On Oct. 14, 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

On this day in 1962, the world comes thisclose to total nuclear annihilation when photographs taken by a U-2 spy plane offer incontrovertible proof that the Soviets had set up missile bases in the island nation of Cuba. That put Soviet nukes a mere 90 miles off the American coastline. During the next two weeks, Nikita Kruschev and John F. Kennedy played the highest-stakes game of chess ever played in the history of humankind. Thank Godzilla it ended in a twenty-eight-year stalemate.


On this day in 1977, child-abusing crooner Bing Crosby dies of a heart attack at 74 while vacationing in Madrid, Spain. Two months later, the Bingster records his last ever Christmas special.



(Thanks to www.dailydirt.com for these!)

October 15th
 

Mata Hari, full-time dancer and part-time spy, is executed by firing squad in Paris in 1917.


Today in 1839, Queen Victoria nervoudly proposed marriage to her 'beautiful' first cousin, Prince Albert. After a whirlwind courtship, they married in February 1840. (D'you reckon she was 'in the family way'? ;))


The first-evet major ballet was a five-hour spectacle, choreographed by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx, for Catherine de Medici and an audience of 10,000 at her palace in Paris in 1581.


William Golding was disappointed when his classic novel Lord Of The Flies, published today in 1954, was chosen as an 'O'-level text. He thought it was tough enough for 'A'-level students! (I think he was a bit 'full of himself' :) )

DM

LOL DM - I didn't think the book was that difficult! Sheesh :)

hehehe.... nor did I hon, but Mr. Golding obviously did!! Like I said, "full of himself" :D (means, "full of his own importance", don't ya know!! ;))

DM

Beat ya' today, dm. :D

In 1982, Mt Palomar Observatory was the first to detect Halley's comet on it's 13th return
Also, in 1982 Shultz (Sec of State) warned that the US would withdraw from UN if they voted to exclude Israel
In 1983, my favorite baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles beat Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 3 in the 80th World Series

On Oct. 16, 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb.

Constantinople- 16 October 610
Heraclius, son of the governor of Africa, attacks Constantinople with his fleet. The people rise in his favour: Phocas is seized and executed. Beset by barbarian attacks and religious and political divisions, the empire is on the point of collapse.

CONSISTENCY!

That’s what I like:)

Politacs- Religon- War-

LMAO

October 16th
 

Marie "Let them eat cake" Antoinette met her doom at the guillotine today in 1793


In 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow, became Pope, taking the name John Paul II (in memory of his short-lived predecessor). He was the first non_Italian to be elevated to the position since 1522.


The first hotel with ensuite bathrooms (and towels!) was the Tremont House in Boston, Massachussetts, which opened its doors to guests today in 1829.


Long after they have ceased to exist, the word "borstal" is still used for a detention centre for youths, after the first such facility opened at Borstal, near Rochester, Kent, in 1902.

DM



FYI "borstal" is the old term for a juvenile detention centre..... kinda like kiddy prison!

On Oct. 17, 1931, Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was released in 1939.

October 17th
 

In 1995, a father and son spent a week in prison for not coming to the aid of a neighbour who'd had a heart-attack while arguing with them


On this day in 1973, the English football team could only draw 1-1 with Poland at Wembley, and so FAILED to qualify for the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany


H.M. The Queen switched on the power in 1956, at the world's first full-scale nuclear power station at Calder Hall, in Cheshire, England


On the anniversary of Chopin's death (i.e. today!) a concert is held at his birthplace, a country house; the audience sits in the garden, and the musicians play with the windows open!!!

In 1920 the Chicago Bears (playing as the Decatur [Illinois] Staleys) play their 1st NFL game and win 7-0!!!

(Used to live in Decatur! :D)

On Oct. 18, 1968, the U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a "black power" salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.

Germany- 18 October 1817
At the festival of Wartberg- organized by Jena University students to celebrate both the 300th anniversary of the Reformation and the battle of Leipzig- reactionary texts and military effigies are burnt. The University of Jena has become the center of movement oif a liberal movement spearheaded by new student societies known as the Burschenschaten.