October 7, 2024

1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the moslem Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat.

1777 – American forces defeat British forces under general John Burgoyne in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, compelling Burgoyne’s eventual surrender.

1780 – American militia defeat royalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina.

2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground, starting the longest war in American history.

2023 – Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launch an attack into Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 240 hostages, including civilians and soldiers.