Today in History
Significant Events
- 202 BC Battle of Zama: Hannibal Barca and the Carthaginian army are defeated by Roman legions under Scipio Africanus, ending 2nd Punic War
- 1781 British forces under General Charles Cornwallis sign terms of surrender to George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown at 2 pm; US Revolutionary War ends
- 1926 Russian Politburo throws out Leon Trotsky and his followers
- 1943 Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University
- 1987 Black Monday: Dow Jones stock index falls 508.32 points (22%), 4½ times the previous daily record
- 2015 US scientists from University of California find evidence life on earth may have begun 4.1 billion years ago, 300 million earlier than previously thought
Today in Film & TV
- 1988 US Senate passes bill curbing ads during children's TV shows
Today in Music
- 1975 "A Chorus Line", held record longest-running Broadway show (6,137 performances), first premieres at the Shubert Theatre in New York
Today in Sport
- 1919 Reds beat White Sox, 5 games to 3 in 16th World Series. This series is known as black sox scandal as 8 White Sox throw series
Famous Birthdays
Miguel Ángel Asturias
(1899 - 1974)
Peter Max
81st Birthday
Evander Holyfield
56th Birthday
Tomorrow's Famous Birthdays
James Chadwick
(1891 - 1974)
Jomo Kenyatta
(1891 - 1978)
Mickey Mantle
(1931 - 1995)
Would You Believe?
Santos-Dumont proves airship manoeuverable by circling Eiffel Tower
On this day in 1901
Famous Weddings
- 1926 Pathologist Howard Florey (28) weds Ethel Reed at Holy Trinity Church in Paddington, New South Wales
- 1991 Filmmaker Michael Moore (37) weds movie producer Kathleen Glynn (32)
- 1996 "Rescue Me" actor-comedian Lenny Clarke (43) weds former TV producer Jennifer Miller (31) at Martha's Vineyard in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 2012 Grammy Award winning singer Justin Timberlake (31) weds "Total Recall" actress Jessica Biel (30) at the Borgo Egnazia resort in Fasano, Italy
- 2012 Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg Prince Guillaume (30) weds Countess of Belgium Stephanie de Lannoy (28) in a civil ceremony at the Hotel De Ville in Luxembourg
Jonathan Swift
Ernest Rutherford
Herbert Hoover
Burt Lancaster
Muammar GaddafiThis Month in History
Hurricane on the Way? Don't Worry
A cosy assurance from a BBC weather forecaster for viewers not to worry about an impending storm has gone down as the most spectacular mis-forecast in history.
October 15, 1987
The Tragedy of Aberfan
One hundred and sixteen young children died on this day when an avalanche of coal tip waste and debris thundered down a hillside and engulfed their school.
October 21, 1966
Jumping Jacques Makes First Parachute Descent
Daredevil André-Jacques Garnerin took to the sky in a hydrogen balloon on this day and after cutting himself adrift performed the first ‘parachute’ descent.
October 22, 1797
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 BC
Australia
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Ireland
Italy
Japan
New Zealand
Philippines
Russia
South Africa
United Kingdom
United States