October 1

 

October 1, 1908 – Henry Ford’s Model T, a “universal car” designed for the masses, went on sale for the first time.

October 1, 1938 – Hitler’s troops occupied the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia. In an effort to avoid war, the leaders of Britain and France had agreed to cede the German-speaking area to Hitler, who later broke the agreement and occupied all of Czechoslovakia.

October 1, 1946 – Twelve Nazi leaders were sentenced to death at the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.

October 1, 1949 – The People’s Republic of China was founded with Mao Zedong as Chairman.

October 1, 1979 – After 70 years of American control, the Panama Canal Zone was formally handed over to Panama.

Birthday – Virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz (1904-1989) was born in Berdichev, Russia. He made his American debut in 1928 with the New York Philharmonic and became a U.S. citizen in 1944. In 1986, after a self-imposed absence of 60 years, he performed a concert in his native Russia.

October 2

October 2, 1935 – Mussolini’s Italian troops invaded Abyssinia, beginning an occupation lasting until 1941.

October 2, 1967 – Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was sworn in as the first African American associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He served until 1991 and was known for opposing discrimination and the death penalty, and for championing free speech and civil liberties.

 October 2, 1968 – California‘s Redwood National Park was established. Redwoods are the tallest of all trees, growing up to 400 feet (120 meters) during a lifetime that can span 2,000 years.

October 2, 1975 – Japanese Emperor Hirohito made his first-ever visit to the White House.

Birthday – Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948) was born in Porbandar, India. He achieved worldwide fame for his devout lifestyle and nonviolent resistance which ended British rule over India. He was assassinated by a religious fanatic in the garden of his home in New Delhi on January 30, 1948.

Birthday – American statesman Cordell Hull (1871-1955) was born in Pickett County, Tennessee. He served in both houses of Congress, as Secretary of State, and was instrumental in the establishment of the United Nations.

October 3

October 3, 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

October 3, 1929 – Yugoslavia became the official name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

October 3, 1932 – Iraq gained independence from Britain and joined the League of Nations.

October 3, 1974 – Frank Robinson was hired by the Cleveland Indians as baseball’s first African American major league manager.

October 3, 1990 – After 45 years of Cold War division, East and West Germany were reunited as the Federal Republic of Germany.

October 4

October 4, 1582 – The Gregorian Calendar took effect in Catholic countries as Pope Gregory XIII issued a decree stating the day following Thursday, October 4, 1582, would be Friday, October 15, 1582, correcting a 10-day error accumulated by the Julian Calendar. Britain and the American colonies adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1752.

October 4, 1830 – Belgium gained its independence, after having been a part of the Netherlands since 1815.

October 4, 1943 – The Island of Corsica became the first French territory in Europe freed from Nazi control as Free French troops liberated the city of Bastia.

October 4, 1957 – The Space Age began as the Russians launched the first satellite into orbit. Sputnik I weighed just 184 lbs. and transmitted a beeping radio signal for 21 days. The remarkable accomplishment by Soviet Russia sent a shockwave through the American political leadership resulting in U.S. efforts to be the first on the moon.

October 4, 1965 – Pope Paul VI became the first Pope to visit the U.S. and the first to address the United Nations.

October 4, 1993 – Russian tank-soldiers loyal to President Boris Yeltsin shelled the Russian White House, crushing a hardline Communist rebellion. Yeltsin then fired Vice-president Alexander Rutskoi and jailed other opposition leaders.

Birthday – St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was born in Assisi, Umbria, Italy (as Giovanni Francesco Bernardone). He renounced his family’s wealth and founded the Friars Minor (Franciscan Order).

Birthday – Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) the 19th U.S. President was born in Delaware, Ohio. He served from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1881. He was a Republican best known for his much-quoted statement, “He serves his party best who serves his country best.”

Birthday – Artist Frederic Remington (1861-1909) was born in Canton, New York. He studied at Yale Art School then traveled extensively throughout the American West in the late 1800s sketching cowboys, Native Americans, frontiersmen, and soldiers. He also created lively sculptures featuring bucking broncos.

October 5

October 5, 1813 – Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh was defeated and killed during the War of 1812. Regarded as one of the greatest American Indians, he was a powerful orator who defended his people against white settlement. When the War of 1812 broke out, he joined the British as a brigadier general and was killed at the Battle of the Thames in Ontario.

October 5, 1877 – Following a 1,700-mile retreat, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians surrendered to U.S. Cavalry troops at Bear’s Paw near Chinook, Montana. “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever,” he declared.

October 5, 1908 – Bulgaria proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire.

October 5, 1910 – Portugal became a republic following a successful revolt against King Manuel II.

October 5, 1938 – Czech President Dr. Eduard Benes resigned and fled abroad amid threats from Adolf Hitler.

October 5, 1964 – The largest mass escape since the construction of the Berlin Wall occurred as 57 East German refugees escaped to West Berlin after tunneling beneath the wall.

October 5, 1986 – Former U.S. Marine Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Nicaraguan Sandinistas after a plane carrying arms for the Nicaraguan rebels (Contras) was shot down over Nicaragua. This marked the beginning of the “Iran-Contra” controversy resulting in Congressional hearings and a major scandal for the Reagan White House after it was revealed that money from the sale of arms to Iran was used to fund covert operations in Nicaragua.

Birthday – Theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was born in East Windsor, Connecticut. He led the “Great Awakening” religious revival in the American colonies and later became president of Princeton.

Birthday – Chester A. Arthur (1830-1886) the 21st President of the U.S. was born in Fairfield, Vermont. He succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of James A. Garfield. He served from September 20, 1881 to March 3, 1885, but was not nominated by the Republican Party for a second term.

Birthday – “Father of the Space Age” Robert Goddard (1882-1945) was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. During his lifetime he was ridiculed by the public and the press over his idea of constructing a space flight machine. In 1926, he launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket on a farm near Auburn, Mass. In 1935, his liquid-fueled rocket surpassed the speed of sound. Other developments included a steering apparatus for rocket machines, staged rockets to reach high altitudes, rocket fuel pumps, and a self-cooling rocket motor.

Birthday – Czech playwright and political leader Vaclav Havel was born in Prague, October 5, 1936. He spent over 5 years in prison for speaking out against government abuses. He went on to lead the peaceful “velvet revolution” which ended Soviet-style Communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989.

October 6

October 6, 1927 – The first “talkie” opened in New York. The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson was the first full-length feature film using spoken dialogue.

October 6, 1928 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek became president of the Republic of China upon the introduction of a new constitution.

October 6, 1949 – “Tokyo Rose” (Iva Toguri d’Aquino) was sentenced in San Francisco to 10 years imprisonment and fined $10,000 for treason. She had broadcast music and Japanese propaganda to American troops in the Pacific during World War II. She was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977.

October 6, 1973 – The Yom Kippur War started as Egypt and Syria launched attacks on Israeli positions on the East Bank of the Suez and the Golan Heights.

October 6, 1978 – Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini was granted asylum in France after being expelled from Iran for his opposition to the Shah.

October 6, 1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (1918-1981) was assassinated in Cairo by Muslim fundamentalists while watching a military parade. He had shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with Menachem Begin of Israel. He had signed an American-sponsored peace accord with Israel but had been denounced by other Arab leaders.

Birthday – Engineer and inventor George Westinghouse (1846-1914) was born in Central Bridge, New York. He developed air brakes for trains and was later responsible for the adoption of alternating current (AC) systems for electric power transmission in the U.S. He was also the first employer to give his employees paid vacations.

Birthday – Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, Norway, October 6, 1914. He used Kon-Tiki and other primitive ocean-going vessels to prove the possibility of transoceanic contact between ancient, widely separated civilizations.

October 7

October 7, 1765 – The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York City with representatives from nine colonies meeting in protest to the British Stamp Act which imposed the first direct tax by the British Crown upon the American colonies.

October 7, 1940 – During World War II in Europe, German troops invaded Romania to take seize strategic oil fields.

October 7, 1949 – The German Democratic Republic came into existence in East Germany. Dominated by Soviet Russia, it lasted until German reunification in 1990.

October 7, 1985 – Palestinian terrorists seized the Italian passenger ship Achille Lauro carrying about 440 persons, threatening to blow it up if Israel did not free 50 Palestinian prisoners. Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly wheelchair-bound American, was murdered.