1. On July 7, 1862, Confederate troops under General Thomas C. Hindman clashed with Union forces at the Battle of Hill's Plantation near Des Arc. The Confederates were ultimately victorious, but the battle was one of many skirmishes that defined the Civil War in Arkansas.

2. July 7 is also the birthday of John L. McClellan, a prominent Arkansas politician who served in Congress from 1943 until his death in 1977. McClellan was known for his work in exposing corruption and organized crime, and he played a key role in the investigation of Watergate.

3. On July 7, 1930, an explosion at a natural gas well in Ouachita County led to the deaths of 22 people and the destruction of several buildings in the nearby town of Junction City. It remains one of the deadliest gas explosions in U.S. history.

4. In 1987, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton signed the first state law in the nation requiring schools to teach the Holocaust as part of their curriculum. The law was passed in response to a rise in hate crimes and anti-Semitic incidents in the state.

5. On July 7, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at a rally in Little Rock in support of the Civil Rights Act, which had recently been signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. King's speech was part of a tour of several Southern states in which he called for an end to segregation and discrimination.