April 7

451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town. 529 – First Corpus Juris Civilis, a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. 1141 – Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England, adopting the title "Lady of the English". 1348 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV charters Prague University. 1449 – Felix V abdicates his claim to the papacy, ending the reign of the final Antipope. 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu. 1541 – Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon on a mission to the Portuguese East Indies. 1724 – Premiere performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion, BWV 245, at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig. 1767 – End of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67). 1788 – Settlers establish Marietta, Ohio, the first permanent settlement created by U.S. citizens in the recently organized Northwest Territory. 1795 – The French First Republic adopts the kilogram and gram as its primary unit of mass. 1790 – Greek War of Independence: Greek revolutionary Lambros Katsonis loses three of his ships in the Battle of Andros. 1798 – The Mississippi Territory is organized from disputed territory claimed by both the United States and the Spanish Empire. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812. 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Corps of Discovery breaks camp among the Mandan tribe and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River. 1805 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premieres his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. 1831 – Pedro II becomes Emperor of Empire of Brazil. 1862 – American Civil War: The Union's Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee. 1868 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation, is assassinated by a Fenian activist. 1906 – Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples. 1906 – The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control over Morocco. 1922 – Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior Albert B.