Today in History
Important Events
- 1415 Battle of Agincourt: Henry V's forces defeat larger French army and the longbow defeats the armoured knight
- 1854 The infamous "Charge of the Light Brigade" during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War results in over 100 killed
- 1962 US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson demands USSR UN rep Zorin answer regarding Cuban missile bases saying "I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over"
- 1971 United Nations votes to expel the Chinese Nationalist ruled Taiwan and admit the Communist People's Republic of China
- 2017 Chinese Premier Xi Jinping unveils his new ruling council in the Great Hall of the People, none of the five are young enough to succeed him
Today in Film & TV
- 1978 "Halloween", directed by John Carpenter, starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut, is released
Today in Music
- 1875 The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given in Boston, Massachusetts with Hans von Bülow as soloist
Today in Sport
- 1964 Dutchman Anton Geesink is 1st non-Japanese Olympic judo gold medal winner
Did You Know?
Dutch East India Company ship "The Eendracht" discovers Dirk-Hartog Island, Australia
On this day in 1616
Pablo Picasso
Richard E. Byrd
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Georges Danton
Jackie Coogan
Hillary ClintonWould You Believe?
The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces Swing music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell".
On this day in 1938
Famous Weddings
- 1764 Future 2nd American President John Adams (28) weds Abigail Smith (19) in Weymouth, Massachusetts (marriage lasts 54 years)
- 1777 Governor of Virginia Patrick Henry (41) weds second wife Dorothea Dandridge
- 1859 US President Chester A. Arthur (30) weds Ellen Herndon (22) at Calvary Episcopal Church in NYC, New York
Geoffrey Chaucer
George II
Bobby Riggs
Alfred the Great
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Igor SikorskyThis Month in History
Test of Time for the Date of Creation
The assertion by a 17th Century bishop that the universe was created on this day in the year 4004 BC was put to the test in a famous trial in the United States.
October 23, 4004 BCAnother Panic, Another Market Crash
Wall Street was gripped by panic on this day. It was not the first time nor the last. Anything from railways to a pandemic can cause a crash, it seems.
October 24, 1929The Charge of the Light Brigade, a Brave and Foolish Tale
The Charge of the Light Brigade is infamous as an act of bravery in the face all insurmountable odds. An event immortalized in poetry by Alfred Tennyson.
October 25, 1854The Gunfight at OK Corral
Said to have lasted just 30 seconds, the gunfight at OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, is remembered as one of the great shootouts in the annals of the Wild West
October 26, 1881
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