879 - The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester.
- 1819 - Simón Bolívar triumphs over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.
- 1794 - U.S. President George Washington invokes the Militia Law of 1792 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania.
- 1791 - United States troops destroy the Miami town of Kenapacomaqua near the site of present-day Logansport, Indiana in the Northwest Indian War.
- 1789 - The United States War Department is established.
- 1782 - George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart.
- 1714 - The Battle of Gangut: the first important victory of the Russian Navy.
- 1679 - The brigantine Le Griffon, commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the south-eastern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America.
- 1461 - The Ming Dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.
- 1427 - The Visconti of Milan's fleet is destroyed by the Venetians on the Po River.
- 1420 - Construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore begins in Florence.
- 936 - Coronation of King Otto I of Germany.
- 626 - The Avar and Slav armies leave the siege of Constantinople.
- -322 - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon.

August 7th


- 1996 - Tessa Allen, American actress
- 1993 - Zaur Sizo, Russian footballer
- 1988 - Melody Oliveria, American internet blogger
- 1988 - Beanie Wells, American football player
- 1987 - Sidney Crosby, Canadian hockey player
- 1986 - Paul Biedermann, German swimmer
- 1986 - Nancy Sumari, Tanzanian Beauty Queen and Model, (Miss World 2005)
- 1984 - Stratos Perperoglou, Greek basketball player
- 1983 - Christian Chavez, Mexican singer and actor (RBD)
- 1983 - Tina O'Brien, British actress
- 1983 - Andriy Hryvko, Ukrainian cyclist
- 1982 - Yana Klochkova, Ukrainian swimmer
- 1982 - Marco Melandri, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1982 - Vasileios Spanoulis, Greek basketball player
- 1980 - Anomie Belle, American musician
- 1980 - Aurélie Claudel, French model
- 1979 - Eric Johnson, American actor
- 1978 - Alexandre Aja, French director
- 1978 - Jamey Jasta, American singer (Hatebreed)
- 1978 - Cirroc Lofton, American actor
- 1978 - Vanness Wu, Taiwanese singer
- 1978 - Shirley Yeung, Hong Kong actress
- 1977 - Charlotte Ronson, British fashion designer
- 1977 - Samantha Ronson, British DJ
- 1976 - Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Greek footballer
- 1976 - Shane Lechler, American football player
- 1975 - Koray Candemir, Turkish singer
- 1975 - David Hicks, Australian alleged terrorist
- 1975 - Charlize Theron, South African actress
- 1975 - Edgar Rentería, Colombian baseball player
- 1975 - Gaahl (Kristian Eivind Espedal), Norwegian musician
- 1975 - Hans Matheson, Scottish Actor
- 1975 - Vanessa Stacey, New Zealand actress
- 1974 - Chico Benymon, American actor
- 1974 - Sek Loso, Thai Singer
- 1974 - Michael Shannon, American actor
- 1974 - Andrejs Štolcers, Latvian footballer
- 1973 - Danny Graves, American baseball player
- 1973 - Kevin Muscat, Australian footballer
- 1973 - Zane Lowe, New Zealander DJ/ Radio and Television presenter
- 1972 - Greg Serano, American actor
- 1971 - Dominic Cork, England cricketer
- 1971 - Sydney Penny, American actress
- 1971 - Rachel York, American actress and singer
- 1970 - Eric Namesnik, American swimmer (d. 2006)
- 1968 - Lynn Strait, American singer (Snot)
- 1967 - Jason Grimsley, American baseball player
- 1966 - Kristin Hersh, American singer and guitarist (Throwing Muses)
- 1966 - Jimmy Wales, American internet entrepreneur
- 1964 - John Birmingham, Australian author
- 1964 - Michael Weishan, American TV host
- 1963 - Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (d. 9 August 1963)
- 1963 - Harold Perrineau Jr., American actor
- 1962 - Bruno Pelletier, Québécois singer
- 1961 - Yelena Davydova, Soviet gymnast
- 1960 - David Duchovny, American actor
- 1960 - Jacquie O'Sullivan, British singer (Bananarama)
- 1959 - Ali Shah, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1958 - Bruce Dickinson, English singer (Iron Maiden)
- 1958 - Alberto Salazar, American distance runner
- 1957 - Alexander Dityatin, Soviet gymnast
- 1955 - Wayne Knight, American actor
- 1955 - Greg Nickels, American politician
- 1955 - Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer
- 1955 - Gregoris Valtinos, Greek actor and director
- 1954 - Jonathan Pollard, Israeli spy
- 1953 - Anne Fadiman, American writer; daughter of Clifton Fadiman
- 1952 - Alexei Sayle, British comedian
- 1950 - Alan Keyes, American diplomat and political activist
- 1949 - Walid Jumblatt, Lebanese political leader
- 1948 - Marty Appel, American public relations executive and author
- 1948 - Greg Chappell, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1947 - Franciscus Henri, Dutch-born Australian entertainer
- 1946 - Ed Seykota, American commodities and futures trader
- 1945 - Alan Page, American football player and Minnesota Supreme Court justice
- 1944 - John Glover, American actor
- 1944 - Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
- 1944 - David Rasche, American actor
- 1943 - Alain Corneau, French film director
- 1943 - Dino Valente, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (d. 1994)
- 1942 - Tobin Bell, American actor
- 1942 - Garrison Keillor, American writer and radio host
- 1942 - Carlos Monzón, Argentine boxer
- 1942 - B.J. Thomas, American singer
- 1942 - Caetano Veloso, Brazilian musician
- 1940 - Jean-Luc Dehaene, Belgian politician
- 1939 - Anjanette Comer, American actress
- 1937 - Don Wilson, England cricketer
- 1936 - Rahsaan Roland Kirk, American saxophonist (d. 1977)
- 1933 - Eddie Firmani, South African football player and coach
- 1932 - Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian athlete (d. 1973)
- 1932 - Edward Hardwicke, British actor
- 1932 - Maurice Rabb, Jr., American ophthalmologist
- 1931 - Charles E. Rice, American legal scholar and author
- 1929 - Don Larsen, American baseball player
- 1928 - Romeo Muller, American screenwriter (d. 1992)
- 1928 - James Randi, Canadian-American magician
- 1927 - Edwin W. Edwards, American politician
- 1927 - Art Houtteman, American baseball player (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Carl Switzer, American child actor (d. 1959)
- 1926 - Stan Freberg, American voice comedian
- 1925 - M. S. Swaminathan, Indian scientist
- 1925 - Felice Bryant, American country songwriter and singer (d. 2003)
- 1921 - Manitas de Plata, gypsy guitarist
- 1918 - Gordon Zahn, American sociologist and pacifist (d. 2007)
- 1913 - George Van Eps, American guitarist (d. 1998)
- 1911 - Nicholas Ray, American director and scenarist (d. 1979)
- 1907 - Albert Kotin, American abstract painter (d. 1980)
- 1904 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1971)
- 1903 - Louis Leakey, British archaeologist (d. 1972)
- 1901 - Ann Harding, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1885 - Billie Burke, American actress (d. 1970)
- 1879 - Johannes Kotze, South African cricketer (d. 1931)
- 1877 - Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (d. 1949)
- 1876 - Mata Hari, Dutch spy (d. 1917)
- 1868 - Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
- 1867 - Emil Nolde, German painter (d. 1956)
- 1862 - Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden (d. 1931)
- 1860 - Alan Leo, British astrologer (d. 1917)
- 1844 - Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist (d. 1911)
- 1783 - Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom (d. 1810)
- 1779 - Louis de Freycinet, French explorer (d. 1842)
- 1779 - Carl Ritter, German geographer (d. 1859)
- 1751 - Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (d. 1820)
- 1742 - Nathanael Greene, American Revolutionary general (d. 1786)
- 1734 - Maria Anna Josepha of Bavaria, consort of Baden-Baden (d.1776)
- 1726 - James Bowdoin, American Revolutionary leader and politician (d. 1790)
- 1598 - Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet (d. 1672)
- 1574 - Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick, English writer (d. 1649)
- 1533 - Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet (d. 1595)
- 1282 - Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (d. 1316)
- 317 - Constantius II, Roman emperor (d. 361)