October 20 leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar . There are 72 days remaining until the end of the year.
1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria . France , Prussia , Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
1781 - Patent of Toleration , providing limited freedom of worship , was approved in Habsburg Monarchy .
1803 - The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase .
1818 - The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
1824 - William H. Seward and Frances Adeline Miller Seward wed.
1827 - Battle of Navarino - a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is destroyed by an allied British , French , and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece . The most important result of this battle is the end of the Greek Liberation War and the affirmation of independence of modern Greece .
1883 - Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancón , by which the Tarapacá province was ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific .
1910 - The hull of the RMS Olympic , sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic , is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast , Ireland .
1935 - The Long March ends
1941 - World War II : Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are killed in the Kragujevac massacre .
1944 - The Soviet army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade , the capital of Yugoslavia
1944 - Liquid natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland , then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.
1944 - General Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War .
1947 - The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood , resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
1951 - The "Johnny Bright Incident " occurred in Stillwater , Oklahoma
1952 - Governor Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency in Kenya and began arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising , including Jomo Kenyatta , the future first President of Kenya .
1955 - Publication of The Return of the King The Lord of the Rings 1967 - A purported bigfoot is filmed by Patterson and Gimlin .
1968 - Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis .
1971 - The Nepal stock exchange collapses.
1973 - The Saturday Night Massacre : President Nixon fires Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox , who is finally fired by Robert Bork .
1973 - The Sydney Opera House opens.
1976 - The ferry George Prince Mississippi River between Destrehan and Luling, LA . Seventy-eight passengers and crew died; only 18 people aboard the ferry survived.
1977 - A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi , killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines along with backup singer Cassie Gaines , the road manager, pilot, and co-pilot.
1979 - The John F Kennedy library is opened in Boston , Massachusetts .
1982 - During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem at least 63 and probably many more people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster .
1984 - The Monterey Bay Aquarium opens in Monterey Bay .
1991 - The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
2004 - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is sworn in as the President of Indonesia .
2004 - The Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball become the first team in the history of the league to win a best-of-7 postseason series after trailing the series 3 games to 0, by defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7 the American League Championship Series .
2004 - The first Ubuntu Linux distribution is released.
1463 - Alessandro Achillini , Italian philosopher (d. 1512 )--
1496 - Claude , French soldier (d. 1550 )
1616 - Thomas Bartholin , Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (d. 1680 )
1620 - Aelbert Cuyp , Dutch painter (d. 1691 )
1632 - Sir Christopher Wren , English architect (d. 1723 )
1656 - Nicolas de Largillière , French painter (d. 1746 )
1660 - Robert Bertie , English statesman (d. 1723 )
1677 - Stanislaus I Leszczyński (d. 1766 )
1711 - Timothy Ruggles , American-born Tory politician (d. 1795 )
1719 - Gottfried Achenwall , German statistician (d. 1772 )
1759 - Chauncey Goodrich , U.S. Senator from Connecticut (d. 1815 )
1780 - Pauline Bonaparte , princess Borghese, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1825 )
1784 - Henry Temple , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1865 )
1785 - George Ormerod , English historian and antiquarian (d. 1873 )
1808 - Karl Andree , German geographer (d. 1875 )
1819 - The Báb , Persian founder of the Bábí Faith (d. 1850 )
1819 - Carl Mikuli , Polish pianist (d. 1897 )
1822 - Thomas Hughes , English novelist (d. 1896 )
1832 - Constantin Lipsius , German architect (d. 1894 )
1854 - Arthur Rimbaud , French poet (d. 1891 )
1858 - John Burns , English politician (d. 1943 )
1859 - John Dewey , American philosopher (d. 1952 )
1874 - Charles Ives , American composer (d. 1954 )
1882 - Bela Lugosi , Hungarian-born actor (d. 1956 )
1889 - Margaret Dumont , American actress (d. 1965 )
1890 - Jelly Roll Morton , American composer (d. 1941 )
1891 - James Chadwick , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974 )
1891 - Jomo Kenyatta , President of Kenya (d. 1978 )
1893 - Charley Chase , American comedian (d. 1940 )
1894 - Olive Thomas , American actress (d. 1920 )
1895 - Rex Ingram , American actor (d. 1969 )
1897 - Crown Prince Eun of Korea (d. 1970 )
1900 - Wayne Morse , U.S. Senator from Oregon (d. 1974 )
1904 - Anna Neagle , English actress (d. 1986 )
1904 - Tommy Clement Douglas , Canadian politician (d. 1986 )
1905 - Ellery Queen , pseudonym of two American writers (d. 1982 )
1907 - Arlene Francis , American television personality (d. 2001 )
1909 - Sugiyama Yasushi , Japanese painter (d. 1993 )
1913 - Grandpa Jones , American banjo player and singer (d. 1998 )
1914 - Fayard Nicholas , American dancer (d. 2006 )
1917 - Jean-Pierre Melville , French director (d. 1973 )
1918 - Robert Lochner , German journalist (d. 2003 )
1922 - John Anderson , American actor (d. 1992 )
1923 - Robert Craft , American conductor
1925 - Art Buchwald , American humorist (d. 2007 )
1925 - Tom Dowd , American recording engineer (d. 2002 )
1925 - Roger Hanin , French actor
1931 - Richard Caliguiri , American politician (d. 1988 )
1931 - Mickey Mantle , American baseball player (d. 1995 )
1932 - Rosey Brown , American football player (d. 2004 )
1932 - William Christopher , American actor (M*A*S*H )
1934 - Eddie Harris , American jazz saxophonist (d. 1996 )
1934 - Michiko , empress of Japan
1935 - Jerry Orbach , American actor (d. 2004 )
1937 - Juan Marichal , Dominican baseball player
1937 - Wanda Jackson , American rock and rockabilly singer
1938 - Iain MacMillan , Abbey Road 2006 )
1940 - Kathy Kirby , British singer
1940 - Robert Pinsky , American poet and Poet Laureate of the United States
1942 - Earl Hindman , American actor (d. 2003 )
1942 - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard , German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1943 - Dunja Vejzovic , Croatian soprano
1944 - David Mancuso , American disc jockey
1946 - Elfriede Jelinek , Austrian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
1946 - Lucien Van Impe , Belgian cyclist
1949 - Valeri Borzov , Ukrainian athlete
1950 - Tom Petty , American musician
1951 - Claudio Ranieri , Italian football player and manager
1951 - Leif Pagrotsky , Swedish politician
1953 - Keith Hernandez , American baseball player
1953 - Bill Nunn , American actor
1954 - Steve Orich , orchestrator
1955 - Thomas Newman , American composer
1955 - David Profumo , English novelist
1955 - Aaron Pryor , American boxer
1956 - Danny Boyle , English film director
1957 - Susanna Haavisto , Finnish actress and singer
1958 - Valerie Faris , American film director
1958 - Dave Finlay , Northern Irish professional wrestler
1958 - Lynn Flewelling , American fantasy author
1958 - Scott Hall , American professional wrestler
1958 - Mark King , English musician and singer (Level 42 )
1958 - Dave Krieg , American football player
1958 - Viggo Mortensen , American actor
1958 - Ivo Pogorelic , Croatian pianist
1960 - Konstantin Aseev , Russian chess player (d. 2004 )
1960 - Lepa Brena , famous Yugoslav singer
1961 - Ian Rush , Welsh footballer
1961 - Michie Tomizawa , Japanese voice actress
1962 - David M. Evans , American screenwriter and film director
1962 - Dave Wong , Hong Kong/Taiwanese singer-songwriter
1963 - Julie Payette , Canadian astronaut
1963 - Nikos Tsiantakis , Greek footballer
1965 - Mikhail Shtalenkov , Russian ice hockey player
1965 - William Zabka , American actor
1965 - Norman Blake , Scottish musician
1966 - Allan Donald , South African cricketer
1966 - Stefan Raab , German entertainer
1966 - Patrick J. Volkerding , Founder and maintainer of the Slackware Linux distribution
1966 - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , Al-Qaeda leader (d. 2006 )
1967 - Luigi Lo Cascio , Italian actor
1967 - Luck Mervil , Québécois actor and singer
1967 - Marco Ngai , Hong Kong actor
1969 - Juan González , Puerto Rican baseball player
1969 - Laurie Daley , Australian rugby league footballer
1969 - Lambros Papakostas , Greek high jumper
1970 - Chavo Guerrero , American professional wrestler
1970 - Michelle Malkin , American political commentator and author
1971 - Dannii Minogue , Australian singer
1971 - Snoop Dogg , American rapper
1972 - Will Greenwood , England rugby union player
1976 - Tom Wisniewski , American guitarist (MxPx )
1977 - Matt Jansen , English footballer
1977 - Leila Josefowicz , Canadian classical violinist
1978 - Virender Sehwag , Indian cricketer
1978 - Paul Wilson , Irish bass player (Snow Patrol )
1979 - John Krasinski , American actor
1979 - Paul O'Connell , Irish rugby player
1980 - Jose Veras , Dominican baseball player
1981 - Willis McGahee , American football player
1981 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos , Greek footballer
1981 - Francisco Javier Rodríguez , Mexican footballer
1982 - Becky Brewerton , Welsh golfer
1982 - Yasser Al-Qahtani , Saudi football player
1983 - Alex Nackman , musician
1983 - Takayuki Yamada , Japanese actor
1983 - Luis Saritama , Ecuadorian footballer
1984 - Florent Sinama-Pongolle , French footballer
1984 - Andrew Trimble , Northern Irish rugby player for Irish rugby team
1985 - Jennifer Nicole Freeman , American actress
1985 - James Sutton , British racing driver
1988 - Risa Niigaki , Japanese singer
1994 - Morgan Featherstone , Fashion model
460 - Aelia Eudocia , Byzantine Empress
1139 - Henry X
1570 - João de Barros , Portuguese historian (b. 1496 )
1631 - Michael Maestlin , German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1550 )
1640 - John Ball , English Puritan clergyman (b. 1585 )
1652 - Antonio Coello , Spanish writer (b. 1611 )
1713 - Archibald Pitcairne , Scottish physician (b. 1652 )
1740 - Charles VI (b. 1685 )
1842 - Grace Darling , English heroine (b. 1815 )
1865 - Champ Ferguson , Confederate guerrilla (b. 1821 )
1890 - Sir Richard Burton , British explorer and writer (b. 1821 )
1900 - Naim Frashëri , Albanian poet (b. 1846 )
1907 - Said Pasha Kurd , Kurdish statesman (b. 1834 )
1910 - David B. Hill , Governor of New York (b. 1843 )
1926 - Eugene Debs , American labor leader and Socialist presidential candidate (b. 1855 )
1935 - Arthur Henderson , Scottish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1863 )
1936 - Anne Sullivan , American teacher (b. 1866 )
1940 - Gunnar Asplund , Swedish architect (b. 1885 )
1964 - Herbert Hoover , 31st President of the United States (b. 1874 )
1967 - Yoshida Shigeru , Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878 )
1968 - Bud Flanagan , British wartime entertainer (b. 1896 )
1972 - Harlow Shapley , American astronomer (b. 1885 )
1977 - Members of the American rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd killed in a plane crash:
1983 - Peter Dudley , British actor
1983 - Yves Thériault , French Canadian author (b. 1915 )
1984 - Carl Ferdinand Cori , Austrian-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896 )
1984 - Paul Dirac , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902 )
1987 - Andrey Kolmogorov , Russian mathematician (b. 1903 )
1988 - Sheila Scott , English aviatrix (b. 1922 )
1989 - Anthony Quayle , English actor (b. 1913 )
1990 - Joel McCrea , American actor (b. 1905 )
1992 - Werner Torkanowsky , German conductor (b. 1926 )
1993 - Sugiyama Yasushi , Japanese painter (b. 1909 )
1994 - Burt Lancaster , American actor (b. 1913 )
1995 - Christopher Stone , American actor (b. 1942 )
2001 - Ted Ammon , American financier (b. 1949 )
2002 - Barbara Berjer , American actress (b. 1920 )
2002 - Bernard Fresson , French actor (b. 1931 )
2003 - Jack Elam , American actor (b. 1918 )
2004 - Anthony Hecht , American poet (b. 1923 )
2004 - Chuck Hiller , American baseball player (b. 1934 )
2005 - Shirley Horn , American singer (b. 1934 )
2005 - Endon Mahmood , First Lady of Malaysia (breast cancer) (b. 1941 )
2005 - Eva Svankmajerova , Czech artist (b. 1940 )
2006 - Jane Wyatt , American actress (b. 1910 )
2007 - Max McGee , American football player (b. 1932 )
2007 - Paul Raven , British bass-player (Killing Joke , Ministry ) (b. 1961 )
Holidays and observances External links
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