Today in history—December 7

1254: Sinibaldo de’ Fieschi, the law professor and corporate lawyer who became Pope Innocent IV, dies at Naples.

1761: Mary Grosholtz (“Madame”) Tussaud, who will overcome war, dislocation, and prejudice to become one of London’s most successful entrepreneurs, is born. Her first celebrity wax figure? Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

1783: William Pitt the Younger (left), a prodigy who had graduated Cambridge at 14 and already served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, becomes Britain’s youngest prime minister at age 24.  Makes you feel old, doesn’t it?

1787: Delaware earns its license plate motto by becoming the First State to ratify the new U.S. Constitution.

1836: New York lawyer Martin (“The Little Magician”) Van Buren, who is often credited with creating the American political machine, is elected president over a fragmented field of three Whigs.

1937: The Boston Red Sox acquire the contract of a 19-year-old ballplayer named Ted Williams from the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.  He signs a two-year contract worth $7,000.

1941: Japanese naval and air forces attack the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1967: The musical How Now Dow Jones (left) opens on Broadway.  It will run 220 performances but won’t make a profit.

1968: Richard Dodd returns a library book to the University of Cincinnati library.  It is 145 years overdue, having been checked out by his great-grandfather in 1823.