1810 – Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.
1160 – Maurice de Sully is elected bishop of Paris, will initiate plan to build Notre Dame
1165 – Jewish rabbi and philosopher Moses ben Maimon (aka Maimonides or the Rambam) reaches Jerusalem
1216 – King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash as the flood tide swamps his wagons, probably near Fosdyke, perhaps near Sutton Bridge
1285 – 180 Jews refuse baptism in Munich Germany and are set on fire
1366 – King Frederick III of Siciliy forbids decorations on synagogues
1492 – Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.
1518 – Pontifical ambassador interrogates Martin Luther
1609 – Children’s rhyme “Three Blind Mice” is published in London in a book edited by and possibly written by Thomas Ravenscroft
1740 – English evangelist George Whitefield preaches to 30,000 people in Boston in the US during the ‘Great Awakening’
1773 -America’s first asylum opens for ‘Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds’ in Virginia
1792 – The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated in Baltimore, MD.
1810 – Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.
1853 – John Morrissey wins boxing title, when Yankee Sullivan leaves ring after 36th round to slug Morrissey’s fans
1859 – Self-proclaimed Emperor of the USA, Emperor Norton issues edict abolishing the US Congress
1871 – US President Grant condemns Ku Klux Klan
1892 – In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Columbus landing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in public schools.
1901 – Theodore Roosevelt renames the “Executive Mansion” as “The White House”
1915 – Despite international protest, Edith Cavell an English nurse in Belgium, is executed by the Germans for aiding the escape of Allied prisoners
1915 – Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities.
1920 – Construction of the Holland Tunnel began. It opened on November 13, 1927. The tunnel links Jersey City, NJ and New York City, NY.
1928 – 1st use of iron lung (Boston’s Children Hospital)
1931 – Christ the Redeemer statue opens standing 30 meters high (98 ft) on top of Mount Corcovado overlooking Rio de Janeiro, built by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa
1933 – The U.S. Department of Justice acquired Alcatraz Island from the U.S. Army.
1942 – During World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.
1945 – Private First Class Desmond T. Doss was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman. He was the first conscientious objector in American history to win the award.
1960 – Japanese politician Inejiro Asanuma is assassinated with a sword during a televised debate live on TV by 17-year old nationalist Otoya Yamaguchi
1960 – Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a U.N. General Assembly.
1964 – The Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1 into orbit around the Earth. It was the first space flight to have a multi-person crew and the first flight to be performed without space suits.
1968 – Equatorial Guinea Gains Independence
1972 – During the Vietnam War, a racial brawl broke out aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Nearly 50 sailors were injured.
1977 – US Supreme Court heard arguments in “reverse discrimination” case of Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to University of California Med School
1984 – IRA bombs the Grand Hotel, Brighton, where British PM Margaret Thatcher is staying, 5 die
1988 – Federal prosecutors announced that the Sundstrand Corp. would pay $115 million dollars to settle with the Pentagon for overbilling airplane parts over a five-year period.
1989 – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a statutory federal ban on the destruction of the American flag.
1994 – The Magellan space probe ended its four-year mission to Venus for the purpose of mapping.
1997 – Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock
1998 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Online Copyright Bill.
1999 – In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup that toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court ruled that the coup was legal but insisted that a civilian government be restored within three years.
2001 – A special episode of America’s Most Wanted was aired that focused on 22 wanted terrorists. The show was specifically requested by U.S. President George W. Bush.
2002 – Terrorists explode two bombs in Bali’s nightclub district killing 202 and injuring 209 mostly foreign tourists
2017 – Long-lost bust of Napoleon by Auguste Rodin confirmed found in Madison borough hall, New Jersey, worth at least $4m
2017 – Plague outbreak in Madagascar kills 57, with 684 cases so far reported by WHO
2018 – US air strike in central Somalia kills about 60 al-Shabab militants
2019 – California is the 1st US state to pass law banning sale and manufacture of new fur products
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
