TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – OCT 2
1187 Sultan Saladin captures Jerusalem from Crusaders
1263 At Largs, King Alexander III of Scotland repels an amphibious invasion by King Haakon IV of Norway.
1535 Having landed in Quebec a month ago, Jacques Cartier reaches a town, which he names Montreal.
1780 British army major John Andre was hanged as a spy. He was carrying information about the actions of Benedict Arnold.
1836 Charles Darwin returned to England after 5 years of acquiring knowledge around the world about fauna, flora, wildlife and geology. He used the information to develop his “theory of evolution” which he unveiled in his 1859 book entitled The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
1870 The papal states vote in favor of union with Italy. The capital is moved from Florence to Rome.
1871 Morman leader Brigham Young, 70, is arrested for polygamy. He was later convicted, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
1879 A dual alliance is formed between Austria and Germany, in which the two countries agree to come to the other’s aid in the event of aggression.
1919 President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed.
1928 “Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God”, known as Opus Dei, founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá
1933 President Roosevelt has asked the NRA to reduce codal hours to 30 to increase the number of jobs available and share the work and the wages more evenly.
1941 6 Parisian synagogues are bombed
1950 The “Peanuts” comic strip, by Charles M. Schultz, first appeared in newspapers.
1962 U.S. ports were closed to nations that allowed their ships to carry arms to Cuba, ships that had docked in a socialist country were prohibited from docking in the United States during that voyage, and the transport of U.S. goods was banned on ships owned by companies that traded with Cuba.
1964 Scientists announce findings that smoking can cause cancer.
1967 Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice, is sworn in. Marshall had previously been the solicitor general, the head of the legal staff of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and a leading American civil rights lawyer.
1970 A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team, staff, and supporters crashes in Colorado; 31 of the 40 people aboard die.
1980 Congressional Representative Mike Myers is expelled from the US House for taking a bribe in the Abscam scandal, the first member to be expelled since 1861.
1990 US Senate votes 90-9 to confirm David Souter to the Supreme Court
1990 Radio Berlin International’s final transmission (links to Deutsche Welles of West Germany); final song is “The End” by the Doors
2001 NATO backs US military strikes in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
2002 Beltway sniper attacks begin A series of coordinated sniper attacks occurred in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The attacks lasted 3 weeks and resulted in the killing of 10 people.
2006 Charles Carl Roberts enters a one room Amish West Nickel Miles School, takes a number of hostages and kills four girls before committing suicide.
2008 The US Senate has approved a $700bn Bailout For the Finance Industry which will allow the US Government to buy toxic devalued assets from struggling firms to help kick-start the economy, these include troubled mortgage loans.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
