- 1270 The Eighth Crusade and siege of Tunis ended by agreement between Charles I of Sicily (brother to King Louis IX of France, who had died months earlier) and the sultan of Tunis.
- 1340 Battle of Rio Salado (or Tarifa): King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile defeat Sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of Morocco and Yusuf I of Granada, last Marīnids invasion of Iberian Peninsula
- 1389 French King Charles VI visits pope Clemens VII
Victory in Battle
1470 Wars of the Roses: Henry VI of England returns to the English throne after Earl of Warwick defeats Yorkists in battle
Event of Interest
1502 Vasco da Gama returns to Calicut, India for the second time.
- 1697 Germany signs French/English/Spanish/Dutch/Brandenburgs peace treaty ending the Nine Years' War
- 1739 Great Britain declares war on Spain: War of Jenkins' Ear [NS=Oct 19]
- 1766 St. Paul's Chapel in New York is consecrated
- 1768 First Methodist church in North American colonies initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC)
Event of Interest
1772 Captain James Cook arrives with ship HMS Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa
A Salute to the Military Genius, Napoleon Bonaparte
1784 Napoléon Bonaparte admitted to the elite École Militaire in Paris, the start of his military career
Event of Interest
1866 Jesse James' gang robs bank in Lexington, Missouri ($2000)
Event of Interest
1873 P. T. Barnum's circus, "Greatest Show on Earth", debuts (New York City)
Event of Interest
1888 Ndebele-king Lobengula grants Cecil Rhodes, Mashonaland £100 per month
- 1899 Battle of Ladysmith, Natal: Boers defeat the British, leading to the Siege of Ladysmith
Event of Interest
1899 British Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill reaches Capetown
Event of Interest
1905 "October Manifesto" Russian Tsar Nicholas II grants civil liberties and accepts the first Duma (Parliament)
Theater Premiere
1905 George Bernard Shaw's play "Mrs Warren's Profession" premieres in NYC
Event of Interest
1917 British government gives final approval to Balfour Declaration
- 1918 Slovakia asks for creation of Czechoslovakian state
- 1918 WWI: Turkey signs an armistice with the Allies, agreeing to end hostilities at noon on 31 October
- 1919 Baseball league presidents call for abolishment of spitball
- 1920 The Communist Party of Australia is founded in Sydney.
- 1922 Anxious to compete with the Yankees, the NY Giants pay $65,000 & 3 players for Jack Bentley (hit .349 & was 13-2 as pitcher for Baltimore (International League) in 1922)
Event of Interest
1922 Benito Mussolini forms government in Italy
Music History
1931 Eugene Ormandy makes his debut leading the Philadelphia Orchestra, substituting for an ailing Arturo Toscanini
- 1931 W2XB TV channel 1 in NYC, NY (NBC) begins broadcasting
Panic Over War of the Worlds
1938 A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells "The War of the Worlds", narrated by Orson Welles, allegedly causes a mass panic
- 1939 German U boat fails on attack of English battleship Nelson with Winston Churchill, Dudley Pound & Charles Forbes aboard
Agreement of Interest
1939 USSR & Germany agree on partitioning Poland, Adolf Hitler deports Jews
Music Premiere
1940 Cole Porter's musical "Panama Hattie" opens at 46th Street Theatre, NYC; runs 501 performances
- 1942 8th day of battle at El Alamein: new Australian assault
- 1942 US aircraft carrier Enterprise reaches Noumea
- 1943 Soviet forces under Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin commenced offensive on the 4th Ukrainian Front
Music History
1944 Aaron Copland's ballet score "Appalachian Spring" premieres in Washington, D.C. with Martha Graham dancing lead role
Event of Interest
1944 Anne Frank is deported from Auschwitz to Belsen
- 1944 Last transport for Auschwitz arrives in Birkenau
- 1944 Scots Highlanders liberate Waalwijk
- 1944 Sweden announces intention to stay neutral & refuse sanctuary in WW II
- 1944 Tholen Island (Netherlands) freed during WWII
Sports History
1945 Branch Rickey signs Jackie Robinson to a Montreal Royals
- 1945 US government announces end of shoe rationing
- 1947 23 countries sign GATT agreement in Geneva
Music Premiere
1947 Darius Milhaud's 3rd Symphony "Hymnus Ambrosianus," premieres in Paris
- 1948 20 die & 6,000 made ill by smog in Donora, Pennsylvania
- 1948 Operation Hiram: Israelis take control of Galilee
Music History
1949 "Lost in the Stars" by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill, based on the novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 281 performances
- 1950 David Diamond's 3rd Symphony premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch
Event of Interest
1952 Clarence Birdseye sells first frozen peas
Nobel Prize
1953 Dr Albert Schweitzer & Gen George Marshall win Nobel Peace Prize
- 1954 1st use of 24-sec shot clock in pro basketball (Rochester vs Boston)
- 1954 US Defense Department announces elimination of all racially segregated regiments
- 1955 7th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Tim Flock wins
- 1955 Businessman and horse breeder William Woodward, Jr. is shot dead by his wife Ann Cromwell after she mistook him for an intruder
- 1955 Imtiaz Ahmed scores 209 v NZ, the record for a no 8 batsman
- 1956 Dodgers sell Ebbets Field to a real estate group. They agree to stay until 1959, with an option to stay until 1961
- 1956 Israel captures Egyptian military post at El-Thamad
Music Premiere
1957 Dmitri Shostakovich's 11th Symphony premieres in Moscow
- 1957 WLWI (now WTHR) TV channel 13 in Indianapolis, IN (ABC) 1st broadcast
- 1957 WYTV TV channel 33 in Youngstown, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1960 12th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Rex White wins
- 1960 Guatemala's "La Hora" reports plan for invasion on Cuba
- 1960 Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Sports History
1963 Sandy Koufax wins NL MVP award
- 1964 Tran Van Huong appointed premier of South Vietnam
Film & TV History
1965 British model Jean Shrimpton causes a sensation at Derby Day at the Melbourne races wearing a white shift dress (four inches above the knee)
- 1965 Fireworks explosions kill 50 in Cartagena, Colombia
Sports History
1966 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup: David Pearson wins
- 1967 Arthur Allyn says Chicago White Sox will play 9 games in Milwaukee in 1968
The Last Thing On My Mind
1967 Dolly Parton releases her debut single with Porter Wagoner "The Last Thing On My Mind"
- 1967 Ferdinand Bracke bicycles world record time (48,093 km)
- 1967 USSR Kosmos 186 & 188 make 1st automatic docking & Venmera 13 launch
Meeting of Interest
1968 Jack Lynch, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach), meets with Harold Wilson, then British Prime Minister, in London, calling for the ending of partition as a means to resolve the unrest in Northern Ireland
- 1968 Nobel prize for chemistry awarded to Lars Onsager (thermodynamics)
- 1968 Nobel prize for physics awarded to Luis Alvarez (bubble chamber)
- 1968 Queen Juliana opens IJ tunnel in Amsterdam
- 1969 WXPO (now WNDS) TV channel 50 in Manchester, NH (IND) 1st broadcast
- 1970 KVEW TV channel 42 in Kennewick, WA (ABC) begins broadcasting
Meeting of Interest
1970 Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark meets with British Home Secretary Reginald Maulling to discuss matters related to reforms and security
- 1970 There are serious riots in the Catholic Ardoyne area of Belfast which last for three nights
- 1972 Loyalist paramilitaries carry out a raid on Royal Ulster Constabulary station in County Derry, and steal 4 British Army Sterling sub-machine Guns
- 1972 The Northern Ireland Office issues a discussion document 'The Future of Northern Ireland'; the paper states Britain's commitment to the union as long as the majority of people wish to remain part of the United Kingdom
- 1972 Worst US rail accident in 14 years; 45 die in Chicago, llinois
Opening of the Bosphorus Bridge
1973 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time
Sports History
1973 Tom Seaver becomes 1st non-20-game winner to win Cy Young award
Boxing Title Fight
1974 "The Rumble in the Jungle": Muhammad Ali KOs George Foreman in the 8th round in Kinshasa, Zaire; regains world heavyweight boxing title with famous "rope-a-dope" tactic
- 1974 "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" horror film premieres in Los Angeles
Sports History
1974 California Angel Nolan Ryan throws fastest recorded pitch (100.9 MPH)
- 1974 Catfish Hunter is named AL Cy Young Award
- 1975 Giants pitcher John "the Count of" Montefusco wins NL Rookie of Year
- 1975 John Bucyk, Boston, became 7th NHLer to score 500 goals
- 1975 King Juan Carlos assumes power in Spain
- 1975 NY Daily News runs headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead"
- 1976 "Going Up" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 49 performances
- 1976 Jane Pauley becomes news co-anchor of Today Show
- 1976 Rev Joseph Evans elected president of United Church of Christ
- 1977 Panama 747SP lands after polar flight around Earth in record 54:07
- 1978 Laura Nickel & Curt Noll find 25th Mersenne prime, 2 ^ 21701-1
- 1978 Uganda troops attack Tanzania
- 1979 NASA launches space vehicle S-203
- 1979 Richard Arrington, Jr. is elected the first African American mayor in Birmingham, Alabama
Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants
1979 Tamla/Motown releases Stevie Wonder's documentary film soundtrack "Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants"
- 1980 Honduras and El Salvador sign a peace treaty ending the "Football War"
- 1980 NASA launches Flt Satcom-4
- 1982 Portugal revises constitution
- 1983 The first democratic elections are held in Argentina after seven years of military rule.
- 1984 Tigers reliever Willie Hernandez wins AL Cy Young Award
- 1985 "Rockin' with the Rhythm" second studio album by The Judds is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1986)
- 1985 22nd NASA Space Shuttle Mission (61-A): Challenger 9 launches
- 1986 Discovery moves to OPF where more than 200 modifications are made
Faith
1987 "Faith" debut album by George Michael is released
- 1987 In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the TurboGrafx-16, known as PC Engine.
- 1988 2 gambling clubs & 1 player share 61.38 M California lotto jackpot
Golf Tournament
1988 Beth Daniel wins Nichirei Ladies Cup US-Japan Team Golf Championship
F1 World Champion
1988 Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna wins Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, his record 8th GP win of the season; clinches first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship
- 1988 Jim Elliott (US) completes 24-hr paced outdoor race for 548.9 mi
- 1988 NY Jets finally beat Pittsburgh Steelers for 1st time
- 1989 August A. Busch III becomes CEO of St Louis Cards
- 1989 Smith Dairy at Orrville Ohio, makes largest milk shake (1,575.2 gal)
- 1990 Britain and France complete the "Chunnel" under the English Channel
- 1991 Colombian government negotiate with M-19-guerrilla
- 1991 Mid East peace conference begins in Madrid Spain
- 1992 MTA begins installing automated fare collection turnstiles
- 1993 Toronto Maple Leafs lose 1st game of season after going 10-0-0
- 1994 Leftist coalition wins Macedonian parliamentary election
- 1995 Québec votes in a referendum to remain part of Canada
- 1996 Exxon confirms that it is in talks with state-owned Qatar General Petroleum Corporation concerning the application of new technology to convert natural gas to petroleum products
- 1997 "The Cherry Orchard" opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC
Sports History
1997 Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona announces his retirement from football on his 37th birthday
- 1997 Shirley Allen, 51, held Illinois police off for 39 days captured
- 2002 British Digital terrestrial television (DTT) Service Freeview begins transmitting in parts of the United Kingdom.
Wicked
2003 Stephen Schwartz's musical "Wicked", a re-telling of the "Wizard of Oz" from the Wicked Witch of the West's' point of view, starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, opens at the Gershwin Theatre, NYC; run is ongoing, wins 2 Tony Awards, 7 Drama Desk Awards, and a Grammy
- 2004 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Lone Star Park; winners: Ghostzapper, Wilko, Ashado, Better Talk Now, Oujja Board, Sweet Catomine, Singletary, Speightstown
- 2005 The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.
- 2007 "Long Road Out of Eden" 7th studio album by the Eagles is released (Billboard Album of the Year 2008)
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
2011 "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, directed by Bill Condon, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, premieres at the Rome Film Festival
Sports History
2011 Czech tennis star Petra Kvitová beats Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 in the WTA Championship decider in Istanbul, Turkey
- 2013 44 people are killed after a bus catches fire in Mahbubnagar, India
Sports History
2013 Baseball World Series: Boston Red Sox beat St Louis Cardinals, 6-1 in Game 6 at Fenway Park to win title; MVP: Boston slugger David Ortiz
- 2014 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks win the 2014 Japan Series
- 2015 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Keeneland Racetrack; Day 1 winners: Hit It A Bomb, Liam's Map, Catch A Glimpse, Stopchargingmaria
- 2015 Polish tennis star Agnieszka Radwańska wins the WTA Finals title at Kallang. Singapore; beats Czech Petra Kvitová 6–2, 4–6, 6–3
- 2016 6.6-magnitude earthquake hits central Italy - strongest in Italy for 36 years
- 2016 Canada and the EU sign free trade deal after opposition by Belgium
- 2016 Oakland Raiders break the single game record for most penalties in an NFL game gaining 23 in win over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sports History
2016 Slovak tennis star Dominika Cibulková beats Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to win the WTA Finals title decider in Kallang, Singapore
Film & TV History
2017 Actor Kevin Spacey issues apology after actor Anthony Rapp accuses him of inappropriate sexual behaviour when he was 14
Election of Interest
2017 Kenyan election rerun, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the winner with 38% turnout
Event of Interest
2017 President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates are indicted on fraud charges, advisor George Papadopoulos pleads guilty to lying to the FBI
- 2017 US federal judge blocks President Trump's ban on transgender people in the military
- 2018 German ex-nurse Niels Högel admits in court to killing over 100 patients, making him one of the world's worst serial killers
- 2018 US Pentagon sends 5,200 troops to Mexican border in advance of migrant caravan from Central America
- 2018 WWF conservation group says "exploding human consumption" has caused a 60% decline in all wildlife between 1970 and 2014
- 2019 Baseball World Series: Washington Nationals beat Houston Astros, 6-2 in Game 7 at Minute Maid Park, Houston to win first title in franchise history; MVP: Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg
- 2019 Kashmir officially loses their autonomous status, their flag and their constitution, as India brings it under federal control
Event of Interest
2019 Twitter head Jack Dorsey announces it will no longer take political ads
Event of Interest
2020 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces a second four-week lockdown for England
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
2021 36th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Foo Fighters; The Go-Go's; Jay-Z; Carole King; Todd Rundgren; Tina Turner; Kraftwerk; Gil Scott-Heron; Charley Patton; LL Cool J; Billy Preston; Randy Rhodes; and Clarence Avant
