October 18 leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar . There are 73 days remaining until the end of the year.
1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre , a Christian church in Jerusalem , is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah , who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock .
1016 - The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon .
1081 - The Normans defeat the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Dyrrhachium .
1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates German leader Otto IV .
1356 - Basel earthquake , the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroyed the town of Basel .
1386 - Opening of the University of Heidelberg
1561 - Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.
1648 - Boston Shoemakers form first U.S. labor organization.
1685 - Louis XIV of France revokes the Edict of Nantes , which has protected French Protestants.
1748 - Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession .
1767 - Mason-Dixon line , survey separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.
1775 - African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.
1851 - Herman Melville 's Moby Dick published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London .
1860 - The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin , an unequal treaty .
1867 - United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day .
1892 - The First long distance phone call in the United States between Chicago and New York .
1898 - United States takes possession of Puerto Rico .
1908 - Belgium annexes the Congo Free State .
1912 - The First Balkan War begins.
1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium , to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
1924 - University of Illinois halfback Red Grange scores four touchdowns in the first quarter of a game against the University of Michigan Wolverines .
1925 - The Grand Ole Opry opens in Nashville .
1929 - Women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law .
1944 - Adolf Hitler orders the establishment of a German national militia .
1944 - Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia .
1945 - The USSR 's nuclear program receives plans for the USA 's plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory .
1945 - A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas , Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud , staged a coup d'etát against then president Isaías Medina Angarita , who was overthrown by the end of the day.
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.
1967 - The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends two black athletes for giving a "black power " salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games .
1968 - Bob Beamon sets a world record of 8.90m in the long jump at the Mexico City games . This becomes the longest unbroken track and field record in history, standing for 23 years, and is later named by Sports Illustrated 20th century .
1977 - German Autumn : a set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is executed and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide . The West German government states that it would never again negotiate with terrorists .
1989 - East German leader Erich Honecker resigns.
1991 - Azerbaijan declares independence from USSR .
2003 - Bolivian Gas War : President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada , is forced to resign and leave Bolivia .
2005 - Release date for Ensemble Studios computer game Age of Empires III
2007 - After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returns to her homeland Pakistan . The same night, suicide attackers blow themselves up near Bhutto's convoy , killing over 100 in the cheering crowd, including 20 police officers. Bhutto escaped uninjured.
1127 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192 )
1405 - Pope Pius II (d. 1464 )
1517 - Manoel da Nóbrega , Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570 )
1547 - Justus Lipsius , Flemish humanist (d. 1606 )
1569 - Giambattista Marini , Italian poet (d. 1625 )
1595 - Edward Winslow , Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655 )
1634 - Luca Giordano , Italian artist (d. 1705 )
1653 - Abraham van Riebeeck , Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713 )
1662 - Matthew Henry , English non-conformist minister (d. 1714 )
1668 - John George IV (d. 1694 )
1679 - Ann Putnam , American accuser in the Salem Witch Trials (d. 1716 )
1701 - Charles le Beau , French historian (d. 1778 )
1706 - Baldassare Galuppi , Italian composer (d. 1785 )
1741 - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos , French general and author (d. 1803 )
1777 - Heinrich von Kleist , German writer (d. 1811 )
1785 - Thomas Love Peacock , English satirist (d. 1866 )
1854 - Billy Murdoch , Australian cricketer (d. 1911 )
1859 - Henri Bergson , French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941 )
1865 - Arie de Jong , Dutch linguist (d. 1957 )
1865 - Logan Pearsall Smith , American essayist and critic (d. 1946 )
1868 - Ernst Didring , Swedish author (d. 1931 )
1870 - Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki , Japanese scholar (d. 1966 )
1873 - Ivanoe Bonomi , Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951 )
1882 - Lucien Petit-Breton , Argentine-French cyclist (d. 1917 )
1893 - Georges Ohsawa , Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966 )
1894 - H. L. Davis , American author (d. 1960 )
1897 - Isabel Briggs Myers , American psychological theorist (d. 1980 )
1900 - Lotte Lenya , Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981 )
1902 - Miriam Hopkins , American actress (d. 1972 )
1902 - Pascual Jordan , German physicist (d. 1980 )
1903 - Lina Radke , German athlete (d. 1983 )
1904 - A. J. Liebling , American journalist (d. 1963 )
1905 - Jan Gies , Dutch resistance fighter (d. 1993 )
1906 - James Brooks , American painter (d. 1992 )
1909 - Norberto Bobbio , Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004 )
1913 - Robert Gilruth , American aviation and space pioneer (d. 2000 )
1915 - Victor Sen Yung , American actor (d. 1980 )
1918 - Bobby Troup , American musician (d. 1999 )
1919 - Ric Nordman , Canadian politician (d. 1996 )
1919 - Anita O'Day , American singer (d. 2006 )
1919 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau , 15th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000 )
1920 - Melina Mercouri , Greek actress and political activist (d. 1994 )
1921 - Jesse Helms , U.S. Senator from North Carolina
1924 - Hugh Allan "Buddy" MacMaster , Canadian musician
1925 - Ramiz Alia , political leader of Albania
1926 - Chuck Berry , American musician
1926 - Klaus Kinski , German actor (d. 1991 )
1927 - George C. Scott , American actor (d. 1999 )
1928 - Keith Jackson , American football commentator
1929 - Violeta Chamorro , President of Nicaragua
1931 - Chris Albertson , American jazz historian
1932 - Vytautas Landsbergis , Lithuanian politician
1933 - Forrest Gregg , American football player
1934 - Inger Stevens , Swedish actress (d. 1970 )
1934 - Chuck Swindoll , American evangelist
1935 - Peter Boyle , American actor (d. 2006 )
1937 - Cynthia Weil , American songwriter
1938 - Dawn Wells , American actress
1939 - Mike Ditka , American football player, coach, and commentator
1939 - Lee Harvey Oswald , purported American assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963 )
1939 - Flavio Cotti , member of the Swiss Federal Council
1942 - Larry Pickering , Australian newspaper cartoonist
1945 - Chris Shays , Member of the United States Congress from Connecticut
1945 - Huell Howser , American TV host
1945 - Yıldo , Turkish famous showman and football player
1946 - James Robert Baker , American novelist, screenwriter
1946 - Howard Shore , Canadian film composer
1947 - Job Cohen , Dutch politician, mayor of Amsterdam
1947 - Joe Morton , American actor
1947 - Laura Nyro , American singer and songwriter (d. 1997 )
1947 - Paul Chuckle , British comedian
1948 - Ntozake Shange , American author
1949 - Joe Egan , British musician (Stealers Wheel )
1949 - George Hendrick , baseball player
1949 - Gary Richrath , American musician (REO Speedwagon )
1950 - Om Puri , Indian actor
1950 - Wendy Wasserstein , American playwright (d. 2006 )
1951 - Mike Antonovich , American ice hockey player and executive
1951 - Terry McMillan , American author
1951 - Pam Dawber , American actress
1952 - Bảo Ninh , Vietnamese novelist
1952 - Jerry Royster , American baseball player
1954 - Liz Burch , Australian actress
1955 - Timmy Mallett , British TV presenter
1955 - David Twohy , American movie director and screenwriter
1955 - Rita Verdonk , Dutch politician
1956 - Martina Navrátilová , Czech-born tennis player
1956 - Craig Bartlett , American animator
1956 - Jim Talent , American senator from Missouri
1957 - Doug Isaacson , Alaskan politician
1957 - Catherine Ringer , French singer and songwriter (Les Rita Mitsouko )
1958 - Corinne Bohrer , American actress
1958 - Thomas Hearns , American boxer
1958 - Kjell Samuelsson , National Hockey League defenseman
1959 - Kirby Chambliss , Aerobatic pilot and Red Bull Air Racer
1959 - Milčo Mančevski , Macedonian film director and screenwriter
1959 - John Nord , former American pro wrestler
1959 - Chris "Mad Dog" Russo , American sports talk show host
1959 - Steve Swayne , Dartmouth Professor
1960 - Jean-Claude Van Damme , Belgian actor
1961 - Wynton Marsalis , American musician
1961 - Rick Moody , American author
1961 - Erin Moran American actress
1962 - Vincent Spano , American actor
1964 - Dan Lilker , American musician, bassist for Anthrax , S.O.D. , Nuclear Assault , and Brutal Truth
1965 - Curtis Stigers , American jazz vocalist and saxophonist
1970 - José Padilla , American former gang member and alleged supporter of terrorism
1970 - Doug Mirabelli , American baseball player
1972 - Alex Tagliani , Quebec racing driver
1973 - Michalis Kapsis , Greek footballer
1974 - Robbie Savage , Welsh footballer
1974 - Peter Svensson , Swedish musician (The Cardigans )
1974 - Candy Lo , Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
1975 - Alex Cora , Puerto Rican baseball player
1976 - Zhou Xun , Chinese actress and singer
1977 - Ryan Nelsen , New Zealand footballer
1978 - Wesley Jonathan , American actor
1982 - Ne-Yo , American singer
1987 - Zac Efron , American actor
1987 - Freja Beha Erichsen , Danish model
1990 - Carly Schroeder , American actress
1991 - Tyler Posey , American actor
1998 - Julia Wróblewska , Polish actress
2001 - Annelise Manojlovic , English actress
1035 - Sancho III of Navarre
1101 - Hugh of Vermandois , son of Henry I of France (b. 1053 )
1141 - Margrave Leopold IV of Austria
1417 - Pope Gregory XII
1503 - Pope Pius III (b. 1439 )
1541 - Margaret Tudor , Queen of Scotland (b. 1489 )
1545 - John Taverner , English composer
1558 - Maria of Austria , wife of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1505 )
1564 - Johannes Acronius Frisius , German physician and mathematician (b. 1520 )
1570 - Manoel da Nóbrega , Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517 )
1604 - Igram van Achelen , Dutch statesman (b. 1528 )
1646 - Isaac Jogues , French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607 )
1667 - Fasilides , Emperor of Ethiopia
1678 - Jacob Jordaens , Flemish painter (b. 1593 )
1739 - Antônio José da Silva , Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705 )
1744 - Sarah Churchill , close friend of Queen Anne of Great Britain (b. 1660 )
1770 - John Manners , British soldier (b. 1721 )
1775 - Christian August Crusius , German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715 )
1817 - Etienne-Nicolas Méhul , French composer (b. 1763 )
1871 - Charles Babbage , English mathematician and inventor (b. 1791 )
1865 - Henry Temple , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1784 )
1886 - Philipp Franz von Siebold , German physician (b. 1796 )
1889 - Antonio Meucci , Italian inventor (b. 1808 )
1893 - Charles Gounod , French composer (b. 1818 )
1911 - Alfred Binet , French psychologist (b. 1857 )
1921 - King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845 )
1931 - Thomas Edison , American inventor (b. 1847 )
1932 - Ioannis Chrysafis , Greek gymnast (b. 1873 )
1942 - Mikhail Nesterov , Russian painter (b. 1862 )
1948 - Walther von Brauchitsch , German field marshal (b. 1881 )
1959 - Boughera El Ouafi , Algerian athlete (b. 1898 )
1961 - Tsuru Aoki , Japanese-born American actress (b. 1892 )
1966 - Elizabeth Arden , Canadian businesswoman (b. 1878 )
1966 - Sebastian S. Kresge , American merchant (Kmart ) (b. 1867 )
1973 - Margaret Caroline Anderson , American magazine publisher (b. 1886 )
1973 - Leo Strauss , German-American philosopher (b. 1899 )
1975 - Al Lettieri , American actor (b. 1928 )
1976 - Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana , Telugu writer (b. 1895 )
1977 - Red Army Faction Stammheim Prison suicides
1978 - Ramón Mercader , Assassin of Leon Trotsky (b. 1914 )
1982 - Bess Truman , First Lady of the United States (b. 1885 )
1982 - Dwain Esper , American film director (b. 1892 )
1982 - Pierre Mendès-France , French politician (b. 1907 )
1982 - John Robarts , Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917 )
1983 - Willie Jones , baseball player (b. 1925 )
1983 - Diego Abad de Santillán , Spanish anarchist (b. 1897 )
1984 - Jon-Erik Hexum , American actor (b. 1957 )
1984 - Henri Michaux , French painter and poet (b. 1899 )
2000 - Julie London , American singer and actress (b. 1926 )
2000 - Gwen Verdon , American dancer and actress (b. 1925 )
2001 - Micheline Ostermeyer , French athlete and musician (b. 1922 )
2002 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov , cosmonaut (b. 1932 )
2002 - Roman Tam , Hong Kong singer (b. 1950 )
2003 - Preston Smith , Governor of Texas (b. 1912 )
2003 - Manuel Vázquez Montalbán , Spanish writer (b. 1939 )
2004 - Veerappan , Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945 )
2005 - John Hollis , British actor (b. 1931 )
2005 - Johnny Haynes , English footballer (b. 1934 )
2005 - Bill King , American sports broadcaster (b. 1927 )
2006 - Mario Francesco Cardinal Pompedda (b. 1929 )
2006 - Anna Russell , English music satirist (b. 1911 )
2007 - Alan Coren , English writer and satirist (b. 1938 )
2007 - William J. Crowe , American admiral and ambassador (b. 1925 )
2007 - Vincent DeDomenico , American entrepreneur (b. 1915 )
2007 - Lucky Dube , South African musician (b. 1964 )
Holidays and observances External links
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