This Day in History.

OCT. 13th

[center:2rbkqyd1]HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NAVY!!!!!! [/center:2rbkqyd1]

1921 U.S.A. World Series: New York Giants beat the Yankees in the World series in New York Today.

1938 China Chinese Japanese Fighting: Heavy Chinese reinforcements are being rushed to Watchow to engage the new large Japanese expeditionary force numbering over 35,000.

1941 World War II Soviets in Trouble: The Soviet Union has lost two more army divisions and are demanding British army aid to help stop the Germans from reaching Moscow, Hitler in the meantime continues to make overtures to Britain and the British people that he wants peace between Germany and England and the only reason Germany and England are at war is because of Churchill.

1943 Italy Declares War On Germany: Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time ally, and was granted the status of a co-belligerent by the United Nations.

1952 U.S.A. Public Debt: Concerns are growing over the mounting public debt which is predicted to reach 268 billion dollars by the end of the financial year.
The current US Public Debt stands at 9 trillion dollars and is increasing by $1.46 billion per day

1958 UK Paddington Bear: The first of a series of books featuring Paddington Bear is published "A Bear Called Paddington", the first story is about a bear who is found at Paddington railway station in London by the Brown family. The books are written by Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum.

1960 U.S.A. Nixon - Kennedy Debate TV: Television sets across the United States showed a split screen with Republican presidential nominee Richard M. Nixon on one side and Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kennedy on the other during their third televised debate. They were actually thousands of miles apart and not in the same studio.

1966 South Africa Strict New Apartheid Laws: New laws passed in white controlled South Africa allow for detention without trial or warrant by a Police Lieutenant Colonel or other high ranking Police Officer anywhere, any person he suspects of security offences without trial or charge for 28 days.

1971 Northern Ireland Border Security: British Army engineers are blowing up several minor roads crossing from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland, currently the Terrorists are using these roads to hop across the border undetected as most are just small tracks on farmland.

1972 Uruguay Cannibalism: Plane crash survivors resort to cannibalism after being lost in the Andes for two months have admitted they ate the flesh of dead companions to stay alive, 16 of the original 45 passengers survived the ordeal and defended their cannibalism.

1976 Bolivia Plane Crash: A chartered Boeing 707 crashed into a busy street in Santa Cruz, a city in the west of Bolivia, ploughing into buildings in the city's main avenue and people leaving over 100 dead.

1977 Germany Airliner Hijack: Four Palestinian hijackers hijack a Lufthansa airliner demanding the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany's Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, also known as the Red Army Faction.

1983 U.S.A. Mobile Phone Service: Ameritech Mobile Communications, LLC provides cellular mobile phone service to the general public in Chicago.

1988 England Spycatcher Book: The British Government has lost its battle to stop the publication of the controversial book Spycatcher, written by a former secret service agent .

1992 England Coal Mines Close: The government is planning to close a 31 out of 50 of Britain's deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs. In the mid 40's coal mining in Britain employed one million miners working in 958 mines.

1997 U.S.A. Thrust Record: British fighter pilot Andy Green set a new land speed record of 764.168mph in the Thrust Supersonic vehicle, going through the sound barrier along a one-mile course in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

1999 U.S.A. Rejects Nuclear Test Ban: America became the first country to reject the 154 nation Nuclear test ban treaty with a vote of 51-48 in The US Senate. It should be remembered that most of the countries who signed the agreement do not have Nuclear capabilities so have nothing to lose and everything to gain by banning nuclear testing.

2005 U.S.A. iPod: Apple introduce new iPod capable of playing video at a resolution of 320x240 starting at $299.00.

2006 U.S.A. Snow Storm: A State of Emergency is issued in Buffalo, New York following nearly 2 feet of snow falling during the afternoon and last night. 400,000 are without power and most schools in the area are closed, in the worst hit areas of Tonawanda, New York, Buffalo and Amherst a driving ban has also been issued as up to 80% of roads are impassable including parts of I90.

2006 DR Congo Pneumonic plague: The Democratic Republic of Congo faced an outbreak of the pneumonic plague, killing over one hundred people and infecting hundreds of others.

2008 U.S.A. Dow Jones: After suffering a meltdown in the markets in the preceeding weeks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling below 7900 markets rally with a gain of 936 points, its highest ever one day gain.

2008 Iceland Markets To Stay Closed: Iceland's stock exchange will remain suspended because of continuing "unusual market conditions".

OCT. 14th

1913 Wales Coal Mine Explosion: A tremendous explosion ripped through the Sengenhydd coal mine near Cardiff in one of the worst mining disasters in Great Britain and over 400 minors are killed.

1928 U.S.A. Graf Zeppelin: The small town of Lakehurst NJ is preparing for the arrival tomorrow of the largest dirigible ever made the "Graf Zeppelin" which will complete it's transatlantic flight from Europe to America, this airship will change travel across the Atlantic with it's massive size of 770 ft and it's cruising speed of 60 MPH , this ship is owned by the German People .

1935 Switzerland Sanctions on Italy: The League of Nations approved the placing of financial sanctions on Italy.

1938 Germany Nazi's Attacks Clergy: Adolf Hitler's deputy has attacked the catholic clergy during a massive Nazi rally in Austria telling the cheering crowd of 100,000 that the clergy are seeking to instigate people against the state. Hitler or Christ is not the question, Hitler has never taken a stand against the Church and there is only one Fuhrer and his name is Adolf Hitler, and the clergy should not take orders from Rome but from the Fuhrer.

1941 World War II Russia: As Panzer divisions approach closer to Moscow, Nazis are telling women and children to leave the city and run for their lives, Although Germany is close to Moscow it is still a long way from the Caspian oil fields which are one of the main objectives in this war.

1944 World War II Desert Fox: German General Erwin Rommel or "the Desert Fox," is given the option of facing a public trial for treason, as a co-conspirator in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, or taking cyanide. He chooses suicide by cyanide.

1947 U.S.A. Chuck Yeager: Chuck Yeager a World War II fighter pilot ace becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound breaking the elusive "Sound Barrier", His X-1 rocket plane was built by the Bell Aircraft Company, the X-1 was taken to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 bomber and released through the bomb bay to achieve a speed greater than the speed of sound.

1947 U.S.A. Flying Boat: An old flying boat attempting to carry the largest number of passengers on a transatlantic flight (63 passengers) in a heavier than air aircraft has failed in it's attempt and is stranded 800 miles from the Newfoundland coast in heavy seas and 25ft - 75ft waves.

1952 U.S.A. Radar Traps: As the number of radar speed traps is increased complaints that small towns adjoining main highways are using the traps to provide additional revenue by targeting motorists could become even worse as they install the latest radar traps which take photographs of the cars number plate meaning the local Police do not even need to witness the offence for the town to issue a speeding ticket.

1954 U.S.A. Hurricane Hazel: Hurricane Hazel makes landfall at Haiti leaving three towns totally destroyed and more than 1,000 dead in it's wake.

1962 Cuba U2 Spy Plane: Photographs taken by a high-altitude U 2 spy plane show Soviet made medium range missiles in Cuba capable of carrying nuclear warheads just 90 miles from the American coastline.

1964 U.S.A. Martin Luther King, Jr: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America.

1964 Soviet Union Khrushchev: Nikita Khrushchev is ousted from power by Leonid Brezhnev after 10 years.

1966 Holland Cabinet Resigns: The Dutch premier and all his cabinet were forced to resign when his own party members put a censure motion on his financial policy which passed through the 150 member lower house of parliament.

1966 Canada Montreal Metro: The Montreal Metro a mass transportation system is inaugurated in Montreal consisting of 26 stations on three separate lines serving the north, east, and centre of the Island of Montreal.

1967 U.S.A. Joan Baez arrested: Folk singer Joan Baez is arrested in Oakland, California with at least 40 other anti-war protesters for taking part in a sit-in at thr military induction centre. She was given a ten day sentence, one of many sentences she received during her years of protest at the Vietnam War.

1968 Space First Live Telecast From Space: The first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft using a Black and white camera is transmitted from Apollo 7 back to earth.

1969 England New 50 Pence Coin: The new 50-pence seven sided coin comes into circulation to replace the old 10 shilling note.

1973 Thailand Student Protests: Clashes between troops and 100,000 protesters protesting for a democratic government in Thailand with protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs, police and troops using live rounds. Bangkok is placed under a state of emergency and by the end of the unrest 77 are killed and 857 are injured.

1979 U.S.A. Gay Rights March: The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., demands "an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people," draws 200,000 people.

1981 Egypt Hosni Mubarak: Hosni Mubarak who was the vice president of Egypt when President Anwar Al Sadat was assasinated on 6th October is elected as the President of the Republic of Egypt (currently still the President October 2008).

1983 Korea North / South Korea Tensions: Following the bombing and murder of 21 officials at a ceremony in Burma earlier this week tensions between North and South Korea are getting worse with accusations on both sides concerning South Korea entering the DMZ and firing 500 rounds of ammunition into North Korea.

1991 Australia Ozone Layer: Scientists from the International Atmospheric Authority in Australia have said that the earths protective Ozone layer has shrunk 4% in the the last ten years compared with 2% in the preceding 10 years.

1991 Iraq Kurds: Kurdish leaders have admitted today to shooting and killing 60 Iraq prisoners of war at point blank range in retaliation to Iraq soldiers killing Kurdish prisoners of war earlier in the week.

1994 Middle East Nobel peace prize: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and two Israelis, the Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, have been named the winners of this year's Nobel peace prize.

2006 U.S.A. Alzheimer's: A new study by scientists in the US analysed the health and eating pattern of 2,258 study participants and found a link between a Mediterranean diet and a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia.

2006 Gaza Israel Sends Tanks In: Israel sent tanks into northern Gaza and killed six Palestinian militants after a confrontation erupted.

OCT. 17th

1907 U.S.A. Telegraph: The first commercial wireless telegraph is sent over the Atlantic Ocean.

1927 U.S.A. Air Mail: With the increase in air mail traffic the post office is encouraging people to use the service more by making it easy with a flat rate of 10 cents for letters weighing less than 1/2 ounce to anywhere in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom.

1931 U.S.A. Al Capone: Scarface Al Capone well known gangster is found guilty of income tax evasion. One week later he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and a fine of $50,000.

1933 U.S.A. Dr. Albert Einstein: Dr. Albert Einstein and his wife fleeing from Nazi Germany arrive in Princeton, New Jersey, where he will continue his scientific work at the Institute of Advanced Study.

1937 U.S.A. Poultry Farmer Protection: The federal farm and administration is again stepping in to protect poultry farmers by offering to buy fresh and storage eggs ,in the spring of this year following the purchase of $2,000,000 of eggs they managed to help poultry farmers survive .

1943 Thailand, Thailand to Burma Railway Completed: The 415-km Thailand Burma railroad (Death Railway) between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma is completed, during the construction of the railway approximately 13,000 prisoners of war and 100,000 civilians died due to the living and working conditions with most dying due to malnutrition, and diseases like cholera, malaria, and dysentery.

1947 Burma Independence: Britain and Burma signed an agreement today giving Burma full independence outside of the British Commonwealth if it chooses. This ends 300 years of British Rule over the country.

1947 U.S.A. Fire: A major fire in Maine caused more than a couple of hundred thousand acres of land along with several hundred of homes and at least a few hundred cottages were destroyed before it ended on November 14.

1952 U.S.A. Mechanical Heart: The worlds first successful use of a mechanical heart on July 3rd during a heart operation was announced today, it kept a mans blood going through his body for a total of 50 minutes and he is still alive and well today.

1956 UK Sellafield Nuclear Power Station: Queen Elizabeth II officialy opens Sellafield Nuclear Power Station although the power station had been providing electricity to the National Grid since 27th August 1956.

1961 France Algerian Independence: Paris police shoot and kill more than 200 Algerians marching in the city in support of peace talks to end their country's war of independence against France.

1965 U.S.A. Worlds Fair: The New York World's Fair ended which had started in 1964.

1968 Mexico Black Power Salute Olympics: Two black athletes make the Black Power Salute " when they bow and raise a black gloved hand as the American National Anthem played during the victory ceremony for the 200m final in Mexico" as a silent protest against racial discrimination in the United during the Mexico Olympics Ceremony.

1973 Kuwait Oil Embargo: Members of OPEC announced an oil embargo and that they would discontinue all oil shipments to those countries that supported Israel in its war against Syria and would decrease oil production by 5 per cent a month until Israel gave up all territory it seized in the 1967 war and restores the rights of the Palestinian refugees.

1978 Scotland Grey Seal Cull: The Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior spends two weeks trailing the Norwegian boat Kvitungen preventing the start of the Grey Seal cull. And public opinion forces the Scottish Secretary Brian Millan to reduce the cull from 4,600 Grey Seal to 2,000 and local fisherman will perform the cull not the Norwegan boat.

1979 India Mother Teresa: Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on behalf of the poor and destitute in Calcutta.

1989 U.S.A. Earthquake San Francisco: A major earthquake registering 6.9 on the Richter scale hit the San Francisco Bay Area today causing the evacuation of 60,000 fans from Candlestick Park waiting for Game Three of the World Series to begin. The earthquake caused the death of nine people and injured hundreds more in the San Francisco area.

1992 U.S.A. Dylan Concert: A concert to celebrate Bob Dylan and his 30 years of music bought fans from around the country to New York last night. But when Sinead O'Connor appeared on stage she was booed off stage.
1994 England Taxi World Record: A world record is set by a British taxi driver Jeremy Levine after completing a round-trip journey to Cape Town South Africa of 26,691 miles. His passengers Mark Aylett and Carlos Aresse paid 40,000 pounds.

1998 Norway Nobel Peace Prize: David Trimble a Protestant and John Hume a Catholic are joint winners of this years Nobel Peace prize for helping to create a lasting peace in Northern Ireland .
1998 Nigeria Pipeline Explosion: A pipeline explosion in Jesse, Nigeria, kills 700 people with the resulting fire burning for nearly a week. It is believed that the explosion was caused by local towns people tapping into the pipeline to steal oil but because the fire and explosion incinerated every person close by, the reason for the explosion was never fully explained.

2000 England Hatfield Rail Crash: A high speed passenger train derails just north of London at Hatfield leaving 4 dead.

2003 Taiwan Taipei 101: Taipei 101 become the World's tallest highrise building at 1,671 feet after the pinnacle is fitted on the roof. The definition of tallest building in the world is disputed because of disputes over what and what not should be included.

2006 U.S.A. Population Reaches 300 million: The United States population reaches 300 million (current population estimate 305,468,000)

2006 Italy Train Crash Rome: Two metro trains crashed at Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II station in Rome when one hit the back of another.

2007 Burma More Arrests: Following the uprising in Burma / Myanmar squashed by the ruling junta, governments around the world continue to protest, Burma's leaders appear to remain defiant and are continuing to round up those suspected of involvement.

2009 U.S.A. H1N1 virus / Swine Flu Vaccine: As the number of reported deaths from the H1N1 virus (swine flu) increases, US officials have warned of delays in the delivery of swine flu vaccine. (update 2010) Swine flu was a major concern in the United States and around the world in October and November of 2009 with concerns that the flu could kill millions, but luckily it was not as deadly as many feared.

OCT. 18th.

1898 Puerto Rico US Formal Possession: The United States takes formal possession of Island of Puerto Rico when the American flag is raised over San Juan.

1922 Great Britain British Broadcasting Company: The British Broadcasting Company (A commercial Company) is formed with a share capital of £100,000, the company is dissolved in 1926 and all assets are transferred to the British Broadcasting Corporation or the BBC as it is now known.

1924 U.S.A. Election Funds: The current election funds for the Democrats and Republican parties have been released for the upcoming national elections.
Democrats $750,000
Republican $3,000,000

1931 U.S.A. Edison: American inventor Thomas Edison dies, amongst his thousands of inventions the most well known include the phonograph and the practical electric light bulb. He also originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation with distribution to homes and businesses.

1935 Ethiopia Italy Bombs Ethiopia: Italian bombers have started bombing camps where Ethiopian women and children were thought to be safe while Ethiopian warriors attempt to fight using against the invading Italian army well equipped with artillery and aircraft. Italian planes have now started using poison gas as a weapon against the Ethiopian fighters and many believe the increased use will cause slaughter on a scale never before seen.

1944 Czechoslovakia Russia Invades: The Russian army invades Czechoslovakia.

1952 World Population: The worlds population currently stands at 47 people per square mile of land but it predicted that this may well double by the end of the century due to population growth (Current figures 2007 are 115 people per square mile)

1954 U.S.A. Transistor Radio: Texas Instruments announces the Regency TR-1 Transistor radio, although other companies had been showing prototypes of Transistor Radios as early as 1952.


1963 England British Prime Minister: Lord Home a Scottish Conservative Aristocrat with the Title of a "Lord" becomes the new British prime minister.

1967 Space Venus 4: An unmanned soviet capsule Venus 4 achieved a soft landing on the planet Venus and radioed back that the planet is to hot for human life with temperatures at 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

1968 England John Lennon: John Lennon and his girlfriend, Yoko Ono, are arrested in London for possession of marijuana.

1968 Mexico Bob Beamon: Bob Beamon breaks the world long jump record in Mexico during the 1968 Olympics beating the previous record by nearly 2ft, many believed part of the reason for this astounding jump was the high altitude of the Olympics that year.

1976 U.S.A. Mafia Boss of Bosses Dies: The funeral of Carlo Gambino, the 'boss of the bosses' in the Mafia, takes place in New York.

1989 East Germany Leader Steps Down: The Communist leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, is forced to step down after a series of health problems.

2006 U.S.A. Dow Jones Breaks 12,000 barrier: The Dow Jones industrial average passed 12,000 for the first time before closing at 11,992.68.

2007 Pakistan Benazir Bhutto: The former prime minister of Pakistan (Benazir Bhutto) returns after 8 years of self imposed exile and within a few hours of her arrival suicide bombers struck her motor cavalcade killing 100 of her supporters, but she escaped unharmed. Pakistan has had an increasing number of terrorist bomb attacks in 2007 and many fear for the future in a country where religious extremist violence is increasing.

2009 U.S.A. Balloon Boy Parents To Be Charged: Following the appearance of Falcon Heene on TV where he was asked why he had stayed hidden, said "we did this for a show", it now appears the reports to local police that he was carried away by a helium balloon were part of an elaborate hoax and publicity stunt. (On December 23, 2009, the boys parents were found guilty of attempting to influence a public servant. Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days jail and Mayumi Heene to 20 days weekend jail, the former was also ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution.)

OCT. 19th.

1927 Australia Aborigines: Two tribes of native Aborigines are fighting a full scale war with only war paint, spears and no clothes in the bush only 100 miles from Perth Australia.

1937 U.S.A. Airplane Crash: A mountaineer is the only person who has provided an eyewitness account to the worst airplane disaster in US history and has told how he saw the pilot of the United Airlines 21 passenger mainliner flying blind through a mountain blizzard snowstorm skimming pines before crashing into the side of the Uinta Mountains in Utah 80 miles south of Salt Lake City.

1947 U.S.A. 40 cents Per Hour: The Federal Works administrator has said the minimum wage of 40 cents per hour is obsolete and should be changed to 75 cents per hour.

1954 Great Britain The Comet Jet Aircraft: Following a number of crashes of the Comet aircraft it's certificate of airworthiness is withdrawn while an enquiry into why the crashes occured, the enquiry found the problems were most likely due to metal fatigue.

1958 Belgium World Trade Fair: The world trade fair in Brussels in Belgium ended today after having attracted 42 million visitors in 6 months.

1960 U.S.A. Embargo on Cuba Exports: The US Places an embargo on exports to Cuba.

1960 U.S.A. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested along with 50 other people for violating Georgia's newly enacted anti-trespass law after staging a sit-in protest at eight stores in downtown Atlanta.

1973 U.S.A. Watergate: President Nixon refused to hand over Watergate Related Tapes to special prosecutor Archibold Cox but said he would prepare a summary of their contents.

1978 U.S.A. Home Ownership: A new report released today shows the widely ranging costs of owning your own home in different parts of the country today.
The figures are based on Mortgage payments, Insurance payments, Utility payments and local taxes. These figures also take the cost of the average home in that area.
Atlanta $420 - Baltimore $409 - Chicago $429 - Columbus $365 - Denver $406 - Detroit $389 - Hartford $401 -
Houston $339 - Los Angeles $567 - Miami $443 - Milwaukee $411 - Morristown $343 - New York $497 -
Philadelphia $393 - Pittsburg $364 - Portland Maine $347 - Portland Oregon $376 - Richmond $374 -
Rochester $399 - St Louis $333 - San Fransisco $614 - Washington $578
The Average Cost of a home in 1978 was $54,800.

1982 U.S.A. John DeLorean: John DeLorean is arrested in an airport motel with a briefcase containing $24 million dollars worth of cocaine. He had headed up the DeLorean Motor Company and built one of the coolest looking sports cars with gull wing doors, The company received large subsidies provided by the British government because he set up a factory in Northern Ireland, but the car had a number of technical problems and less than 10,000 were produced which are now highly collectable.

1983 Grenada Maurice Bishop: The Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop is executed during a military coup d'état led by Bernard Coard. Following the coup d'état a four-day total curfew was put in place in which anyone seen outside their home would be subject to summary execution.

1986 Mozambique Samora Machel: The President of Mozambique Samora Machel and 33 others die when their plane crashes into the Lebombo Mountains.

1987 U.S.A. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 22 percent dropping to 1739 making it the 2nd largest percentage drop in history in a single day, This was known as "Black Monday" and signaled other markets around the world to drop during October by 20 percent.

1988 U.S.A. Children's TV Ads: A bill passed by the senate limits the number of ads that can be shown during children's TV programs.

1989 England Guildford Four: The Guildford Four were released after the British government admitted the group was wrongly convicted of the Provisional IRA's Guildford pub bombing 15 years earlier in 1974.

1991 U.S.A. Fire California: A fire in the hills of Oakland, California burning thousands of homes and killing 25 people.

1998 Great Britain Chilean Dictator Arrested: Former Chilean Dictator was arrested today by British Police responding to a Spanish Extradition Warrant issued for the murder, detention and torture of Spanish Citizens while he was the dictator in Chile.

2001 Indonesia 353 Asylum Seekers Drown: The Indonesian Suspected Illegal Entry fishing boat carrying 400 asylum seekers sinks in international waters en-route from Bandar Lampung (Sumatra) to Christmas Island with the loss of 146 children, 142 women and 65 men.

2007 Pakistan Islamist groups Attack Bhutto convoy in assassination attempt: A major attack on the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto motorcade in Karachi leaves more than 100 supporters dead, but the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is unhurt. Accusations are made that the current government leadership and intelligence agencies who were going to lose power were behind the attack.

2007 United States Oil Prices Retreat: After increases in Oil prices reach an all time high of $90.07 record, there are signs that the pressure on oil may decrease as the price decreases to $88.60 a barrel. Oil prices have quadrupled since 2002 when they were under $30.00 a barrel. ( Update October 2010 )current price of oil is approx $82.00.

2008 United States Presidential Election: With just over two weeks till the 2008 presidential election US presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are trading arguments over dissagreements on how to handle the current economic breakdown. Barack Obama is currently leading in the polls.

2008 World World Economy: A global economic summit to discuss the global financial crisis will be held in the US after November's presidential election. Many are predicting a world wide recession in 2009.

OCT. 20th.

1924 U.S.A. Earthquake: An earthquake rattles most of the state of South Carolina and the surrounding area. The highest intensity was recorded in Pickens, Brevard, Walhalla and Hendersonville.

1927 U.S.A. Differential Analyser: A new electrical machine with a mechanical mind has been perfected at Massachusetts Institute of Technology/MIT by Professor Vannevar Bush which can solve problems to complex for human engineers. The Product a differential analyser allows the mathematician or engineer to feed in the equation and parts of the problem which cannot be solved by formal mathematics.

1947 U.S.A. UN American Activities: The House Un American Activities Committee began investigating alleged Communist activities involving Hollywood entertainers.

1952 U.S.A. Communist Party: The Subversive Activities Control Board has recommended that the American Communist Party be registered with the US government and be forced to show it's membership rostra and financial records under the internal security act of 1950.

1955 UK Final Book Of The Lord Of The Rings Published: J.R.R.Tolkien's final book "The Return of the King" is published, from the 3 fantasy novels making up "The Lord Of The Rings" which was written between 1937 and 1949. The books were set in Middle-earth and featured hobbits, Wizzards, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Men and the quest for the One Ring that rules the other Rings of Power. The Lord Of The Rings was a series of books 1) The Fellowship of the Ring 2) The Two Towers 3) The Return of the King.

1967 U.S.A. Vietnam Protesters: More than 10,000 protesters took to the streets of Oakland, California on the fifth day of demonstrations in protest against American involvement in the Vietnam War.

1968 Greece Onassis: Jackie Kennedy marries Greek multimillionaire Aristotle Onassis on his privately owned island paradise part of the Greek Islands.

1973 U.S.A. Watergate: President Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibold Cox and abolished the Watergate prosecution force. He also accepted the resignation of Attorney General Elliot L Richardson and fired all his deputies.

1973 Australia Sydney Opera House: Sydney Opera House one the one of the world's most distinctive buildings opens in on the banks of Sydney Harbour, Australia. The unusual design was by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the work on Sydney Opera House had begun 15 years earlier.

1983 Grenada Prime Minister Assassinated: The Prime Minister of Grenada, Maurice Bishop, is shot dead by the armed forces at the Caribbean island's military headquarters.

1984 U.S.A. Monterey Bay Aquarium: Monterey Bay Aquarium one of the largest aquariums in the world opens in Monterey Bay, California. Amongst it's many firsts the Aquarium is the only aquarium in the world able to keep a great white shark captive for more than 16 days.

1988 England Right To Silence: The British Government announces plans to change the law regarding a suspect's right to remain silent and a person's reason for remaining silent could be interpreted by a judge and jury for guilt or innocence.

1991 U.S.A. Oakland Firestorm: The Oakland Firestorm happens on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California killing 25 and injuring 150 others. The fire claimed 2,843 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units.

1995 U.S.A. UN Loan: The United Nations was forced to take out a loan of $125 as it had exceeded it's annual budget and decided to hand out bills to its biggest debtors and at the top of the list was the United States which owed the U.N. $1.25 billion.

2005 Iraq Hussein Pleads Not Guilty: Saddam Hussein pleads "not guilty" at the opening of the al-Dujail trial. During the proceeding, Hussein argued that the judge was not appointed by him, and he did not acknowledge the court.

2006 India Bus Crash: A bus in Rewa, India, drove into a lake after possibly experiencing brake failure. A total of fifty-six people died while nine were either rescued or able to swim to shore.

2007 U.S.A. Piyush Amrit "Bobby" Jindal Elected: Piyush Amrit "Bobby" Jindal is elected as the youngest current governor in the United States and also the first Indian-American governor in the country.

2007 U.S.A. California Forest Fires: One of the largest and deadliest fires in US history begins in Southern California fanned by the Santa Ana winds destroying 400,000 acres and 2,000 homes.

Tragic Day in 1977. A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd and most of their crew crashed in a swamp near McComb, MS on it's was to a show in Baton Rouge, LA.
6 people we're killed including singer and band founder Ronnie Van Zant, new guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and back up singer Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. Other band members suffered life threatening injuries. An FAA investigator said that it was amazing that anyone at all survived the crash. 20 people survived. The only actual band member who was not on the flight was back up singer Jo Billingsley who 2 days before had a dream that the plane would crash - she refused to board the flight to Baton Rouge.

OCT. 24th.

1929 U.S.A. Wall Street Crash (Black Thursday): One week before the Wall Street Crash an indication of things to come on "Black Thursday" when investors on the New York Stock Exchange dumped 13 million shares causing shares to plummet.

1931 U.S.A. George Washington Bridge: The George Washington Bridge was opened to traffic, connecting the states of New York and New Jersey.

1934 UK The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race: The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race with a prize of over $75,000 starts from RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia to Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, aircraft entered from all over the world including America, Holland, Argentina. New Zealand, Australia and more.

1901 Canada Niagara Falls: The first successful barrel ride over Niagara Falls occurred when Anna Edson Taylor, a school teacher, rode safely over the Falls today in a barrel.

1921 U.S.A. New Lower Taxes: An amendment to lower the taxes paid on income was defeated today with a majority of 46 to 28 in the senate. The current rate of Taxation is 4% on income up to $4,000
8% on income from $4000 The new amendment contained the following Tax thresholds 2% on income up to $5,000
4% on income from $5,000 to $10,000 6% on income from $10,000 to $15,000 8% on all income over $15,000

1931 U.S.A. George Washington Bridge Opens: The upper level of the George Washington Bridge able to carry six lanes of traffic, connecting New York and New Jersey, opened to traffic. Work on the bridge on behalf of the Port of New York Authority had begun in October 1927.

1939 Germany Star of David: New Rules by Nazis require Jews to wear star of David often yellow-colored to identify Jewish People. The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word Jude (German for Jew) inscribed was then extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in the Reichland.

1940 U.S.A. 40hr Working Week: Due to the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S. Code Chapter 8) in 1938 part of the New Deal the 40-hour working week goes into effect.

1942 World War II El Alemain: A much refreshed and rearmed British 8th Army charged into the Axis El Alemain line today in an offensive sprung in the night by land sea and air which will prove to be the turning point in the war in Egypt.

1945 U.S.A. United Nations: The United Nations is formally established as a new international body to maintain peace in the postwar world when its charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories.

1947 Great Britain Train Crash: Heavy fog and a mistake by a signalman causes two rush hour commuter trains to collide in South Croydon, killing 32 people.

1964 U.S.A. Food Stamp Programme: The Department of Agriculture is expand the food stamp programme to include 41 states . The program works by allowing those in need to buy food stamps for $6.00 which are worth $10.00 worth of food. The New cities to be included in the program include Chicago, Denver, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Cincinnati.

1973 Egypt Yom Kippur War: The Yom Kippur War ends when all sides agree to a ceasefire, the war had started on October 6th when a surprise joint attack by Egypt and Syria crossing the (1967-5 day war)cease-fire lines in the Sinai and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. After initial success by Egypt and Syria Israel had surrounded and trapped the Egyptian Third Army which forced the ceasefire following pressure from the Soviet Union on the Arab countries and pressure from America on Israel.

1998 Philippines Typhoon Babs: As reports are coming out from the Philippines from Typhoon Babs, the cost in human lives has now reached more than 100 and nearly 100,000 people forced to leave their homes.

2001 Switzerland Fire In Gotthard Road Tunnel: Following an accident between two lorries deep in the Gotthard Road Tunnel which is the main route from Zurich through the Alps to Northern Italy, a massive fire starts causing part of the tunnel roof to collapse, early estimates put the death toll at 10.

2002 U.S.A. Washington Snipers Arrested: Authorities arrest John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo when they are found sleeping in their car at a rest stop off Interstate 70 near Myersville, Maryland, and arrested on federal weapons charges and investigations begin in connection with the Washington-area sniper attacks.

2003 Great Britain Concorde: Concorde makes its final commercial passenger flight, traveling at twice the speed of sound from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to London’s Heathrow Airport

2005 U.S.A. Rosa Parks: Civil rights activist Rosa Parks died today of natural causes at the age of 92. Her refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 triggered a bus boycott that would mark the start of the modern civil rights movement.

2008 Iceland IMF Aid: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to give aid to Iceland worth about $2.1bn (£1.3bn; 1.58bn euros). The aid is required because after the country was forced to take over three of its biggest, debt-laden banks this month.

2009 U.S.A. US Bank Closures reaches 100: The number of banks now closed this year reaches 100 following the closure of three banks in Florida this week.

2009 U.S.A. H1N1 swine flu declared a national emergency: US President has signed a proclamation declaring the H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, in a move to help medical teams handle the outbreak allowing authorities to bypass certain federal requirements in order to deal more effectively with emergencies.

OCT. 25th

1854 Russia Charge of the Light Brigade: Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.
Below is the famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson depicting the event
"The Charge of the Light Brigade"

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1917 Russia Soviet Revolution or Bolsheviks Revolution: The October revolution when Bolsheviks gained power from the provisional government and is celebrated on the 25th October due to the capture of the Winter Palace, Petrograd (the seat of the Provisional government) on this day in history.

1933 U.S.A. Gold Buying: The Roosevelt gold buying policy was inaugurated today with the government paying $31.36 per ounce 27 cents higher than quotations on the London Gold Exchange.

1935 Haiti Hurricane: A major hurricane strikes Haiti leaving more than 2,000 people dead and many thousands homeless and hungry.

1944 Philippines Kamikaze Bombers: The Japanese deploy kamikaze suicide bombers against American warships for the first time during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the U.S. Third and U.S. Seventh Fleets.

1948 Italy Rome's "Misery Belt": New hope is being given to the 10,000 residents of Rome's "Misery Belt" which consists of shanties and hovels made out of packing cases, sewer pipes and war wrecked cars that these people are living in on the outskirts of Rome after the loss of their homes through bombing in the war.

1950 Tibet Chinese Control: The Chinese Communists announced today that they have increased their army strength to more than 10 million men to free 3,000,000 Tibetans from Imperialist Aggression.

1952 UK The Mousetrap Opens In London's West End: The Mousetrap a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie opens in London's West End at the New Ambassadors Theatre. The play has now run a record-breaking 23,074 performances and is running at St Martin's Theatre.

1955 U.S.A. Bennies: A crackdown on the sale and use of stimulants often called "Bennies" "Golf Balls" or "Co_Pilots" in the trucking industry is occurring in many states, the truckers use them to stay awake on long journeys.

1964 Zambia Independence: Zambia formerly Northern Rhodesia the home of the Victoria Falls becomes the ninth African state to gain independence from the British Rule. The new president of the country is Kenneth Kaunda from the United National Independence Party.

1964 U.S.A. Rolling Stones: The British Invasion of Music continues when the Rolling Stones appear on Ed Sullivan's TV variety show, after the clean cut Beatles the Stones were considered the opposite and became popular due to the very different style and content of their music together with the anti-establishment look.

1970 Great Britain Pacific Glory: The Liberian registered tanker Pacific Glory is on fire and is continuing to spill crude oil into the English Channel creating a huge oil slick, the tanker has 100,000 gallons of crude oil on board and many fear an environmental disaster as bad as the Torrey Canyon disaster off the Cornish coast 3 years ago .

1971 China United Nations: The communist People's Republic of China is recognized by the United Nations and the Nationalist Chinese government of Taiwan is expelled.

1977 U.S.A. Statue Of Liberty: Two dozen persons took over the Statue Of Liberty in a siege this morning, they have said they represent the New York Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Nationalist Prisoners.

1983 Grenada Marines Invade Grenada: President Ronald Reagan orders marines to invade Grenada and secure the safety of 1,000 American Citizens following threats by the nation's Marxist regime. One week later the Marxist government is overthrown.

1984 U.S.A. Hepatitus: Researchers have identified the virus that causes so-called non-A, non-B hepatitis .

2001 U.S.A. XP: Microsoft releases its new operating system Windows XP.

2007 Singapore Airbus A380: The first Airbus A380 begins scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

2009 Iraq Suicide Attack: A double car bomb suicide attack on the ministry of justice building and a provincial government office in Baghdad leaves at least 150 people dead and an estimated 500 more injured.

OCT. 26th

1933 U.S.A. Graf Zeppelin: The giant passenger carrying Dirigible Graf Zeppelin stopped off today for a brief visit at Chicago so the commander Dr Hugo Heckner could attend the World Fair. A large ground crew consisting of 250 regular soldiers took the giant 776 ft airliner in tow prior to it taking off again on it's trip to Milwaukee and back to Akron. Trips like this are nothing to this giant of the air which has now circled the world.

1944 U.S.A. Ku Klux Klan: While campaigning as the Democratic vice presidential nominee has told reporters he never was, am not and never will be a member of the Ku Klux Klan .

1951 UK Winston Churchill Elected: The conservative party led by Winston Churchill has won the latest general election in Britain defeating the Labour party led by Clement Attlee.

1956 Hungary October Revolution: The Hungarian October Revolution is now in it's third day with demonstrators fighting in the streets of Budapest with Soviet Troops. Estimates range from 3,000 to 5,000 dead and many lying in the streets where they have fallen.

1959 Space Moon Photos: The first photographs are seen on earth of the far side of the moon when the Lunik III, a Soviet satellite which are sent back to earth via radio signals.

1965 England The Beatles: The Beatles were made members of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

1967 U.S.A. John McCain: The Presidential Candidate John McCain a US Navy pilot in the Vietnam war is shot down over North Vietnam and spends the next 5 1/2 years in prison, two of those years were spent in solitary confinement.

1979 South Korea President Shot: The President of South Korea, Park Chung Hee and five others including the president's bodyguard are shot dead by the chief of his intelligence service, Kim Jea Kyu.

1980 U.S.A. Oil Embargo: After the oil embargo in 1973 the Japanese car makers were selling a greater number of cars each year and 1980 was a watershed for the American Car industry with GM posting record pre-tax losses for the quarter of $953 million, shortly after this Ford posted even worse figures.

1984 U.S.A. Baby Fae: Surgeons gave a 14-day-old girl, referred to as 'Baby Fae', the heart of a young baboon, she did only survive for 20 days after the operation but this was still considered a breakthrough in heart transplants.

1994 U.S.A. Israel Jordan Peace Treaty: Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty to end 46 years of war. The treaty was signed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan and the ceremony was attended by President Clinton.

1998 Honduras Hurricane: Hurricane Mitch the most deadly storm in modern times hits a number of Central American countries including Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua leaving a trail of destruction and death in the area caused from a combination of very heavy winds and rain causing flooding and huge landslides. The death toll at the end of the storm was over 3,000 with tens of thousands left homeless

1999 UK House of Lords Act 1999: As part of Tony Blair's reform of the House of Lords the House of Lords Act 1999 ends the right of hereditary peers to vote in the Lords. The bill stated that "No-one shall be a member of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage."

2000 UK Mad Cow Disease: A report on BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) commonly called Mad Cow Disease places the blame on many organisations and politicians for the spread and growth of BSE and it's human form vCJD (Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease).
1. The danger to the public was not identified quickly enough
2. The Government did not inform the public quick enough
3. Recycling of animal protein in ruminant feed was the main cause of the spread of the disease and should have been identified much earlier.
4. Ministers were more concerned with damage caused by panic to the beef industry than the health of it's citizens.
There were 3,253 cases of BSE identified and 18 human deaths from vCJD.

2001 U.S.A. USA PATRIOT Act: President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act which expands the authority of U.S. law enforcement agencies for the stated purpose of fighting terrorism in the United States and abroad. By giving them additional ability to search, seize, or eavesdrop telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial and other records in their pursuit of possible terrorists.

2002 Soviet Union 120 Hostages Killed: Russian Special Forces storm a theatre where 50 Chechnyn rebels have held 7,000 hostages for three days, during the raid most of the terrorists and 120 hostages are killed.

2003 U.S.A. California Fire: The "Cedar Fire" was one of 15 fires throughout Southern California in October. The fire driven by the Santa Ana Winds burned 280,278 acres and 2,232 homes and killed 15 people during the following week making it the largest fire in recorded California history up to then. The worst of the fire was on this day in history 26th October when 12 people were killed. During the same period over 12 other major wildfires were burning around Southern California including the "Old Fire" which caused the loss of 6 lives. Both the "Old Fire" and "Cedar Fire" were caused by man and not nature.

2006 India New Domestic Violence Laws Passed: India passed a law aimed at protecting women from domestic violence. The law aims to stop physical violence related to dowries and violence committed against women from partners, husbands, and in-laws.

2008 Egypt Wife Swapping Couple Arrested: Egyptian police arrest a senior civil servant and his wife accusing them of swapping sex partners with other couples during "swinger" parties.