TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – OCT 10
19 Germanicus, the best loved of Roman princes, dies of poisoning. On his deathbed he accuses Piso, the governor of Syria, of poisoning him.
732 At Tours, France, Charles Martel kills Abd el-Rahman and halts the Muslim invasion of Europe.
1733 France declares war on Austria over the question of Polish succession.
1789 In Versailles France, Joseph Guillotin says the most humane way of carrying out a death sentence is decapitation by a single blow of a blade.
1845 The Naval School (now called US Naval Academy) opens at Annapolis
1846 Neptune’s moon Triton discovered by William Lassell
1911 Revolution in China begins with a bomb explosion and the discovery of revolutionary headquarters in Hankow. The revolutionary movement spread rapidly through west and southern China, forcing the abdication of the last Ch’ing emperor, six-year-old Henry Pu-Yi. By October 26, the Chinese Republic will be proclaimed, and on December 4, Premier Yuan Shih-K’ai will sign a truce with rebel general Li Yuan-hung.
1933 At Rio de Janeiro, nations of the Western Hemisphere sign a non-aggression and conciliation treaty. President Roosevelt adopts a “good neighbor” policy toward Latin America and announces a policy of nonintervention in Latin American affairs at the December 7th International American Conference at Montevideo, Uruguay.
1944 800 Gypsy children, are murdered when they are gassed to death at Auschwitz concentration camps. As well as Jews the Nazi party had decided Gypsies should also be exterminated and approximately 1.5 million Gypsies were murdered by the Nazis.
1953 The Mutual Defense Treaty between the US and South Korea signed.
1970 The Quebec Provincial Minister of Labour, Pierre Laporte, is kidnapped by terrorists.
1971 The London Bridge, built in 1831 and dismantled in 1967, reopens in Lake Havusu City, Arizona, after being sold to Robert P. McCulloch and moved to the United States.
1973 Spiro Agnew resigns the vice presidency amid accusations of income tax evasion. President Richard Nixon names Gerald Ford as the new vice president. Agnew is later convicted and sentenced to three years probation and fined $10,000.
1978 President Carter signed a bill authorizing the likeness of suffragette Susan B. Anthony on one side of the new dollar coin, and the Apollo moon landing on the other.
1984 The U.S. Congress passed the 2nd Boland Amendment which outlawed solicitation of 3rd-party countries to support the Contras. The amendment barred the use of funds available to CIA, defense, or intelligence agencies for “supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization or individual.”
2002 The US House of Representatives has voted to authorize President George W Bush to unilaterally declare war against Iraq
2006 In a matter of twenty-four hours, a total of sixty dead bodies are found around parts of Baghdad, Iraq. The majority of bodies found were believed to be killed by death squads in the city.
2008 Orakzai bombing, Afghanistan: members of the Taliban drive an explosive-laden truck into a meeting of 600 people discussing ways to rid their area of the Taliban; the bomb kills 110.
2008 Stock markets around the world continue to fall on fears of a major recession following the collapse the financial markets.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
