- 415 Jewish autonomy in Palestine ended by the Romans and Raban Gamliel forced from office
- 532 Boniface II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
- 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)
Battle of Interest
1346 Battle of Neville's Cross: King David II of Scotland is captured by Edward III of England at Calais, and imprisoned in the Tower of London for eleven years.
Edward III
- 1387 Swells convent Windesheim initiated
- 1404 Cosma de' Migliorati elected Pope Innocentius VII
- 1448 Second Battle of Kosovo, where the mainly Hungarian army led by John Hunyadi were defeated by an Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad II.
- 1456 The University of Greifswald is established, making it the second oldest university in northern continental Europe (also for a period the oldest in Sweden, and Prussia)
- 1483 Tomas de Torquemada appointed inquisitor-general of Spain
- 1556 Ex-emperor Karel departs Netherland for Spain
Event of Interest
1651 Future King Charles II flees from England
Charles II
- 1662 Charles II of Great Britain sells Dunkirk to France for 2.5 million livres (320,000 English pounds)
- 1691 New royal charter for Massachusetts, now including Maine, Plymouth
- 1720 Pierre de Marivaux' "Arlequin Poli Par l'Amour" premieres in Paris
- 1740 Ivan VI becomes Tsar of Russia
- 1777 British General John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War
- 1787 Boston blacks, petition legislature for equal school facilities
- 1797 Peace of Campo Formio: Austrian Dutch possessions & France
- 1800 Dutch colony Curacao transfererd to Great Britain
- 1806 Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I of Haiti is assassinated
- 1808 Political rights of Jews suspended in Duchy of Warsaw
- 1814 A Beer Flood occurs in London killing nine.
Music Premiere
1825 1st opera by Franz Liszt, "Don Sanche" premieres in Paris
Franz Liszt
Music Concert
1831 Felix Mendelssohn's 1st Piano concert in G, premieres
Felix Mendelssohn
- 1850 Knickerbocker Engine Co Number 5 organized
- 1854 French and British forces bombard Sevastopol for the first time during the Crimean War
- 1855 Bessemer steelmaking process patented
- 1860 1st British Open Golf, Prestwick GC: Willie Park Sr. wins inaugural event by 2 strokes from fellow Scot Tom Morris Sr
- 1862 Battle of Leetown & Thoroughfare Gap, VA
- 1868 Constitution of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg comes into effect
- 1871 Great Britain annexes Griqualand, South Africa
Event of Interest
1876 Henry Morton Stanley's reaches Lualaba River
Henry Morton Stanley
- 1877 Henry Morton Stanley reaches Boma during trip cross Africa
Election of Interest
1878 After serving as the opposition for five years, John A. Macdonald is re-elected as Prime Minister of Canada
John A. Macdonald
- 1885 Baseball sets all players salaries at $1,000-$2,000 for 1885 season
Historic Invention
1888 Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie)
Thomas Edison
Event of Interest
1904 Bank of Italy (Bank of America) opens its doors in San Francisco, founded by Amadeo Giannini
Amadeo Giannini
Event of Interest
1907 Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland
Guglielmo Marconi
- 1912 Bulgaria, Greece & Serbia declares war on Turkey
- 1916 Dutch women demonstrate for female suffrage
- 1917 1st British bombing of Germany
- 1918 De Kooy airport in Netherlands opens
- 1918 Yugoslavia proclaims itself a republic
- 1919 Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is created as a subsidiary of General Electric
- 1920 Chicago Bears (as Decatur Staleys) play 1st NFL game, win 7-0
- 1921 Belgium's public library law goes into force
- 1922 Scottish worker begins hunger march from Glasgow on London
- 1923 Catholic University of Nijmegen Neth opens
- 1927 Ban Johnson, in failing health, retires as AL President
Event of Interest
1933 Albert Einstein arrives in US as a refugee from Nazi Germany
Albert Einstein
Film Release
1939 "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, is released
Frank Capra
James Stewart
Death Railway Completed
1943 Burma railway completed, built by Allied POWs and Asian laborers for use of the Japanese army
More >>
Event of Interest
1945 Loyalty Day in Argentina, mass demonstrations held to release Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Film Premier
1956 "Around the World in 80 Days", based on the book by Jules Verne, directed by Michael Anderson and starring David Nivon and Cantinflas, premieres in New York
Jules Verne
- 1957 "Copper & Brass" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 36 performances
Event of Interest
1957 Britain's Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip visit the White House
Prince Philip
- 1957 Dike Marken-Dutch mainland closed
Nobel Prize
1957 French author Albert Camus awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
Albert Camus
- 1957 II Tsjoendrigar becomes premier of Pakistan
- 1959 "Billy Barnes Revue" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 87 performances
- 1959 Queen Elizabeth is fined $140 for withdrawing her race horse
- 1959 Stinchcomb Memorial in Cleveland Metroparks' dedicated
- 1960 "Tenderloin" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 216 performances
- 1960 US & Britain sign accord for nuclear submarine bases
- 1961 22nd congress of CPSU opens in Moscow
- 1961 Battle of Paris-police kill 210 Algerians
- 1961 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 33,100 m
Event of Interest
1961 NY Museum of Modern Art hangs Henri Matisse's "Le Bateau" upside-down It wasn't corrected until December 3rd
Henri Matisse
- 1962 Yanks beat Giants for 20th world championship
- 1963 "Jennie" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 82 performances
- 1963 The Beatles record "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at EMI Studios in London
- 1964 In the first ever Olympic women's pentathlon Irina Press of the Soviet Union sets a world record 5,246 points to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Games
Event of Interest
1964 Yanks fire Manager Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
- 1964 Australian athlete Betty Cuthbert takes her 4th career Olympic gold medal as she wins the women's 400m at the Tokyo Games in Olympic record 52.0
- 1964 US swimmers go 1-2-3 in the women's 400m individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics; Donna de Varona wins gold in Olympic record 5:18.7 ahead of team mates Sharon Finneran and Martha Randall
- 1965 "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" opens in NYC for 280 performances
- 1965 WBMG TV channel 42 in Birmingham, AL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1967 "Hair" premieres on Broadway
Event of Interest
1967 Barbra Streisand stars on "Belle of 14th Street" special on CBS
Barbra Streisand
Film Release
1968 "Bullitt" directed by Peter Yates and starring Steve McQueen and Jacqueline Bisset is 1st released
Steve McQueen
- 1968 Soviet athlete Viktor Saneev sets world record 17.39m to win the triple jump at the Mexico City Olympics; world record improved 5 times by 3 different athletes during competition
- 1968 US men's 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Zac Zorn, Stephen Rerych, Ken Walsh & Mark Spitz swim world record 3:31.7 to outclass the Soviet Union & Australia and win the gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics
- 1968 Björn Ferm of Sweden beats Hungary's András Balczó by just 11 points to take the gold medal in the modern pentathlon at the Mexico City Olympics
- 1969 NY Nets move from Comack to Island Garden, Hempstead NY
- 1969 Plastic Ono Band's "Cold Turkey" is released in UK
- 1969 Soyuz 7 returns to Earth
Event of Interest
1970 Anwar Sadat sworn in as the 3rd President of Egypt
Anwar Sadat
- 1971 Cleveland Metroparks' Rocky River Nature Center opens
- 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 3 in 68th World Series
- 1971 It is estimated today that approximately 16,000 households were withholding rent and rates for council houses as part of the campaign of civil disobedience against internment organised by the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Northern Ireland
- 1972 1st time Islanders shut-out-5-0 vs Penguins
- 1972 Bob Randall's "6 Rooms Riv Vu," premieres in NYC
- 1972 Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-ling," is #1
- 1972 The Ulster Defence Association open fire on the British Army in several areas of Belfast
- 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
- 1974 "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" closes at Playhouse NYC after 1065 per
- 1974 NBA New Orleans Jazz begin a 28 game road losing streak
- 1974 Washington Capitals 1st NHL home victory, beating Chicago 4-3
- 1974 Oakland A's beat LA Dodgers, 4 games to 1 in 71st World Series makes A's only team other than Yanks to win 3 straight series
- 1975 1st Space Shuttle main engine test at National Space Tech Labs, Miss
- 1975 UN passes resolution saying "Zionism is a form of racism"
- 1976 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
- 1976 Coldest World Series game Yankees vs Cincinnati, 39 degrees F (until 1997)
- 1977 Canada begins regular live TV coverage of Parliament
- 1977 West German commandos storm hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, Somalia freeing all 86 hostages & killing 3 of 4 hijackers
- 1978 NY Islanders start a streak of 23 undefeated games at home (15-0-8)
- 1978 NY Yankees beat Dodgers, 4 games to 2 in 75th World Series
Event of Interest
1978 President Jimmy Carter signs bill restoring US citizenship to Jefferson Davis
Jimmy Carter
Nobel Prize
1979 Mother Teresa of Calcutta awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Mother Teresa
- 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 3 in 76th World Series
- 1979 US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating Department of Education
- 1980 1st-class debut of Mike Whitney, NSW v Qld (2-52 & 1-39)
- 1981 Brazilian Nelson Piquet driving for Brabham finishes 5th in the season ending Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas to clinch his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 1 point from Carlos Reutemann
- 1982 1st live orchestra on a US commercial network since 1954 (National Symphony)
- 1982 Robin Yount is 1st to have 2 4-hit games in a World Series
- 1982 Sam Shepard's "True West" premieres in NYC
- 1982 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
- 1983 Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Gérard Debreu
- 1983 STS-9 vehicle moves to Vandenberg AFB due to SRB nozzle problem
- 1984 Nobel prize for chemistry awarded to Bruce Merrifield
- 1985 French author Claude Simon wins the Nobel Prize for Literature
- 1985 Lou Piniella named NY Yankee manager
- 1986 US Senate approved immigration bill prohibiting hiring of illegal aliens & offered amnesty to illegals who entered prior to 1982
Event of Interest
1986 Yitzhak Rabin forms Israeli government
Yitzhak Rabin
Event of Interest
1987 US First Lady Nancy Reagan undergoes a modified radical mastectomy
Nancy Reagan
- 1988 31 reported dead as Ugandan jetliner crashes in fog near Rome
- 1988 Dallas Green replaces Lou Pinella as manager of NY Yankees
- 1988 Lyndon LaRouche pleads innocent to fraud, conspiracy indictment
- 1988 Phillip Morris announces $11 Billion tender offer for Kraft
- 1988 Rockin Robin beats "Sensational" Sherri Martel for WWF woman's title
- 1988 Traveling Wilbury's 1st release "Handle With Care"
- 1988 Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 is released
- 1989 Earthquake in San Francisco (6.9) cancels 3rd game of World Series, kills 67
- 1990 "Jackie Mason - Brand New" opens at Neil Simon NYC for 216 performances
- 1990 "Les Miserables" opens at Imperial Theatre, NY & His Majesty's Theatre, Perth
Event of Interest
1990 Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong drops out of school to pursue a career in music
Billie Joe Armstrong
Event of Interest
1991 Pitts Penguin Paul Coffey sets NHL defenseman scoring record with 1,053 career points (309 goals & 744 assists)
Paul Coffey
Music Concert
1994 Billy Joel performs opening concert at Cleveland's Gund Arena
Billy Joel
- 1995 Keith Moore sentenced to 6 years for robbing Sting of $9,000,000
- 1995 MLB American League Championship: Cleveland Indians beat Seattle Mariners, 4 games to 2
- 1996 "Taking Sides" opens at Atkinson Theater NYC
- 1996 MLB National League Championship: Atlanta Braves beat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3
- 1998 At Jesse, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, a petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 1200 villagers, some of whom are scavenging gasoline.
- 2000 Train crash at Hatfield, north of London, leading to collapse of Railtrack
- 2000 MLB American League Championship: New York Yankees beat Seattle Mariners, 4 games to 2
- 2003 The pinnacle was fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, allowing it to surpass the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur by 50 meters (165 feet) and become the World's tallest highrise.
- 2003 Eunuchs in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh float the political party Jiti Jitayi Politics.
Event of Interest
2005 "The Colbert Report" hosted by Stephen Colbert first airs on US TV
Stephen Colbert
- 2006 The United States population reaches 300 million
Event of Interest
2007 The Dalai Lama receives the United States Congressional Gold Medal
Tenzin Gyatso
Event of Interest
2008 Sachin Tendulkar becomes the highest run-scorer ever in test cricket beating Brian Lara's record and passing 12,000 runs against Australia in Mohali
Sachin Tendulkar
Event of Interest
2012 Lance Armstrong loses a host of endorsements in the wake of his doping scandal
Lance Armstrong
Event of Interest
2015 Amy Schumer's comedy special "Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo" premieres on HBO
Amy Schumer
- 2016 Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou-11 launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northern China
- 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
- 2017 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares city of Marawi "liberated" from militants
- 2017 American short-story writer George Saunders wins the Man Booker Prize for his first novel "Lincoln in the Bardo"
Event of Interest
2017 George Soros announces he has donated $18 billion to his grantmaking network the Open Society Foundations
George Soros
- 2018 India's junior foreign minister MJ Akbar is highest official to resign in #MeToo case after sexual harassment accusations by numerous women
- 2018 Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch puppeteer Caroll Spinney leaves "Sesame Street" after 50 years
- 2018 Canada legalizes the sale of recreational cannabis, the second country after Uruguay
- 2018 Australian state of Queensland decriminalizes abortion
Television Debut
2018 The revived "The Connors" debuts on ABC TV starring Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman, without fired former star Roseanne Barr
John Goodman
Roseanne Barr
- 2018 Student shoots and detonates a bomb killing 20 with 40 injured at Kerch polytechnic college, Crimea
October in History
![Grim History of London's Speakers' Corner]()
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]()
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]()
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]()
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
