This Day in History

Gordonator SG

Idea 5th October 1989

The Dalai Lama wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Dalai Lama, the exiled religious and political leader of Tibet, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his nonviolent campaign to end the Chinese domination of Tibet.

Gordonator SG

Idea 6th October 1961

Kennedy urges Americans to build bomb shelters

President John F. Kennedy, speaking on civil defense, advises American families to build bomb shelters to protect them from atomic fallout in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union.

Gordonator SG

Idea 7th October 1949

East Germany created

Less than five months after Great Britain, the United States, and France established the Federal Republic of Germany in West Germany, the Democratic Republic of Germany is proclaimed within the Soviet occupation zone. Criticized by the West as an un-autonomous Soviet creation, Wilhelm Pieck was named East Germany's first president, with Otto Grotewohl as prime minister.

Gordonator SG

Idea 8th October 1981

The Great Fire destroys much of Chicago

On this night in 1871, fire breaks out in a barn behind the Chicago cottage of Patrick O'Leary. Winds blowing off the prairie fed the flames, and the fire spread rapidly, eventually consuming a four-mile-long and two-third-mile-wide swath of Chicago. When the Great Fire was finally over two days later, nearly 300 people were dead, one hundred thousand were homeless, and Chicago's booming downtown was in ashes. Despite the devastation, Chicago would rise again and continue to be the economic center of the American West for decades to come.

Gordonator SG

Idea 9th October 1967

Professional revolutionary "Che" Guevara is executed in Bolivia

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, better known to the world as "Che" Guevara, is executed by Bolivian armed forces on this day in 1967.

Idea 9th October 1940

John Lennon is born

John Lennon is born in Liverpool, England. As part of the Beatles and as a solo artist, Lennon became one of the most influential musicians in rock history.

Gordonator SG

Idea 10th October 1944

WWII: Eight hundred children are gassed to death at Auschwitz

On this day in 1944, 800 Gypsy children, including more than a hundred boys between 9 and 14 years old are systematically murdered.

Gordonator SG

Idea 11th October 1968

Apollo 7 launched

Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, is launched with astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr.; Donn F. Eisele; and Walter Cunningham aboard. Under the command of Schirra, the crew of Apollo 7 conducted an 11-day orbit of Earth, during which the crew transmitted the first live television broadcasts from orbit. The crew also successfully performed a docking maneuver with a lunar module as preparation for the future manned lunar landing, which was accomplished by Apollo 11 in 1969.

Gordonator SG

Idea 12th October 1492

COLUMBUS REACHES THE NEW WORLD

After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.

Gordonator SG

Idea 13th October 1812

Sir Isaac Brock saves Canada

During the War of 1812, British and Indian forces under Sir Isaac Brock defeat Americans under General Stephen Van Rensselaer at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, on the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada. The British victory, in which more than 1,000 U.S. troops were killed, wounded, or captured, effectively ended any further U.S. invasion of Canada. Sir Isaac Brock, Britain's most talented general in the war, was killed during the battle.

Gordonator SG

Idea 14th OCtober 1947

YEAGER BREAKS SOUND BARRIER

U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Gordonator SG

Idea 15th OCtober1951

I Love Lucy debuts

TV's first long-running sitcom hit, I Love Lucy, debuts on this day. The show starred comedian Lucille Ball and her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.

Gordonator SG

Idea 16th OCtober 1934

THE LONG MARCH

The embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch'ang Cheng--the "Long March"--the retreat lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles, nearly twice the distance from New York to San Francisco.

Gordonator SG

Idea 17th October 1973

OPEC ENACTS OIL EMBARGO

The Arab-dominated Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announces a decision to cut oil exports to the United States and other nations that provided military aid to Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. According to OPEC, exports were to be reduced by 5 percent every month until Israel evacuated the territories occupied in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. In December, a full oil embargo was imposed against the United States and several other countries, prompting a serious energy crisis in the United States and other nations dependent on foreign oil.

Gordonator SG

Idea 18th October 1931

EDISON DIES

Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, dies in West Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 84.

Gordonator SG

Idea 19th October 1812

Napoleon retreats from Moscow

One month after Napoleon Bonaparte's massive invading force entered a burning and deserted Moscow, the starving French army is forced to begin a hasty retreat out of Russia.

StarPuppy SG

Originally posted by Gordonator:
[b]19th October 1812

Napoleon retreats from Moscow

One month after Napoleon Bonaparte's massive invading force entered a burning and deserted Moscow, the starving French army is forced to begin a hasty retreat out of Russia.

[/b]

Sorry for hijacking but i would like to add something...

Today is also Gordon's World of Fact 1 year old Mr. Green

Gordonator SG

Idea 20th October 1973

Sydney Opera House opens

After 15 years of construction, the Sydney Opera House is dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II. The $80 million structure, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and funded by the profits of the Opera House Lotteries, was built on Nennelong Point, in Sydney, Australia.

Famous for its geometric roof shells, the structure contains several large auditoriums and presents an average of 3,000 events a year to an estimated two million people. The first performance in the complex was the Australian Opera's production of Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace, which was held in the 1,547-seat Opera Theatre. Today, the Opera House remains Sydney's best-known landmark.

Gordonator SG

Idea 21th October 1956

Carrie Fisher born

Carrie Fisher is born to actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher. Fisher grew up to co-star in the blockbuster Star Wars movie and its sequels. She wrote a best-selling novel, Postcards from the Edge, based on her struggle with drugs, and another, Surrender the Pink, inspired by her ill-fated marriage to singer Paul Simon.

Gordonator SG

Idea 22th October 1952

Jeff Goldblum born

Actor Jeff Goldblum is born in 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Goldblum studied with the prestigious Carnegie Mellon theater program while still in high school, but rather than attending college he went directly to New York to pursue acting. He immediately began landing stage roles.

He made his first film appearances in the mid 1970s. His gangly build and quirky looks landed Goldblum a series of offbeat roles in movies like The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) and Earth Girls Are Easy (1989) (the latter also starring his then-wife, actress Geena Davis). Goldblum and Davis divorced in 1990. Goldblum also received top billing in such hits as Jurassic Park (1993) and Independence Day (1996).

Gordonator SG

Idea 23th October 1971

Disney World opens

Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida

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