| 7 May 973 | Germany, Holy Roman Empire [political events] | The Holy Roman Emperor and German king, Otto I the Great dies, and is succeeded in both positions by his son, Otto II. |
| 7 May 973 | Saxony, Germany, Holy Roman Empire [births and deaths] | Otto I, Duke of Saxony 936–961 (as Otto II), German king 936–973, and Holy Roman Emperor 962–973, dies in Memleben, Thuringia (60). |
| 7 May 1274 | France [Christianity] | Pope Gregory X opens the General Council of Lyon in France, in the hope of ending the schism with the Greek church. The council recognizes the Dominican, Franciscan, Carmelite, and Austin Friars, and orders the suppression of all smaller mendicant orders. |
| 7 May 1342 | Italy [administration] | The French clergyman Pierre Roger is elected Pope Clement VI. |
| 7 May 1703 | UK, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire, Germany, United Netherlands, France [War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)] | Allied forces under the English general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, occupy the territory of France's ally the Imperial electorate of Cologne, and subsequently take Bonn, Limburg, Huy, and Guelders, clearing French forces from the lower Rhine. The Austrian general Prince Eugène of Savoy conducts a vigorous simultaneous campaign against French forces in the Rhineland and southern Germany. |
| 7 May 1711 | Scotland [births and deaths] | David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (–1776). |
| 7 May 1763–24 July 1766 | America [wars] | The Ottawa chief Pontiac leads a loose confederation of Indian tribes in an assault against British forts and settlements all along the western frontier of the American colonies. Before the Treaty of Oswego ends the rebellion three years later, 2,000 Americans die, impressing royal authorities with the need for regular troops in the colonies. |
| 7 May 1793 | Poland, Russia, Prussia [political events] | The Second Partition of Poland is effected, with half of Poland's remaining territory being divided between Russia and Prussia. Russia takes Lithuania and west Ukraine; Prussia takes Danzig (Gdansk), Thorn (Torun), Posen (Poznan), Gnesen (Gniezno), and Kalisch (Kalisz). |
| 7 May 1840 | Russia [births and deaths] | Peter Illich Tchaikovsky, leading 19th-century Russian composer who, amongst a great variety of works, composes the music for the ballets Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty, born in Votkinsk, Russia (–1893). |
| 7 May 1918 | Romania, Russian Empire [treaties] | Romania signs the Peace of Bucharest with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Romania is allowed to annex Bessarabia, though Russia refuses to recognize the annexation. |
| 7 May 1919 | Germany [diplomacy] | At the Paris Peace Conference in France, the Allies present their terms to Germany without giving opportunity for negotiation. The Rhineland is to be demilitarized and semi-occupied for between 5 and 15 years, reparations are to be paid, limits will be placed on the size of Germany's armed forces, and it is to accept a ‘war guilt’ clause acknowledging responsibility for starting the European War. Germany's colonies are also disposed of, assigning German East Africa to Britain as a mandated territory of the League of Nations, and German South West Africa as a mandate under the administration of South Africa. |
| 7 May 1919 | [births and deaths] | Eva Perón, unofficial Argentine political leader and wife of Juan Perón, born in Los Todos, Argentina (–1952). |
| 7 May 1920 | Poland, Russia [wars] | During the Polish–Russian War, Polish and Ukrainian forces enter Kiev in the Ukraine, but are driven out by Bolshevik forces on 11 June. |
| 7 May 1954 | North Vietnam, France [political events] | The Vietminh siege of French forces at Dien Bien Phu in North Vietnam ends with the surrender of 10,000 French troops. 5,000 more French troops are dead and the defeat effectively ends French power in Indochina. |
| 7 May 1993 | South Africa [elections] | Multiparty talks in Johannesburg, South Africa, reach agreement for the holding of nonracial elections by April 1994. |
| 7 May 1998 | Qatar [athletics] | The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) launches its Year of the Woman Athlete by staging the first-ever mixed athletics meeting in the Gulf State of Qatar where strict adherence to Muslim doctrine has hitherto prevented women from taking part in sport except in segregated, closed arenas. |
| 7 May 2000 | Russia [law and government] | Vladimir Putin is sworn in as the second president of modern Russia. It is the first time that the Russian government has changed hands peacefully and democratically. |
| 7 May 2001 | [crime and punishment] | Ronnie Biggs, the UK's most famous fugitive who took part in the 1963 ‘Great Train Robbery’ and subsequently escaped from prison to exile in Brazil, returns home in ill health to arrest in England at the expense of UK tabloid newspaper The Sun. |
