Today in History: November 2nd

Happy 237th Birthday, Correspondence Committee! (See the 1772 entry below for details)



Highlights of this day in history: President Harry Truman wins re-election in an upset; South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem killed after coup; Howard Hughes flies his 'Spruce Goose'; Game show scandal rocks early TV; Singer K.D. Lang born.

Other notable November 2nd events include:

1772 – American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form the first Committee of Correspondence.

1783 – In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".

1898 – Cheerleading is started at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team.

1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station.

1936 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.

1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.

1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Today in History: November 1st

Highlights of this day in history: The Stamp Act takes effect; The United States explodes the first hydrogen bomb; Sistine Chapel paintings are first shown to the public; The Algerian War of Independence begins; Walter Payton dies.

Other notable November 1st events include:

1520 – The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America, connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage.

1604 – William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1611 – William Shakespeare's romantic comedy The Tempest is presented for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London.

1800 – US President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House).

1870 – In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) makes its first official meteorological forecast.

1894 – Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia after his father, Alexander III, dies.

1896 – A picture showing the unclad (bare) breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time.

1941 – American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography.

1957 – The Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages at the time, opens to traffic connecting Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.

1968 – The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X.

1982 – Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of their factory in Marysville, Ohio.

Today in History: October 31st

Highlights of this day in history: Martin Luther leads start of Protestant Reformation; President Lyndon B. Johnson halts U.S. bombing of North Vietnam; India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated; Magician Harry Houdini dies.

Other notable October 31st events include:

1864 – Nevada (click here for correct pronunciation) is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.

1917 – World War I: Battle of Beersheba – "last successful cavalry charge in history".

1941 – After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.

1943 – World War II: An F4U Corsair accomplishes the first successful radar-guided interception.

1959 – Lee Harvey Oswald attempts to renounce his American citizenship at the US Embassy in Moscow, USSR.

1997 – 19-year-old British au pair Louise Woodward, convicted by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, jury of second-degree murder the day before, is sentenced to life in prison.

1999 – Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran Church leaders sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, ending a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation.

1999 – Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.

Today in History: October 30th

Highlights of this day in history: Escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested; The Lamborghini is unveiled for the first time; Michael Jordan briefly comes out of retirement; Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds.

BONUS: Listen to the complete original October 30th, 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air presentation of War of the Worlds here.

Other notable October 30th events include:

1864 – Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold at "Last Chance Gulch".

1905 – Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly.

1922 – Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy.

1944 – Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

1945 – Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier.

1950 – Pope Pius XII witnesses "The Miracle of the Sun" while at the Vatican.

1974 – The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire.

1975 – The New York Daily News runs the “Ford to City: Drop Dead” headline.

1985 – Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission STS-61-A, its final successful mission.

2009 - The USS New York, an amphibious transport dock made with metal from the World Trade Center Towers, is officially commissioned.

Today in History: October 29th

Highlights of this day in history: 'Black Tuesday' on Wall St. as the Great Depression begins; Osama bin Laden admits ordering the Sept. 11th attacks; Suez crisis heats up; McKinley assassin executed; John Glenn returns to space.

Other notable October 29th events include:

1390 – The first trial for witchcraft in Paris begins.

1467 – Battle of Brustem: Charles the Bold defeats Liege.

1618 – English adventurer, writer, and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England.

1921 – The Harvard University football team loses to Centre College, ending a 25 game winning streak. This is considered one of the biggest upsets in college football.

1923 – Turkey becomes a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

1960 – In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (who later takes the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight.

1966 – National Organization For Women is founded.

1969 – The first-ever computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.

1994 – Francisco Martin Duran fires over two dozen shots at the White House (Duran is later convicted of trying to kill US President Bill Clinton).

2004 – In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution.

Today in History: October 28th

Highlights of this day in history: Harvard University founded; President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty; Gateway Arch completed.

Other notable October 28th events include:

1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established.

1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.

1936 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

1985 – Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and makes peace overtures to the United States.

Today in History: October 27th

Highlights of this day in history: The Federalist Papers are published in New York City; President Theodore Roosevelt is born; Egypian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin win Nobel Peace Prize; John Cleese is born; Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918.

BONUS: View and download your own FREE copy of the Federalist Papers here.

Other notable October 27th events include:

312 – Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.

1682 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.

1904 – The first underground New York City Subway line opens.

1954 – Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.

1964 – Ronald Reagan delivers his "A Time for Choosing" speech on behalf of Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater.

1971 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.

1992 – United States Navy radioman Allen R. Schindler, Jr. is brutally murdered by shipmates for being gay, precipitating first military, then national, debate about gays in the military that resulted in the United States "Don't ask, don't tell" military policy.

1997 – October 27, 1997 mini-crash: Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown.

Today in History: October 26th

Highlights of this day in history: The last natural case of smallpox is discovered; "Baby Fae" receives a heart transplant from a baboon; The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law; The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.

Other notable October 26th events include:

1774 – The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1775 – King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution.

1825 – The Erie Canal opens.

1861 – The Pony Express officially ceased operations.

1905 – Norway becomes independent from Sweden.

1951 – Boxer Joe Louis comes out of retirement to fight Rocky Marciano.

1958 – Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France.

Today in History: October 25th

Highlights of this day in history: Adlai Stevenson shows photos of Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba; The United Nations admits the People's Republic of China and expels Taiwan; The US and allies invade Grenada; "Charge of the Light Brigade" -The Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War; Geoffrey Chaucer dies; Payne Stewart dies in a plane crash.

Other notable October 25th events include:

1415 – The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

1760 – George III becomes King of Great Britain.

1917 – Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution, involving the capture of the Winter Palace, Petrograd, Russia.

1944 – Heinrich Himmler orders a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a loosely organized youth culture in Nazi Germany that had assisted army deserters and others to hide from the Third Reich.

1995 – A commuter train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.

2007 – The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ 380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

Today in History: October 24th

Highlights of this day in history: Dawn of the UN; Dwight Eisenhower vows to end the Korean War; Suspects caught in D.C.-area sniper shootings; Concorde makes last trans-Atlantic flight; Civil rights activist Rosa Parks dies; Gene Roddenberry dies.

Other notable October 24th events include:

1590 – John White, The governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the "lost" colonists.

1857 – Sheffield F.C., the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England.

1861 – The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express.

1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

1917 – The day of the October revolution, The Red Revolution.

1926 – Harry Houdini's last performance, which is at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.

1929 – "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.

1931 – The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic.

1947 – Walt Disney testifies to the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.

1980 – Government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union.

2008 – "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experienced the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.

Today in History: October 23rd

Highlights of this day in history: Suicide blast kills U.S. Marines and sailors in Lebanon; Students in Hungary spark Cold War revolt; President Richard Nixon agrees to turn over White House tapes; Former Enron president Jeffrey Skilling is sentenced; 'Tonight Show' host Johnny Carson born.

Other notable October 23rd events include:

1707 – The first Parliament of Great Britain meets.

1861 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C., for all military-related cases.

1915 – Woman's suffrage: In New York City, 25,000-33,000 women march on Fifth Avenue to advocate their right to vote.

1917 – Lenin calls for the October Revolution.

1929 – Great Depression: After a steady decline in stock market prices since a peak in September, the New York Stock Exchange begins to show signs of panic.

1946 – The United Nations General Assembly convened for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.

1958 – The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, appear for the first time.

1989 – The Hungarian Republic is officially declared by president Mátyás Szűrös, replacing the communist Hungarian People's Republic.

2001 – Apple releases the iPod.

Today in History: October 22nd

BONUS: Like reading history and Bill Whittle? Check out his latest post, An Excellent Question, for some terrific recommendations of history books.



Highlights of this day in history: A Cold War crisis over Cuba leads to brink of nuclear war; Shah of Iran allowed into U.S. for treatment; 'Pretty Boy' Floyd killed; Last victim slain in D.C. sniper shootings; Cellist Pablo Casals dies.

Other notable October 22nd events include:

1836 – Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas.

1883 – The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Gounod's Faust.

1924 – Toastmasters International is founded.

1926 – J. Gordon Whitehead sucker punches magician Harry Houdini in the stomach in Montreal.

1957 – Vietnam War: First United States casualties in Vietnam.

1966 – The Supremes become the first all-female music group to attain a No. 1 selling album (The Supremes A' Go-Go).

Today in History: October 21st

Highlights of this day in history: Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb; Postal worker dies from inhaled anthrax; The British gain naval dominance in the Battle of Trafalgar; Carrie Fisher born.

Other notable October 21st events include:

1797 – In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.

1854 – Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.

1959 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public.

1959 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.

1973 – Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.

Today in History: October 20th

Highlights of this day in history: The Saturday Night Massacre occurs; General Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines; The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood; Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick pleads guilty to Abu Grahib abuse charges; Jacqueline Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis; Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashes in Mississippi.

Other notable October 20th events include:

1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.

1818 – The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the Canada – United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.

1910 – The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1951 – The "Johnny Bright Incident" occurred in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

1973 – The Sydney Opera House opens.

1991 – The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments, causing more than $2 billion in damage.

Today in History: October 19th

Highlights of this day in history: Cornwallis formally surrenders at Yorktown, ending the Revolutionary War; On "Black Monday", the DJIA falls by 22%, 508 points; Napoleon I of France retreats from Moscow; The Concorde makes its first landing in New York City.

Other notable October 19th events include:

1512 – Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology.

1789 – Chief Justice John Jay is sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.

1873 – Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities draft the first code of American football rules.

1933 – Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.

1960 – The United States government places an embargo on Communist Cuba.

1973 – President Richard Nixon rejects an Appeals Court demand to turn over the Watergate tapes.

2003 – Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II.

2005 – Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity.

Today in History: October 18th

Highlights of this day in history: Thomas Edison dies; James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins win the Nobel Prize for their determination of the structure of DNA; CBS announces an employee tested positive for anthrax; 4 Al-Qaeda members sentenced for their role in the 1998 United States embassy bombings; The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends two black athletes for giving a "black power" salute; Chuck Berry born.

Other notable October 18th events include:

1648 – Boston Shoemakers form first U.S. labor organization.

1767 – Mason-Dixon line, survey separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.

1851 – Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.

1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million.

1898 – United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.

1925 – The Grand Ole Opry opens in Nashville, Tennessee.

1954 – Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.

1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.

1991 – Azerbaijan declares independence from USSR.

Today in History: October 17th

Highlights of this day in history: OPEC starts an oil embargo; American troops defeat the British in the Battle of Saratoga; The Loma Prieta earthquake hits the San Francisco Bay Area; Al Capone convicted of income tax evasion; Arthur Miller born.

Other notable October 17th events include:

1604 – German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus.

1781 – General Charles Cornwallis offers his surrender to the American revolutionists at Yorktown, Virginia.

1814 – London Beer Flood occurs in London killing nine.

1888 – Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

1907 – Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland.

1933 – Albert Einstein, fleeing Nazi Germany, moves to the U.S..

1956 – The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria, England.

1979 – Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

2006 – The United States population reaches 300 million.

2007 – The Dalai Lama receives the United States Congressional Gold Medal.

Today in History: October 16th

Highlights of this day in history: John Brown leads a raid on Harper's Ferry; Marie Antoinette is beheaded; Pope John Paul II is elected after the October 1978 Papal conclave; Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet is arrested; Margaret Sanger founds Planned Parenthood; Jessica McClure rescued from a well; James Michener dies.

Other notable October 16th events include:

1781 – George Washington captures Yorktown, Virginia after the Siege of Yorktown.

1869 – The Cardiff Giant, one of the most famous American hoaxes, is "discovered".

1875 – Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah.

1923 – The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy Disney.

1940 – The Warsaw Ghetto is established.

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and Cuba begins.

1984 – Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1995 – The Million Man March occurs in Washington, D.C.

Today in History: October 15th

Highlights of this day in history: Hermann Göring poisons himself the night before his execution; Mata Hari is executed by firing squad; Leonid Brezhnev replaces Nikita Khrushchev as Communist Party Chief; I Love Lucy premieres on CBS.

Other notable October 15th events include:

1764 – Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

1878 – The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.

1888 – The "From Hell" letter sent by Jack the Ripper is received by the investigators.

1932 – Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.

1938 – The District of Columbia formally adopts a design for its flag.

1939 – The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated.

1966 – Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

1989 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.

2005 – Iraqi constitution ratification vote.

Today in History: October 14th

Highlights of this day in history: Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier; William the Conqueror defeats King Harold II in the Battle of Hastings (Remember the stirrup?); Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; Theodore Roosevelt shot; Bing Crosby dies.

Other notable October 14th events include:

1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1586 – Mary I of Scotland goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth I of England.

1789 – George Washington proclaims the first Thanksgiving Day.

1926 – The children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, is first published.

1958 – The U.S. conducts an underground nuclear weapon test at the Nevada Test Site.

1968 – Jim Hines of the USA becomes the first man ever to break the ten second barrier in the 100 metres Olympic final at Mexico City with a time of 9.95 sec. He would be the only man to do so until 1983.

1979 – The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place.

1982 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs.