August 7 has been the date of notable historical events. In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established. The year 1974 saw Philippe Petit perform a famous tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers. In 1942, the U.S. and allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking a crucial World War II offensive. Other significant events include the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in 1964, President Carter's declaration concerning Love Canal in 1978, and President Bush's military orders in 1990.
On Aug. 7, 1974, French highwire artist Philippe Petit performed an unapproved tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York, chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary Man on Wire.
In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal environmental disaster in Niagara Falls, N.Y. a federal health emergency; it would later top the initial list of Superfund cleanup sites.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq.
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