Victory in Battle
312 Emperor Constantine the Great beats rival Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Constantine the Great
Maxentius
Historic Discovery
1492 Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name "Juana"
Christopher Columbus
- 1516 Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza
- 1531 Battle of Amba Sel: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control.
- 1538 The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established on Hispaniola
- 1574 Prince Willem of Orange installs university
- 1595 Battle at Giurgevo: Zsigmond Bathory of Transylvania beats Turks
Event of Interest
1612 Robert Dowland appointed court luitist of King James I
James I and VI
- 1628 Hugenot bulwark La Rochelle surrenders to Cardinal Richelieu
- 1636 Harvard University, Cambridge, founded by a vote of the Massachusetts General Court
- 1646 First Protestant church assembly for American Indians established in Massachusetts
- 1664 The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, later to be known as the Royal Marines, is established.
Historic Publication
1726 "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift is published by Benjamin Motte in London
Jonathan Swift
Battle of Interest
1776 Battle of White Plains: George Washington retreats to New Jersey
George Washington
- 1790 New York gives up claims to Vermont for $30,000
Historic Invention
1793 Eli Whitney applies for a patent on cotton gin
Eli Whitney
Event of Interest
1811 First known purchase of Jane Austen's novel "Sense and Sensibility" by the Prince Regent (later George IV), a fan
Jane Austen
Event of Interest
1856 French Magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin performs for Algerian Marabouts in Algeria to convince them that French magic is the stronger
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin
- 1858 R. H. Macy & Co opens 1st store, (6th Ave-NYC) Gross receipts $11.06
- 1863 Battle at Wauhatchie, Georgia: 865 killed or injured
- 1864 Second Battle of Newtonia (American Civil War), Newton County, Missouri
- 1864 Second Battle at Fair Oaks, Virginia, ends with 1554 casualties
- 1864 Battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee
- 1867 Maimonides College in Pennsylvania is first Jewish college in the US
- 1882 Athletics reveal $22,000 profit in their 1st season in the American Association
Event of Interest
1886 Statue of Liberty dedicated by US President Grover Cleveland, celebrated by first confetti (ticker tape) parade in New York City
Grover Cleveland
Event of Interest
1893 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducts first performance of his Symphony Number Six in B minor, "Pathetique"
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Event of Interest
1894 German Emperor Wilhelm II fires chancellor Leo von Caprivi & Premier Botho zu Eulenburg
Wilhelm II
- 1900 II Summer (Modern) Olympic Games, Paris, France: competition ends after 5 months; no opening or closing ceremonies conducted
- 1904 St Louis police try a new investigation method - fingerprints
- 1906 Belgian-British "Union Minière du Haut Katanga" mining company created in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo
- 1908 The English Newspaper the Daily Telegraph prints an interview with Germany's Emperor Wilhelm II, who characterises himself as personally friendly to Britain but suggests the German people are hostile, causing uproar in both countries
- 1911 Bill Dobbie of Calgary Tigers kicks 10 singles in a game
- 1913 "Krazy Kat" comic strip by George Herriman debuts in NY Journal
- 1914 German battle cruiser Goeben enters Black Sea
- 1914 Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, founded at Howard University, incorporates
- 1915 Richard Strauss' Alpensymfonie, premieres in Berlin
- 1916 Australian government holds a national referendum seeking support for the proposal of compulsory conscription; it is rejected
- 1918 Czechoslovakia gains independence as Austria-Hungary breaks up
Event of Interest
1918 Tomáš G. Massaryk claims independence for Czechoslovakia
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Event of Interest
1919 Volstead Act passed by US Congress, establishing prohibition, despite President Woodrow Wilson's veto
Woodrow Wilson
Event of Interest
1922 Italian fascists conduct the March on Rome, leading to the assumption of power by Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Scientific Discovery
1924 Miner M.de Bruin discovers the infant fossil skull, "Taung child" in a lime quarry in Taung, South Africa. Paleoanthropologist Raymond Dart identifies the fossil as a new hominin species, Australopithecus africanus.
Raymond Dart
Josip Broz Tito
- 1927 KLM-plane "Homing Pigeon" leaves Neth-Indies after 1st regular flight
- 1928 Indonesian child laws enforced in Bahasa Indonesia
- 1928 Indian freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai injured leading silent protest against visiting British commission in Lahore (dies of injuries 17th November)
- 1929 Dow Jones plummets 38.33 pts (13%) to 260.64
- 1934 Brooklyn & Pittsburgh play a penalty free NFL game
- 1935 Sidney Kingsley's "Dead End" premieres in NYC
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Event of Interest
1940 Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Florence
Adolf Hitler
- 1942 6th day battle at El Alamein: British offensive under Montgomery
- 1942 Train crashes into bus, killing 16 & injuring 20 (Detroit Michigan)
- 1943 German submarine U-220 sunk by US aircraft in the Atlantic
- 1944 Russia & Bulgaria sign weapons pact
- 1946 German rocket engineers begin work in USSR
- 1948 Flag of Israel is adopted
- 1949 Georges Bidault elected president of France
- 1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina wins Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by taking out the Spanish Grand Prix at Pedralbes in an Alpha Romeo; wins by 6 points from Alberto Ascari of Italy
- 1953 Bud Grant of Winnipeg Blue Bombers intercepts 5 passes (record)
- 1953 Red Barber, resigns as Dodger sportscaster to join Yankees
- 1954 Major league owners vote down sale of A's to a Philadelphia syndicate
- 1954 N Richard Nash' "Rainmaker" premieres in NYC
Nobel Prize
1954 Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Papal Inauguration
1958 Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli elected Pope, taking name John XXIII
John XXIII
- 1958 Pete Runnels wins Comeback Player of Year (avg went from .230 to .322)
- 1959 American Football League awards Buffalo Bills franchise to Ralph C Wilson
- 1959 Jean Genet's "Les Negres" premieres in Paris
- 1961 "Fiorello!" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC starring Tom Bosley after 796 performances and a Pulitzer Prize
- 1961 Ground broken for Municipal (Shea) Stadium for NY Mets
- 1962 Jo Weatherly in a Pontiac finishes 2nd to Rex White in season-ending Dixie 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to clinch his 1st of 2 consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships
- 1962 NY Giant YA Tittle passes for 7 touchdowns vs Wash Redskins (49-34)
- 1962 Radio Moscow reports nuclear missiles in Cuba deactivated
- 1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 Cuban missile crisis: US President JFK receives letter from Soviet Leaderr Khrushchev suggesting agreement
Learn More >>
- 1965 Gateway Arch (630' (190m) high) completed in St Louis, Missouri
Music Recording
1971 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in NYC
John Lennon
Yoko Ono
- 1972 "Mother Earth" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 12 performances
- 1973 Elmore Smith of Lakers blocks 17 shots in a game (NBA record)
- 1974 1st time 2 Islanders hat trick in same game-MacMillian & Westfall
- 1974 Luna 23 launched (landing on Moon)
- 1974 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1975 Calvin Murphy (Houston) begins NBA free throw streak of 58 games
- 1975 Cleveland Metroparks assume operating responsibilities for Zoo
- 1975 Venezuela and foreign oil companies agree on nationalization as of January 1, 1976
- 1976 Billy Martin named AL Manager of Year (NY Yankees)
- 1976 Train collision at Goes Neth, 7 die
- 1978 Don Ritchie runs world record 100k (6:10:20)
- 1978 NBC's premiere of Kiss' acting debut, "Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park" TV film
- 1979 Dick Howser (best Yank mngr win-lost pct .636) replaces Billy Martin
- 1979 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1981 Edward M McIntrye elected 1st black mayor of Augusta Georgia
- 1981 NY Yankee George Frazier loses 3 World Series games
- 1982 NASA launches RCA-E
- 1982 Spain's socialists win/communists lose elections
- 1984 14th NYC Women's Marathon won by Grete Waitz in 2:29:30
- 1984 15th NYC Marathon won by Orlando Pizzolato in 2:14:53
- 1985 Ravi Ratnayeke takes 8-83 for Sri Lanka v Pakistan
- 1986 KOB-AM in Albuquerque NM changes call letters to KKOB
- 1986 KOB-TV in Albuquerque NM's final transmission
- 1986 The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
- 1988 Jurors award $147,000 to Tacoma parishioner seduced by her minister
Event of Interest
1988 Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen gives $10 million to University of Washington library
Paul Allen
- 1989 Oakland A's beat San Francisco, 9-6 at Candlestick Park to sweep Giants in earthquake affected "Bay Bridge" Baseball World Series; A's pitcher Dave Stewart MVP
- 1992 Lee Jang Rim predicts that today would be the end of the world!
- 1993 Cleveland Metroparks lease Brookside Park from Cleveland for 99-years
- 1993 Dutch Antilles government of Liberia-Peters resigns
- 1994 Japanese space probe Sakigake passes Earth for 3rd time
- 1995 Atlanta Braves beat Cleveland Indians, 1-0 in Game 6 at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium to win their 3rd Baseball World Series; Braves starter Tom Glavine MVP
- 1995 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Belmont Park; winners: Cigar, Desert Stormer, Inside Information, My Flag, Northern Spur, Ridgewood Pearl, Unbridled's Song
- 1995 11th Rugby League World Cup: Australia beats England 16-8
- 1996 Goa upset Karnataka to win their 1st Ranji Cricket Trophy game ever
- 1997 NBA announces hiring of Dee Kantner & Violet Palmer as 1st women to officiate a major-league all-male sports league
- 1998 An Air China (Mainland China) jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan.
Film Release
2001 The indie cult hit "Donnie Darko", starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is released
Jake Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal
- 2005 Plame affair: Lewis Libby, Vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day.
- 2006 Funeral service for the peace of the executed at Bykivnia forest, outside of Kiev, Ukraine, with reburial of 817 Ukrainian civilians (out of some 100,000) executed by Bolsheviks at Bykivnia in 1930s - early 1940s.
- 2007 Boston Red Sox beats Colorado, 4-3 in Game 4 at Coors Field, Denver to sweep the Rockies and win their 2nd Baseball World Series in 4 years; Boston 3rd baseman Mike Lowell MVP
- 2007 "Bee Movie" premieres in the US and the UK
- 2008 In the UK, 500,000 mortgage holders are left in negative equity after house prices drop 15% since the previous summer
- 2009 The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing kills 117 and wounds 213.
- 2009 NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its later-cancelled Constellation program.
- 2011 St. Louis beats Texas Rangers, 6-2 in Game 7 at Busch Stadium to win Cardinals' 11th Baseball World Series; Cards 3rd baseman David Freese MVP
- 2012 Syrian ceasefire collapses and 128 people are killed in ongoing civil war violence
- 2012 15 people are killed and 33 injured by a series of Baghdad car bombings
- 2012 San Francisco beats Detroit, 4-3 in 10 innings in Game 4 at Comerica Park; sweep Tigers, 4-0 for Giants' 2nd Baseball World Series in 3 years; SF 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval MVP
- 2012 Pablo Sandoval is named MLB 2012 World Series MVP.
Event of Interest
2012 American Serena Williams wins her 3rd season ending tennis title; beats Maria Sharapova of Russia 6–4, 6–3 in the WTA Championship decider in Istanbul, Turkey
Serena Williams
Maria Sharapova
- 2015 Longest ever 1st game of Baseball World Series (5h 9min), Kansas City Royals defeat New York Mets 5-4, also joint longest by innings
- 2015 World Heath Organization ranks Tuberculosis alongside HIV as world's deadliest infectious diseases, killing 1.2 million (2014)
- 2015 Research indicating Plague dates back to the Bronze age in skeletons 5,783 years old, published by University of Copenhagen team in "Cell"
- 2015 Third Republican presidential candidates debate run by CNBC in Boulder, Colorado
- 2016 Disney and Alessia Cara release the sing "How Far I'll Go" for the film "Moana"
- 2017 Twin car bomb attacks in Mogadishu, Somalia, kill at least 27, Islamist militant group al-Shabab claim responsibility
- 2017 As a result of the independence crisis, the Spanish government imposes direct rule on Catalonia, dismisses its government and calls for new elections in December
- 2018 Michael D. Higgins is re-elected Irish president
- 2018 Political crisis in Sri Lanka after President Sirisena sacks Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and the cabinet, suspends parliament for two weeks with one man killed in protests
Event of Interest
2018 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finishes 4th in the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez to clinch his 5th Formula 1 World Drivers Championship
Lewis Hamilton
- 2018 Boston Red Sox beats LA Dodgers, 5-1 in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium to win 9th Baseball World Series in franchise history
- 2018 Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina registers biggest win of her career when she rallies for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over American Sloane Stephens in a classic WTA Finals title decider in Singapore
October in History
![The Gunfight at OK Corral]()
The 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![The Man Who Saved The World]()
The Man Who Saved The World
Many people think John F Kennedy saved the world with his handling of the Cuban missile crisis. But an unknown Russian sailor also played a dramatic role.
October 27, 1962!['Splendid Achievement' becomes the 'Road To Hell']()
'Splendid Achievement' becomes the 'Road To Hell'
London's orbital road, the M25 was hailed as a splendid achievement by PM Margaret Thatcher when she opened it on this day. But it soon developed another nickname...
October 29, 1986![Panic Over War of the Worlds]()
Panic Over War of the Worlds
When Orson Welles decided to present the War of the Worlds story in a radio newscast format, his broadcast on this day apparently caused panic across the US.
October 30, 1938
