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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
October
BC 2333, October 3
Dangun, a mythical figure, established the Kingdom of Go-Joseon (present-day Korea). (Joseon or Chosun in Korean).
BC 331, October 3
Battle of Arbela: Despite being greatly outnumbered, Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces defeated Darius III of Persia. Alexander was then crowned "King of Asia" in a magnificent ceremony in Arbela (modern-day Arbil, Iraq).
BC 42, October 3
First Battle of Philippi — The First Triumvirate: Mark Antony and Octavian, fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius. Although Brutus defeats Octavian, Antony defeats Cassius. Cassius then commits suicide.
BC 42, October 23
The Second Triumvirate: This time, Brutus is soundly defeated and he also commits suicide.
AD 54, October 13
Died: Roman emperor Claudius I, after being poisoned by his wife, Agrippina.
AD 437, October 29
Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople. This unifies the two branches of the House of Theodosius.
1066, October 14
Normans under William the Conqueror defeated King Harold's English forces in the Battle of Hastings at Pevensey.
1187, October 2
Muslims, led by Saladin, re-capture Jerusalem after 88 years of Christian rule.
1216, October 18
Died: John, Lackland, king of England. — After levying a number of new taxes upon the barons to pay for his dismal military campaigns, the discontented barons revolted, capturing London in May 1215. At Runnymeade in June, John succumbed to pressure from the barons, the Church, and the English people at-large, and signed the Magna Carta. The document, a declaration of feudal rights, stressed three points: First, the Church was free to make ecclesiastic appointments. Second, larger-than-normal amounts of money could only be collected with the consent of the king's feudal tenants. Third, no freeman was to be punished except within the context of common law.
1226, October 3
Died: St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. He was canonized in 1228.
1283, October 3
David ap Gruffydd the Prince of Wales, the last native ruler of Wales to resist English domination, was captured by English forces and subsequently executed by drawing and quartering.
1400, October 25
Died: Author Geoffrey Chaucer, in London.
1422, October 29
Charles VII of France becomes king in succession to his father Charles VI.
1452, October 2
Born: King Richard III of England (died: 1485).
1492, October 12
Christopher Columbus arrived with his expedition in the present-day Bahamas.
1517, October 31
Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
1535, October 2
French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed along the St. Lawrence River and reached an Iroquois fort on an island now known as Montréal.
1537, October 12
Jane Seymour, 3rd wife of Henry VIII, delivered a male heir, Edward VI, and died 12 days later. — Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had delivered Mary I and was divorced for incompetence. His second wife, Anne Boleyn, delivered Elizabeth I and was murdered, also for incompetence. — Lady Jane Grey, cousin of Edward VI, was also born this day and in 1553 she ruled for 9 days. She was then beheaded by warrant of Edward's sister and her cousin, Mary I. — By the way, Edward VI died very mysteriously ("of consumption," i.e., tuberculosis?) at age 16… —[We are not making this stuff up!]
1618, October 29
English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.
1635, October 9
Religious dissident Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He later founded Providence, Rhode Island.
1636, October 28
Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts.
1682, October 29
William Penn landed at what is now Chester, Pa., on his first trip to America.
1685, October 18
King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had established legal toleration of France's Protestant population, the Huguenots.
1701, October 9
The Collegiate School of Connecticut — later Yale University — was chartered.
1701, October 28
William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, granted the Charter of Delaware from his vast land holdings. Penn had received his Charter of 'Penn's Woods' from King Charles II on Feb. 28, 1681, to settle a debt of $80,000 that Charles owed Penn's deceased father.
1735, October 30
Born: 2nd president of the United States, John Adams, in Braintree, Mass.
1746, October 22
Princeton University in New Jersey received its charter.
1760, October 25
Britain's George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II.
1765, October 7-25
Delegates from nine colonies (The Stamp Act Congress) met in New York to discuss possible colonial reaction to the Stamp Act which placed a "stamp tax" on all newspapers, pamphlets, almanacs, legal documents, playing cards and dice.
1765, October 19
The Stamp Act Congress agreed to resist "taxation without representation" and resolved not to import any goods covered by the act.
1767, October 18
The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line, was agreed upon.
1774, October 14
The First Continental Congress adopts the Declaration and Rights.
1774, October 26
The First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.
John Adams, delegated by Congress, submits the Olive Branch Petition to King George III. The petition was to "lay our grievances before the throne" and "most earnestly beseech your majesty that your royal authority and interposition may be used for our relief." Many American leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, thought the plea might alter Britain's policies and quell colonial rumblings for independence.
1775, October 13
Congress authorized acquisition of first Continental naval warships.
1776, October 9
A group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.
1777, October 4
American Revolution: George Washington's troops launched an assualt on the British at Germantown, PA, resulting in heavy American casualties.
1777, October 7
American Revolution: The second Battle of Saratoga began.
1777, October 17
Bristish forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.
1779, October 11
Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski was killed while fighting for American independence during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Georgia.
1780, October 2
British spy John André was hanged in Tappan, New York. André was a British intelligence officer and a personal friend of Mrs. Benedict Arnold. He was also the facilitator of a scheme for Benedict Arnold to sell the important military base at West Point to the British. Arnold was commandant of the base while the British controlled New York City. André infilltrated the American lines to meet with Arnold and conclude the sellout deal but while returning to the city he was arrested with Arnold's cryptic messages hidden in his boot. When Arnold heard of the arrest he stole the boat that was standing by to transport André and André's good friend, dear old Mrs. Arnold, promptly fled her home to join her husband. Old Benny was then commissioned a general in the British Army and sent out to attack American forces. — [We are not making this stuff up!]
1781, October 17-18
Surrender letters exchanged between Gen. Washington and Gen. Cornwallis.
1781, October 19
Gen. Cornwallis formally surrenders his forces to Gen. Washington.
1781, October 20
Letter from Gen. Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton giving notice of his surrender to Washington.
1787, October 27
The first installment of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays — by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay — calling for ratification of the Constitution, was published in a New York newspaper.
1789, October 3
George Washington issues the second Thanksgiving Proclamation. In it he said: "I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next… that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country…" — The first Proclamation had been issued by pilgrims on June 20, 1676, to celebrate a festival that had become traditional since "the autumn" of 1621.
1792, October 13
The cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.
1792, October 29
British naval officer, Lt. William E. Broughton, spots a mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River in Oregon and names it Mt. Hood, after fellow naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood.
1793, October 8
John Hancock dies at the age of 55 in Boston, but not his magnificent signature on the Declaration of Independence.
1793, October 16
During the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded on the guillotine, nine months after her husband, King Louis XVI, was executed.
1793, October 28
Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin: granted March, 1794.
1795, October 31
Born: English poet John Keats, in London.
1797, October 21
The U.S. Navy frigate Constitution was launched in Boston's harbor. [On August 19, 1812 (War of 1812), the Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia and earned the nickname "Old Ironsides." The victory also marked the birth of American naval power.]
1797, October 22
French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet.
1800, October 1
In a secret treaty, Spain ceded the terrority of Louisiana to France. [Two and a half years later, the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon, thus nearly doubling the size of the United States.]
1803, October 2
Died: Samuel Adams (American revolutionary) (born: 1722).
1803, October 20
The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
1803, October 31
The U.S. Congress passed an act enabling President Jefferson to take possession of the Louisiana Terrority.
1805, October 21
A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed.
1811, October 11
The first steam-powered ferryboat, the Juliana, was put into operation between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.
1812, October 19
French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte began their retreat from Moscow.
1822, October 4
Born: Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th U.S. president, in Delaware, Ohio.
1825, October 26
The Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River.
1830, October 5
Born: Chester Arthur, the 21st president of the U.S., in Fairfield, Vt.
1835, October 2, 9, 28
The first battle of the Texas Revolution took place on Oct. 2 as American settlers defeated a Mexican cavalry in the Battle of Gonzales near the Guadalupe River.
The Goliad Campaign ended Oct. 9 when George Collingsworth, Ben Milam, and forty-nine other Texans stormed the presidio at Goliad and a small detachment of Mexican defenders.
Jim Bowie, James Fannin and 90 Texans defeated 450 Mexicans on Oct 28 at the Battle of Concepcion, near San Antonio.
1836, October 22
Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
1843, October 13
The Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was founded in New York City.
1845, October 10
The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland.
1845, October 13
Texas state constitution is ratified.
1846, October 16
Dentist William T. Morton demonstrated the effectiveness of ether as an anesthetic by administering it to a patient undergoing jaw surgery before an audience of doctors in Boston.
1849, October 7
Died: Author Edgar Allan Poe, in Baltimore, Maryland, age 40.
1852, October 24
Died: Daniel Webster, after providing another of his sensational 'senatorial' orations on religious matters to a private gathering, perhaps, like most of his talk on such subjects, more eloquent than convincing. His last words: Have I — wife, son, doctor, friends, are you all here? — have I, on this occasion, said anything unworthy of Daniel Webster? The audience unanimously answered, "no…," and he expired.
1854, October 25
The "Charge of the Light Brigade" took place during the Crimean War as an English brigade of 600 men, against hopeless odds, charged the Russian army and suffered heavy losses. […Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, …]
1858, October 27
Born: future 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, in New York City.
1859, October 16
Abolitionist John Brown led a group of about 22 men in a raid on Harper's Ferry (West Virginia).
1861, October 3-25
Civil War battles: fought in FL, KY, MO, VA, and WVA.
1861, October 24
The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent as Justice Stephen J. Field of California transmitted a telegram to President Lincoln.
1862, October 1-27
Civil War battles: fought in FL, KY, LA, MS, OK, TN, and TX.
1863, October 3
President Lincoln declares the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day.
1863, October 29
16 countries met in Geneva and formed the International Red Cross.
1863, October 6-29
Civil War battles: fought in AR, FL, KS, TN, and VA, including the Battle of Wauhatchie Station, Tennessee.
1864, October 2-28
Civil War battles: fought in AL, GA, KS, MO, and Cedar Creek, VA.
1864, October 31
Nevada became the 36th state.
1867, October 18
The United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. Secretary of State William H. Seward had agreed to buy the region for $7,200,000, about 2 cents per acre. Some Americans opposed the purchase. They called Alaska such names as Seward's Folly, Seward's Icebox, and Icebergia.
1869, October 8
Died: Franklin Pierce, the 14th U.S. president (1853-1857), in Concord, New Hampshire. [To provide the United States with a good southern railroad route to the Pacific Coast, Pierce had sent James Gadsden to barter with Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the Mexican president, to negotiate a $10 million purchase of lands now comprising southern Arizona and part of southern New Mexico. The strip of land includes the region south of the Gila River and became kown as the Gadsden Purchase.]
1870, October 12
Robert E. Lee died at Lexington, Virginia, while serving as president of little Washington College, now Washington and Lee University.
1871, October 8-11
The great Chicago fire, blamed on Mrs. O'Leary's cow, kills 300 and leaves 90,000 homeless. Also on Oct. 8 another deadly blaze erupted in Peshtigo, Wisconsin.
1879, October 21
Thomas Alva Edison, "The Wizard of Menlo Park," perfected his invention for an incandescent light bulb by successfully testing a carbon filament produced from burned sewing thread.
1880, October 27
Theodore Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee on his 22nd birthday. Alice and T.R.'s mother died four years later in Teddy's house on the same day. Roosevelt was so despondent that he went off to the Dakotas for several years and worked as a cowpuncher and deputy sheriff.
1881, October 26
The "Gunfight at OK Corral" took place in Tombstone, Ariz., as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and "Doc" Holliday confronted Ike Clanton and his gang. Three men of Clanton's gang were killed; Earp's brothers were wounded.
1883, October 22
The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held its grand opening with a performance of Gounod's "Faust."
1884, October 6
The Naval War College was established in Newport, Rhode Island.
1885, October 1
Special Delivery mail service began in the U.S.
1885, October 30
Born: Poet Ezra Pound, in Hailey, Idaho.
1886, October 1
The U.S. Post Office established Rural Free Delivery (RFD).
1886, October 28
The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland.
1888, October 9
After 40 years of construction (cornerstone laid Jul. 4, 1848; capstone set Dec. 6, 1884), the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument. At completion, the monument became the world's tallest building.
1890, October 2
Born: Comedian Groucho Marx, in New York.
1890, October 8
Born: American aviation hero Eddie Rickenbacker, in Columbus, Ohio.
1890, October 11
Founded: Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), in Washington, D.C.
1890, October 14
Born, in Denison, Texas: Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of allied forces in Europe during World War II and 34th president of the United States.
1892, October 5
The Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, was practically wiped out while attempting to rob a pair of banks in Coffeyville, Kan.
1892, October 18
The first long-distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was formally opened.
1895, October 2
Born: Bud Abbott, comedian, actor (died: 1974).
1895, October 4
The first U.S. Open golf tournament was held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.
1898, October 18
The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico before Spain relinquished control in Dec. to end the Spanish-American War. The conflict was over the liberation of Cuba. The U.S. won Guam, Puerto Rico, paid $20 million for the Philippines, and liberated Cuba.
1901, October 24
Anna Edson Taylor, a 43-year-old widow, became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. [See Oct. 21, 2003]
1901, October 29
President Mckinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz, is electrocuted.
1903, October 1
The Pittsburg Pirates defeated the home team Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox), 7-3, in the first World Series game. Boston, however, went on to win the series, five games to three.
1904, October 27
The first rapid transit subway, the IRT (which stood for "Interborough Rapid Transit"), was inaugurated in New York City by Mayor George B. McClellan. The fare: five cents.
1907, October 18
International Prize Court Treaty is signed at The Hague. Never ratified.
1908, October 1
Henry Ford introduced the Model T automobile to the market.
1911, October 10
Revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China's Manchu dynasty.
1911, October 29
Died: American newspaperman, Joseph Pulitzer, in Charleston, South Carolina.
1912, October 14
Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for president, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech.
1914, October 15
The Clayton Anti-trust Act was passed.
1914, October 27
Born: Author and poet Dylan Thomas, in Swansea, Wales.
1915, October 12
WW I: English nurse Edith Cavell was executed by the Germans in occupied Belgium.
1916, October 16
Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic, in New York City.
1917, October 15
Mata Hari, a Dutch dancer who had spied for the Germans during WW I, was executed by a French firing squad outside Paris.
1918, October 8
WW I: Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest of France.
1918, October 25
The Canadian steamship Princess Sophia foundered off the coast of Alaska and nearly 400 people perished.
1919, October 2
President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. He served out his term (Mar. 3, 1921) but died Feb. 3, 1924.
1919, October 17
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was created.
1919, October 28
To enforce the XVIII Amendment to the Constitution (Prohibition), Congress passed the Volstead Act over President Wilson's veto.
1921, October 5
The World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time.
1922, October 28
Fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the governemnt.
1923, October 29
Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey is proclaimed.
1926, October 31
Died: Illusionist Harry Houdini, in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix.
1927, October 6
The era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of "The Jazz Singer," a movie starring Al Jolson that featured both silent and talking scenes.
1928, October 15
The German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, completing its first commercial flight across the Atlantic.
1929, October 3
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes formally changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
1929, October 25
Former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall was convicted of accepting a $100,000 bribe in connection with the Elk Hills Naval Oil Reserve in California. The conviction was part of the scandal known as "Teapot Dome" that had rocked the administration of Warren G. Harding.
1929, October 29
Great Depression begins on "Black Tuesday" after bank and stock failures.
1930, October 9
Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.
1931, October 4
The comic strip Dick Tracy, created by Chester Gould, made its debut.
1931, October 5
Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon completed the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Washington state some 41 hours after leaving Japan.
1931, October 17
Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was released in 1939.
1931, October 18
Died: Inventor Thomas Alva Edison, in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.
1931, October 24
The George Washington Bridge, connecting NYC and NJ, opened to traffic.
1932, October 11
The first American political telecast took place as the Democrat National Committee sponsored a program from CBS television studio in New York.
1933, October 12
Bank robber John Dillinger escaped from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang, who killed the sheriff.
1933, October 14
Nazi Germany announced it was withdrawing from the League of Nations.
1933, October 17
Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
1934, October 8
Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for murder in the kidnapping and death of the infant son of Charles A. Lindbergh.
1934, October 22
Notorious bank robber and gangster, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.
1935, October 3
Italy invaded Ethiopia, igniting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.
1936, October 9
The first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.
1937, October 5
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Quarantine Speech in Chicago.
"...How happy we are that the circumstances of the moment permit us to put our money into bridges and boulevards, dams and reforestation, the conservation of our soil, and many other kinds of useful works rather than into huge standing armies and vast supplies of implements of war..."
 …The rest, they say, is history.
1937, October 15
The Ernest Hemingway novel To Have and Have Not was first published.
1938, October 10
WW II: Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.
1938, October 27
Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: "nylon."
1938, October 30
The radio play The War of the Worlds, starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS. [The live drama, which employed fake news reports, panicked thousands of listeners who thought it was a real Martian invasion. The incident prompted the FCC to implement a rule requiring broadcasters to clearly identify news vs. non-news broadcasts.]
1939, October 6
WW II: In an address to the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler denied having any intention of war against France and Britain.
1939, October 24
WW II: Nylon stockings were sold publicly for the first time, in Wilmington, Delaware. [Nylon became a precious commodity during the war and was rationed as the material was superior to cotton for use with tires, artillery ammunition and parachutes.]
1940, October 4
WW II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps, where the Nazi leader sought Italy's help in fighting the British.
1940, October 7
Artie Shaw and his orchestra recorded Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" for RCA Victor records.
1940, October 24
The 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
1940, October 28
WW II: Italy invaded Greece after forming an alliance with Hitler in June.
1941, October 2
WW II: German armies began Operation Typhoon: an all out drive against Moscow.
1941, October 3
WW II: Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been "broken" and would "never rise again."
1941, October 5
Died: former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the Supreme Court, in Washington, D.C., at age 84.
1941, October 17
WW II: The U.S. destroyer Kearney was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Iceland; 11 people died.
1941, October 31
WW II: The U.S. Navy destroyer Reuben James was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Iceland with the loss of 115 lives, even though the United States had not entered the war.
1942, October 3
President Roosevelt established the Office of Economic Stabilization.
1942, October 11
In World War II the Battle of Cape Esperance began in the Solomon Islands, resulting in an American victory over the Japanese the following day.President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered one of his so-called "fireside chats" in which he recommended the drafting of 18- and 19-year-old men.
1942, October 23
During WW II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt.
1942, October 26
WW II: The U.S. ship Hornet was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.
1943, October 1
World War II: Allied forces captured Naples.
1943, October 10
Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
1943, October 13
World War II: Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.
1943, October 14
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) completed sale of the NBC Blue radio network to businessman Edward J. Noble for $8 million; the network was renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).
1943, October 16
Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly officially opened the city's new subway system during a ceremony at the State and Madison street station.
1944, October 2
In WW II Nazi troops crushed the two-month-old Warsaw Uprising, during which a quarter-million people were killed.
1944, October 3
WW II: U.S. troops cracked the Siegfried Line north of Aachen, Germany.
1944, October 13
World War II: American troops entered Aachen, Germany.
1944, October 14
WW II German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox) committed suicide rather than face execution for an alleged conspiracy against Adolf Hitler.
1944, October 18
Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia during WW II.
1944, October 19
World War II: The Navy announced that black women would be allowed into Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (the WAVES).
1944, October 20 — World War II
General Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2½ years after he had said, "I shall return."
The Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik were liberated.
1944, October 23-26 — World War II
The Battle for Leyte Gulf was the greatest naval battle in history in total tonnage. In all, 282 ships took part and virtually ended the Japanese naval threat in the Pacific.
1944, October 21 — World War II
U.S. troops completed the capture of the historical German city of Aachen where 1150 years before, Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, had ruled. During the siege, Allied forces had avoided major damage to the Palatine Throne Room and other antiquities.
1945, October 8
President Harry Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada.
1945, October 15
The former premier of WW II Vichy France, Pierre Laval, was executed.
1945, October 17
Col. Juan Peron staged a coup, becoming absolute ruler of Argentina.
1945, October 21
Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.
1945, October 24
The United Nations charter took effect.
1945, October 29
At Gimbels Department Store in New York City the first ballpoint pens go on sale priced at $12.50 each.
1945, October 30
Shoe rationing, in effect during WW II, ended.
1946, October 15
WW II Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.
1946, October 16
Ten WW II Nazi war criminals condemned during the Nuremberg trials were hanged.
1946, October 23
The United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow, Queens.
1947, October 5
President Truman delivered the first televised White House address.
1947, October 14
Captain Chuck Yeager produced the world's first Sonic Boom as he broke the sound barrier in a Bell X-1 aircraft over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1947, October 20
The House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into Communist influence and infiltration within the American motion picture industry.
1947, October 29
Died: former first lady Frances Cleveland Preston, in Baltimore at age 83.
1949, October 1
Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung raised the first flag of the People's Republic of China (mainland China) during a ceremony in Beijing.
1949, October 6
President Harry Truman signed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, totaling $1.3 billion in military aid to NATO countries.
American-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino, convicted of being Japanese wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was sentenced in San Francisco to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000.
1950, October 2
The comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz, was first published in nine newspapers.
1950, October 7
The United Nations General Assembly approved an advance of UN forces north of the 38th Parallel in the Korean "Police Action" — one of the bloodiest wars in history.
1951, October 3
The New York Giants captured the National League pennant in game three by a score of 5-to-4 as third baseman Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca in the "shot heard 'round the world."
1951, October 25
Peace talks aimed at ending the Korean War resumed in Panmunjom after a 63 days of delay.
1952, October 24
Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict. He made the visit and "stopped" the conflict .... Yeah, right! Lets see now, that was 50 years ago and ....
1952, October 30
Gen. George C. Marshall, military Chief of Staff to President Roosevelt during WW II, Secretary of State under President Truman and overseer of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1953, October 5
Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.
1953, October 30
Gen. George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer received the Peace Prize for 1952.
1954, October 7
Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Co. in New York.
1954, October 22
West Germany joined NATO; formally seated in 1955.
1956, October 8
Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series to date as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0.
1956, October 23
An anti-Stalinist revolt erupted in Hungary. The uprising was soon crushed by Soviet tanks.
1956, October 29
During a war with surrounding Arab countries, Israel launched an invasion of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
NBC launched "The Huntley-Brinkley Report," replacing the nightly newscast "The Camel News Caravan."
1956, October 31
Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole.
1957, October 4
The Space Age began as the Soviet Union double-crossed several nations, including the U.S., and launched "Sputnik," the first man-made satellite, into earth orbit. The Soviets had not told other nations about the planned launch despite an agreement to share research research. The deception and secrecy of the Soviets inspired President John F. Kennedy to announce four years later that the U.S. would land men on the moon within a decade.
1958, October 4
The first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by British Overseas Airways with flights between London and New York.
1958, October 11
The lunar probe "Pioneer I" was launched; it failed to go as far out as planned, fell back to Earth, and burned up in the atmosphere.
1958, October 26
Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in eight hours and 41 minutes.
1959, October 21
The Guggenheim Museum in New York opened to the public.
1960, October 12
Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding his desk with a shoe during a dispute.
1960, October 14
The idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to an audience at the University of Michigan.
1961, October 1
Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run during a 162-game season, compared to Babe Ruth's 60 home runs during a 154-game season.
1961, October 30
The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb.
The U.S.S.R. tested a hydrogen bomb that had a force of 58 megatons.
1962, October 1
Johnny Carson debuted as the regular host of NBC's "Tonight" show.
1962, October 3
Astronaut Wally Schirra blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the "Sigma Seven" on a nine-hour flight.
1962, October 5
The Beatles' first hit, "Love Me Do," was first released in the United Kingdom.
1962, October 9
Uganda won autonomy from British rule.
1962, October 16, 22, 24, 28
Oct. 16: The Cuban missile crisis began as President Kennedy was informed that reconnaissance photographs revealed the presence of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. Oct. 22: Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of the island.
Oct. 24: The blockade began.
Oct. 28: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed Kennedy that the missiles were being dismantled.
1962, October 18
Dr. James D. Watson of the U.S., and Drs. Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins of Britain, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for identifying the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
1963, October 7
President John F. Kennedy signed the documents of ratification for a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union, a process started during the Eisenhower administration.
1964, October 9
Proclaimed "Leif Ericson Day" by President Lyndon B. Johnson (backed by a unanimous Congress) in commemoration of the first arrival of Europeans on North American soil. Recent evidence indicates that Ericson may have been the first to arrive. Historians believe that Ericson, (or Ericsson) en route to Greenland, went off course, and quite by chance came to the coast of northeastern America (Labrador, Newfoundland and possibly the eastern shores of the U.S.) in the year 1000, thus preceding Columbus by nearly 500 years.
1964, October 12
The Soviet Union launched a Voskhod space capsule with a three-man crew on the first manned mission involving more than one crew member.
1964, October 14
Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964, October 15
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union announced that Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev had been removed from office. He was succeeded as premier by Alexei N. Kosygin and as Communist Party secretary by Leonid I. Brezhnev.
1964, October 20
President Herbert Hoover died in New York at 90.2 years of age, becoming the second oldest president at death after John Adams at 90.7 years. [Ronald Reagan became the oldest at 93.3 on June 5, 2004.]
1964, October 29
A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
1965, October 28
Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
1966, October 15
President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill creating the Department of Transportation.
1966, October 21
More than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in southern Wales.
1966, October 29
NOW, the National Organization for Women was founded and for twenty years provided an effective vehicle to gain equality for women. Unfortunately, the national and state-level leadership gradually transferred its allegiance to the Democratic Party and has now seriously damaged NOW's viability.
1967, October 2
Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; he was the first black U.S.S.C. justice.
1967, October 9
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed while attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia.
1967, October 20
Seven men were convicted in Meridan, Miss., of violating the civil rights of three murdered civil rights workers… Yet the press, blacks, and Democrats STILL claim that EVERY WHITE PERSON who has ever lived in Miss. is racist against blacks. In fact, the most contemptible conduct of all is the perpetuation of false bigotry that divides and promotes hatred.
1967, October 27
Expo '67 closed in Montreal, Canada.
1968, October 11
"Apollo 7," the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Shirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.
1968, October 12
The summer Games of the 19th Olympiad officially opened in Mexico City.
1968, October 14
The first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from the astronauts of Apollo 7.
1968, October 18
The U.S. Olympic Committee suspended Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.
1968, October 20
Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
1968, October 22
Apollo 7 returned, splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.
1968, October 31
President Lyndon Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.
1970, October 4
Died: Rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, found in her Hollywood hotel room.
1970, October 8
Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
1970, October 10
Quebec Labor Minister Pierre Laporte was kidnapped by terrorist of the Quebec Liberation Front (QLF), a group seeking separation of Quebec from Canada. [The QLF was inspired, cheered on and encouraged by political separationist leaders in France]. Laporte's body was found about a week later. The incident frightened Canadians so much that they either fled to the U.S. or surrendered their votes to the socialist politicians of Quebec and France. Canada is now a satellite province of France.
1970, October 16
Anwar Sadat was elected president of Egypt, succeeding the late Gamal Abdel Nasser.
1971, October 1
Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Fla.
1971, October 21
President Richard Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1971, October 25
The U.N. General Assembly voted to admit mainland China, and to provide a full head of steam to run-amok political correctness, voted to expel Taiwan.
1972, October 26
President Nixon's national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared, "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam.
1973, October 6
War erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria launched an unprovoked surprise attack on Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday.
1973, October 10
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes in Maryland before running for V.P., pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office. [He was replaced by Gerald Ford who became president when Nixon stepped down over Watergate.]
1973, October 16
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize; however, the Vietnamese official declined the award.
1973, October 17
Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back on oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was an embargo that created massive shortages lasting until March 1974.
1973, October 20
The Sydney Opera House in Australia was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
1973, October 23
President Richard Nixon agreed to turn White House tape recordings requested by the Watergate special prosecutor over to Judge John J. Sirica.
1974, October 9
Czech-born German businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving about 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust (movie: Schindler's List), died in Frankfurt, West Germany. At his request, he was buried in Jerusalem.
1974, October 13
Died: longtime television host Ed Sullivan, in N.Y. City at age 72.
1975, October 9
Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1977, October 17
West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers.
1977, October 19
The supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City.
1977, October 26
The experimental space shuttle Enterprise glided to a bumpy but successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1978, October 10
President Jimmy Carter, pandering to feminist-activist, signed a bill authorizing the Susan B. Anthony dollar, a coin larger than a quarter but smaller than a silver dollar. Carter and the feminist had overlooked a few things: the public didn't want another coin in its pocket, banks didn't want it, merchants didn't want it and vending machine operators didn't want it. After millions upon millions of tax-payer dollars had been wasted, the coin died.
1978, October 16
The College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope. [See 2003.]
1978, October 17
President Carter signed a bill restoring U.S. citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
1978, October 27
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their "progress" in bringing peace to the Middle East! — Asinine whackoism… Somebody forgot to tell the Jew hater terrorist.
1979, October 11
Allan McLeod Cormack and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield were named co-recipients of the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in developing the CAT scan X-ray.
1979, October 17
Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1979, October 26
South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot to death by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-kyu.
1981, October 3
Irish nationalist at the Maze Prison near Belfast, Northern Ireland, end seven months of hunger strikes that claimed ten lives.
1981, October 6
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade.
1981, October 13
Voters in Egypt participated in a referendum to elect Vice President Hosni Mubarak the new president, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.
1982, October 8
All labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.
1983, October 5
Poland's Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1983, October 23
241 U.S. Marines and sailors were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 French paratroopers.
1983, October 25
To protect U.S. citizens from obvious danger created by Progressive (Socialist) insurgents, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Reagan.
1984, October 11
Space shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathy Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.
1984, October 16
Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of non-violent struggle for racial equality in South Africa.
1984, October 26
"Baby Fae," a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant in Loma Linda, California. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.)
1984, October 31
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh security guards.
1985, October 8
Palestinian terrorist hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and murdered disabled American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer (age 69), because he was an American and a Jew.
1985, October 10
U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody.
1986, October 10-12
President Ronald Reagan meets with Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland. Talks prove to be the beginning of the end for the Cold War and the U.S.S.R.
1987, October 14
A real-life drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down an abandoned well at a private day care center. Hundreds of rescuers worked 58 hours to free her.
1989, October 5
A jury in Charlotte, N.C., convicted former PTL evangelist Jim Bakker of using his television show to defraud followers.
1989, October 17
An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck northern California, killing 67 people and causing $7 billion worth of damage.
1990, October 2
A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, crashes into an empty Boeing 707-3J6B and then a Boeing 757-21B on the ground killing 132.
1990, October 3
German reunification: West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a new unified country. The five re-established German states (Bundesländer) of East Germany formally joined West Germany.
1990, October 14
Died: Composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein, in New York, age 72.
1990, October 15
Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was named the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1991, October 15
Clarence Thomas becomes 2nd black justice to sit on the Supreme Court.
1993, October 3
Battle of Mogadishu: Soldiers from Malaysian, Pakistani and U.S. armed forces attempted to capture Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, as chronicled in a book and then a film entitled "Black Hawk Down".
1993, October 25
Rather than risk a French-led separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada, voters caved in and turned the country's government over to Socialist of Quebec led by Jean Chretien who has a stronger loyalty to France than to Canada.
1995, October 16
"Million Man March" (actually closer to half that number) on Washington, D.C., as black men converge to demonstrate solidarity.
1998, October 2
Died: Gene Autry, singer, actor, entrepreneur (born: 1907).
2001, October 7
The United States began bombing Taliban and Osama bin Laden strongholds in Afghanistan in response to the 9.11.01 terrorist attacks against the U.S.
2001, October 9
Letters containing anthrax and postmarked in Trenton, N.J., were sent to senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy.
2002, October 12
A bomb set by Islamic terrorists destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.
2002, October 12
Progressive Liberal (euphemism for Socialist) U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota (who postured as a Democrat for election purposes) was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota 11 days before the election.
2003, October 7
California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger.
2003, October 16
John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) celebrates 25 years as pope and head of the Roman Catholic Church.
2003, October 21
A loony leaper took a topple and lived to tell the tale…
Kirk Jones, 40, of Canton, MI, made history as the first person to deliberately plunge over Niagara Falls without protection and survive… In 1960 a 7 year-old boy survived in a life jacket after a boating accident.
The first survivor over the falls was Anna Taylor in 1903, but she used a barrel.
2003, October 23-24
The retirement flight of the British Airways Concorde passenger jetliner service arrived at JFK in New York from London and returned to Heathrow Oct. 24th. Air France Concorde service was retired June 3, 2003.
2004, October 2
American Samoa joins the North American telephone system area code Numbering Plan.
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