Today in History

27h September

1066 William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme River in Picardy, northern France, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.

1938 The 83,000 ton liner 'Queen Elizabeth' was launched at John Brown's Yard on Clydebank in Scotland by the Queen Mother. With her sister ship Queen Mary, she provided luxury liner service between Southampton and New York via Cherbourg in France.

1970 Arab leaders sign Jordan peace deal. King Hussein of Jordan and the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation,Yasser Arafat, agreed a ceasefire after 10 days of bitter civil war in Jordan. The agreement, signed at an emergency summit in Egypt's capital, Cairo, called for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all forces from every city in Jordan.

1988 Johnson stripped of Olympic gold Sprinter Ben Johnson was sent home from the Seoul Olympic Games in disgrace. He was also stripped of his 100m gold medal after testing positive for drugs.

2001 Swiss man killed 14. A gunman ra amok in a central Switzerland government building, killing at least 14 people before turning the gun on himself.Ten people were also injured - eight of them critically - in the country's worst mass killing. He is believed to have been embroiled in a long-running dispute with local officials.
 

On This Day In History, September 28th

2008 Falcon 1 was launched
Falcon 1, the first privately supported and funded spacecraft, was launched into space on its fourth attempt by SpaceX.

1995 Israel and PLO Sign the Oslo II Accords
The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, also known as the Taba Agreement, divided Gaza and West Bank into 3 areas, and gave limited control over some of these areas to the Palestinians. The Accord, which was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, also called for Palestinian elections.

1980 Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage Makes its Debut
The widely popular 13-episode science television documentary series was broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service. It was presented by astronomer Carl Sagan and written by Ann Druyan, Sagan, and Steven Soter. It was, and remains, one of the most-watched science-based TV documentaries.

1961 Dissolution of the United Arab Republic
A coup in Damascus led to the dissolution of the United Arab Republic, which was a short-lived union between Syria and Egypt.

1924 First Flight Around the World
On April 6, 1924, 4 teams of pilots from the United States Army Air Service set out from Seattle, Washington in an attempt to circumnavigate the world. The 4 Douglas World Cruiser planes were named Seattle, Chicago, Boston, and New Orleans. 175 days later, Chicago and New Orleans touched down in Seattle – Boston and Seattle did not complete the 27,500-mile journey around the world.
 
Births On This Day, September 28th 🎂

1968 Naomi Watts
English/Australian actress

1947 Sheikh Hasina
Bangladeshi politician, 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh

1934 Brigitte Bardot
French actress, singer

1909 Al Capp
American cartoonist

1907 Bhagat Singh
Indian activist

Deaths On This Day, September 28th 🪦

2000 Pierre Trudeau
Canadian politician, 15th Prime Minister of Canada

1991 Miles Davis
American trumpet player, composer, bandleader

1978 Pope John Paul I

1895 Louis Pasteur
French chemist, microbiologist

1891 Herman Melville
American writer
 

28th September

1066 Claiming his right to the English throne, William, Duke of Normandy (or William the Bastard, as he was often called at the time, due to his illegitimate status ) landed at Pevensey in East Sussex to begin his invasion of England.

1106 Henry I of England defeated his brother, Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy at the Battle of Tinchebray, in Normandy. It was a decisive victory and the battle lasted just one hour. The Duke was captured and imprisoned in England and then at Cardiff Castle until his death. England and Normandy remained under a single ruler until 1204.

1864 'The First International' was founded in London, when Karl Marx proposed the formation of an International Working Men's Association.

1884 Michael Marks, a Polish immigrant, and Yorkshireman Tom Spencer opened their Penny Bazaar in Leeds, setting the foundations for the Marks and Spencer chain.

1928 Parliament passed the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.

1994 Hundreds feared dead in ferry disaster A car and passenger ferry, MS Estonia, sank in the Baltic Sea with 950 people on board. The Estline ferry was sailing from Estonia to Sweden in bad weather and heavy seas when it sent a distress signal saying it was listing heavily.
 
On This Day In History, September 29th

1994 Sinking of MS Estonia
MS Estonia, a passenger and car ferry, sank in the Baltic Sea killing more than 800 passengers. It is considered to be the worst maritime peacetime disaster of the 20th century.

1991 Coup in Haiti
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deposed in a military coup. Aristide had been elected in a national election held 8 months before the coup.

1962 First Canadian Satellite
Canada launched its first-ever satellite, Alouette 1, on this day from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States. A joint venture between NASA and Defence Research and Development Canada, the satellite was sent to study the Earth's ionosphere.
 
Births On This Day, September 29th 🎂

1961 Julia Gillard
Australian politician, 27th Prime Minister of Australia

1951 Michelle Bachelet
Chilean politician, 34th President of Chile

1936 Silvio Berlusconi
Italian politician, 50th Prime Minister of Italy

1901 Enrico Fermi
Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1511 Michael Servetus
Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer

Deaths On This Day, September 29th 🪦

2009 Pavel Popovich
Soviet astronaut

1997 Roy Lichtenstein
American painter, sculptor

1981 Bill Shankly
Scottish footballer, manager

1973 W. H. Auden
English/American poet

1902 Émile Zola
French author, critic
 
On This Day In History, September 30th

2005 Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishes controversial cartoon
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. The publication led to riots and protests in many parts of the world.

1966 Botswana becomes independent
Botswana gained independence from the United Kingdom.

1960 Premier of The Flintstones
The animated series The Flintstones premiered on TV. It was set in the Stone Age and it detailed the lives of the Flintstone and Rubble families. It ran for 6 years until April 1, 1966.

1949 Berlin airlift ends
After 15 months of airlifting supplies to Berlin, the Berlin airlift led by American forces came to an end. The Berlin Blockade was an international crisis where the Soviet Union blocked access to Western countries into Berlin.

1744 Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo begins
The battle was fought during the War of the Austrian Succession and ended with the Spanish and French victory over the Kingdom of Sardinia.
 
Births On This Day, September 30th 🎂

1983 Adam Jones
American football player

1928 Elie Wiesel
Romanian/American author, Holocaust survivor, Nobel Prize laureate

1924 Truman Capote
American author

1852 Charles Villiers Stanford
Irish composer

1207 Rumi
Persian mystic, poet

Deaths On This Day, September 30th 🪦

1987 Alfred Bester
American author

1955 James Dean
American actor

1942 Hans-Joachim Marseille
German pilot

1941 Alice de Janzé
American Heiress

1897 Thérèse of Lisieux
French nun
 
1st October 1954
The UK's Top 20 Pop Chart had it's genesis after it was changed from the Top 12 Chart as published by the New Musical Express.
The list was compiled by the magazine's representative who simply telephoned approximately twenty record shops asking for a list of the ten best-selling songs. Because of its success, other retailers such as Record Mirror and Melody Maker, would soon begin compiling their own charts.
 
1st October 1962
Brian Epstein signs his management contract with The Beatles. John Lennon and Ringo Starr signed for themselves and Harold Harrison and James McCartney do so on behalf of their underage sons.
The agreement gave Epstein a 25% cut of the group's earnings provided that they made more than $400 each per week.
 
1st October 1964
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson debuts on NBC. The program's opening theme, an instrumental Jazz song titled "Johnny's Theme" was composed by Paul Anka.
Royalties from the tune would net each of them about $200,000 per year. The show would end on May 22nd, 1992, after a total of 6,714 episodes.
 
1st October 1982
Sony Corporation introduces the first commercially available compact disc player in Tokyo, Japan.
Albums that have been converted to CD are slow to reach the North American market and the first to go on sale is Billy Joel's "52nd Street".
 
On This Day In History, October 1st

1991 Siege of Dubrovnik
The Siege of Dubrovnik began during the Croatian War of Independence. On this day, the Yugoslav People's Army started its offensive on Dubrovnik.

1961 Formation of Federal Republic of Cameroon
British Cameroon or Southern Cameroon joined the Republic of Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

1957 Thalidomide launched
Thalidomide, an anti-nausea drug and sleep aid, was launched. For about five years it was commonly prescribed to pregnant women as a drug to deal with morning sickness. It was finally withdrawn from the market after it was determined that it caused birth defects.

1949 People's Republic of China was established
Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

1946 Trial of the Major War Criminals end
The Trial of the Major War Criminals part of the Nuremberg trials ended with sentences being passed against several key members of the Nazi party.
 
Births On This Day, October 1st 🎂

1935 Julie Andrews
English actress, singer

1924 Jimmy Carter
American politician, 39th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate

1924 William Rehnquist
American lawyer, jurist, 16th Chief Justice of the United States

1910 Bonnie Parker
American criminal

1896 Liaquat Ali Khan
Indian/Pakistani lawyer, politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan

Deaths On This Day, October 1st 🪦

2013 Tom Clancy
American author

2012 Eric Hobsbawm
Egyptian/English historian, author

2004 Richard Avedon
American photographer

1990 Curtis LeMay
American general

1972 Louis Leakey
Kenyan/English archaeologist
 
1st October 1946
Mensa the well known high-IQ society is formed which is non political and free from all social distinctions (racial, religious, etc.).
The society is created by Roland Berrill and Dr. Lancelot Ware, the only qualification for membership being a high IQ in the top 98th percentile, membership is estimated to be over 100,000 worldwide.
 
1st October 2013
The United States government stopped all non-essential functions after Congress failed to reach a deal on the budget.
The shut down meant that national parks and museums would be closed and hundreds of thousands of workers would not be able to go to work.
This was the 8th Government shutdown, the first being November 20th - 23rd under President Ronald Reagan.
There have been 2 further Government shutdowns since 2013.
 
2nd October

1901 The Royal Navy's first submarine, built by Vickers, was launched at Barrow-in-Furness. Following meetings with the Admiralty, an agreement was made on 27th October 1900 between the Electric Boat Company and Vickers Sons & Maxim Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness, giving Vickers 25-year licence to manufacture the Holland-class of submarines, using Electric Boats patents. In addition to the United Kingdom, the licence also covered the whole of Europe and allowed Vickers to grant sub-licences to other firms and countries.

1942 The British cruiser Curacao sank with the loss of 338 lives, after colliding with the liner Queen Mary off the coast of Donegal. The RMS Queen Mary was used as a troopship throughout World War II and usually crossed the Atlantic without an escort, relying on her speed to evade the U-Boats. As she came north of Ireland on the 2nd October 1942 she was joined by HMS Curacoa, providing an anti-aircraft escort for the last leg into Scotland. The two ships found themselves on a collision course – both Captains were informed and both believed the other would take evasive action. The consequences were tragic, she was sliced in half and sunk.

1968 Student riots threatened Mexico Olympics. More than 25 people werekilled during a vicious gun battle in Mexico City just days before the Olympic Games were due to begin.

1993 Hardline Communists riote in Moscow. Shots were fired and several people injured after pro-Communist demonstrators fought running battles with security forces loyal to President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow. Riot squads were moved in to clear the streets after protesters erected barriers and set car tyres ablaze across the Garden Ring Road, Moscow's main thoroughfare.
 
On This Day In History, October 4th

1992 End of the Mozambican Civil War
The 15-year-long civil war was fought between the Mozambique Resistance Movement and the Mozambican government. The conflict, which began in 1977, just a couple of years after the War of Independence against the Portuguese, resulted in massive losses of human life and property. The civil war ended with the signing of the Rome General Peace Accords by both of the warring parties.

1966 Lesotho independence
Lesotho gained independence from British rule.

1957 World's first artificial satellite launched
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world’s oldest and largest space launch facility still in operation. The successful launch of Sputnik spurred the Space Race – a race between Cold War rivals USSR and the US to gain supremacy in spaceflight.

1895 First US Open for Golf
The now annual event was played at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island, for the first time. 11 people played the 36-hole competition in a single day. Horace Rawlins, a 21-year-old Englishman won the tournament and took home a trophy and $150 cash.

1582 Last day of the Julian Calendar in Catholic countries
The next day, the Gregorian calendar took effect in Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain by the order of Pope Gregory XIII. The calendar was put in place to realign events like equinoxes and solstices with the calendar, ensuring that Easter is always celebrated around the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox. Because of the new calendar, several days were skipped, and October 4 was followed by October 15. Today, the Gregorian calendar is the most used calendar around the world.
 

Births On This Day, October 4th 🎂

1988 Derrick Rose
American basketball player

1973 Abyss
American wrestler

1946 Chuck Hagel
American politician

1895 Buster Keaton
American actor, director, producer

1822 Rutherford B. Hayes
American politician, 19th President of the United States

Deaths On This Day, October 4th 🪦

1982 Glenn Gould
Canadian pianist, composer

1974 Anne Sexton
American poet

1970 Janis Joplin
American singer-songwriter

1951 Henrietta Lacks
American patient, HeLa cells derived from her cervical cancer

1669 Rembrandt
Dutch painter
 
4th October


1883 The Boys' Brigade was founded, in Glasgow, by Sir William Alexander Smith. The interdenominational Christian youth organisation combines drill and fun activities with Christian values. In May 1903, Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Association, became their vice-president. By 2003, there were 500,000 Boys' Brigade members in 60 countries.

1911 Britain's first underground escalators were introduced. They connected the District Line and Piccadilly Line platforms at Earl's Court underground station in London.

1958 Aviation history was made when 2 British designed and built De Havilland Comet 4 airliners operated by BOAC (now British Airways) made the first scheduled jet passenger service flights across the North Atlantic.

1983 The Scottish entrepreneur Richard Noble reached a world land speed record of 663.5mph at Nevada in his jet-powered car, Thrust II,

2013 93 year old Clifford Dadson, from Cumbria become the oldest graduate in the UK after receiving an Arts degree from the Open University. He began studying when his wife, Rae, passed away in 2009 and has vowed to continue studying by signing up to a religious module with the university.
 
6th October 2011
Starship's "We Built This City" was named 'The worst song of the 1980s' in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine.
"The Final Countdown" by the Swedish band Europe came in second and "Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh was third.
Also making the top five were Wham's "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)" and "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats.
 
On This Day In History, October 6th

2007 First successful human-powered attempt to circumnavigate the world
Englishman Jason Lewis set out on the journey, also called Expedition 360 on July 12, 1994, from Greenwich, London. The over 46,000-mile expedition around the world took him 4,833 days, during which he used only human-powered modes of transportation including bicycles, rollerblades, and a pedal-powered boat.

1995 First exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star discovered
Swiss astronomers Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor announced the discovery of the exoplanet called 51 Pegasi B or Bellerophon. The Jupiter-like exoplanet orbits a star called 51 Pegasi, which has a magnitude of 5.49. 51 Pegasi B takes 4.23 Earth days to orbit around its star.

1981 Assassination of Anwar Sadat
The third president of Egypt, Sadat was killed by members of the terrorist group Takfir Wal-Hajira during a parade held to commemorate the 8th anniversary of Operation Badr - a military operation where Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and overran the Bar Lev Line in Israel. The military operation started the Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. The assassination is thought to be a result of Sadat’s efforts to bring peace to the region which started with the Camp David Accords in 1978.

1976 Coup in Thailand
Admiral Sangad Chaloryu staged a coup to oust the civilian government of Seni Pramoj.

1908 Bosnian crisis
Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declared the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been nominally under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The takeover raised tensions within the Balkan region in Europe and threatened to end in a war.
 
Births On This Day, October 6th 🎂

1985 Mitchell Cole
English footballer

1955 Tony Dungy
American football player, coach

1930 Hafez al-Assad
Syrian general, politician, 20th President of Syria

1846 George Westinghouse
American engineer, inventor

1769 Isaac Brock
English army officer

Deaths On This Day, October 6th 🪦

1992 Bill O'Reilly
Australian cricketer

1989 Bette Davis
American actress

1981 Anwar Sadat
Egyptian politician, 3rd President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate

1892 Alfred, Lord Tennyson
English poet

1542 Thomas Wyatt
English poet
 

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