Today in History
Significant Events
- 733 Battle at Tours (Poitiers): Charles Martel's Frankish and Burgundian forces beat those of al-Andalus under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi halting Islamic influence (date disputed)
- 1854 French and British forces bombard Sevastopol for the first time during the Crimean War
- 1907 Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland
- 1943 Burma railway completed, built by Allied POWs and Asian laborers for use of the Japanese army
- 1973 OPEC oil ministers use oil as an economic weapon in the Arab-Israeli War, mandating a cut in exports and recommending an embargo against unfriendly states
- 2017 Islamic State headquarters Raqqa declared under full control of US-led alliance by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Talal Sello after 4 months of fighting
Today in Film & TV
- 1939 "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, is released
Today in Music
- 1963 The Beatles record "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at EMI Studios in London
Today in Sport
- 1860 1st British Golf Open: Willie Park Snr shoots a 164 at Prestwick Club, Scotland
Famous Birthdays
Arthur Miller
(1915 - 2005)
Evel Knievel
(1938 - 2007)
Eminem
45th Birthday
Tomorrow's Famous Birthdays
Pierre Trudeau
(1919 - 2000)
Martina Navratilova
Turns 61
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Turns 57
Would You Believe?
Charles II of Great Britain sells Dunkirk to France for 2.5 million livres (320,000 English pounds)
On this day in 1662
Famous Weddings
- 1469 Crown prince Fernando of Aragon marries Princess Isabella of Castile
- 1707 German composer Johann S Bach marries for the 1st time his cousin Maria Barbara Bach
- 1749 US revolutionary Samuel Adams (27) weds Elizabeth Checkley
- 1826 Historian Thomas Carlyle (30) weds Jane Welsh (25)
- 1916 Cartoonist Rube Goldberg (33) weds Irma Seeman
Agrippina the Elder
Frederic Chopin
Laura Secord
Charles Babbage
Thomas Edison
Bess TrumanThis Month in History
Grim History of London's Speakers' Corner
Nowhere in England is the principal of free speech embodied more than at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park. But this right was won through death and protest.
October 14, 1855
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
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
The 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, 1854
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