This Month in History: October

 

 

October's Shawl

October is a lovely month
Wrapped in a flaming shawl
It holds the richest treasures
As the summer turns to fall.

The brilliant leaves swirl to the earth
Colors of orange and brown
Dipped in scarlet and touched with bronze
They fall silently to the ground.

The grass is dying, the flowers are gone
October is taking his stand
He is paving the way for winter
Leaving his mark upon the land.

He does his job so silently
Splashing the woodlands with gold
To be altered by ruthless 'Ole Winter
Who enters so careless and bold.

He will crinkle the leaves that you've colored
Causing a state of despair
And cover the day with a blanket of gray
Forgetting you ever were there.

But, although your radiant flame must die
And the delicate leaves do fall
You've paved the way for snowflake days
As winter drapes your shawl.




October in History


October 1

The Television series "The Twilight Zone" premeired (1959)
Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida (1971)
Alexander the Great defeated Darius III in the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC)
Yosemite becomes a National Park (1896)
Ford Model T motor car goes on sale. It was only available in black and cost $850 (1908)


October 2

Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schultz first appeared in newspapers (1950)
The Royal Navy commissions its first submarine (1901)


October 3

President Lincoln declares the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day. (1863)
Frank Robinson becomes major leagues baseball's first black manager for the Cleveland Indians. (1974)


October 4

Buster Keaton was born (1895)
Actor Charlton Heston- Best Known for "The Ten Commandments" was born (1924)
Mexico becomes a republic (1824)
Russia launched Sputnik I into space (1957)


October 5

The World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time (1921)
Bulgaria declared independence from Turkey and Ferdinand I became Tsar. (1908)


October 6

Thomas Edison showed the 1st motion picture (1889)
The first Physician's Assistants graduate from Duke University (1967)


October 7

Edgar Allan Poe died (1849)
In the Netherlands KLM Airlines was established. KLM is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. (1919)


October 8

Chicago fire began (1871)
In Britain, the Conservatives were re-elected to government (1959)


October 9

The general public was first admitted into the Washington Monument.
Singer and songwriter John Lennon of "The Beatles" was born in Liverpool, England. (1940)
Pope Pius XII died. (1958)
Uganda gained independance from Britain (1962)


October 10

The actor and director Orson Welles died age 70 (1985)
The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland. (1845)
The Boer War in South Africa began (1899) and ended on 31st May (1902). It was fought between Britain and the Boers.
The Bayer Company started selling Asprin in Germany (1903)
A volcanic eruption on Tristan da Cunha, an island in the south Atlantic, resulted in the whole population being evacuated to Britain (1961)


October 11

Apollo 7 is launched at Cape Kennedy. The crew are Walter Schirra, Don Eisele and Walter Cunningham. (1968)
Space Shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space. (1984)


October 12

The very first Oktoberfest is held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany (1810)
Christopher Columbus discovered America (1492)


October 13

The U.S. Continental Navy was created. (1775)
The first World Series in baseball is won by the Boston Red Sox. (1903)


October 14

The Austrian doctor Sigmund Freud published his book about psychoanalysis, entitled 'The Interpretation of Dreams' (1900)
Martin Luther King Jr was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1964)


October 15

"I Love Lucy" premiered on television. (1951)
U.S. Department of Transportation was created (1966)


October 16

Marie Antoinette was guillotined for treason. (1793)
Cuban Missile crisis begins. (1962)


October 17

Mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion. (1931)


October 18

Thomas Alva Edison died (1931)
Sir Alec Douglas-Home (Lord Home) became the British Prime Minister after Harold Macmillan resigned. (1963)
The United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. Secretary of State William H. Seward had agreed to buy the region for $7,200,000, about 2 cents per acre. (1867)


October 19

The Senate passed a bill making Martin Luther King's Birthday a national holiday. (1983)
The Revolutionary War ended. (1781)


October 20

The first edition of the Sunday Times was published in London (1822)


October 21

Thomas Edison invented the incandescent electric lamp. (1879)
Nelson defeated Napoleon's fleet at Trafalgar (1805)


October 22

The New York Metropolitan Opera House opened (1883)


October 23

25,000 women marched gin New York City demanding the right to vote. (1915)


October 24

The United Nations came into existence. (1945)
Anna Edison Taylor is the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. (1901)


October 25

U.S. forces invade Grenada. (1983)
Johann Strauss the Austrian composer was born. (1825)
The painter Pablo Picasso was born (1881)


October 26

The Erie Canal opens, connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River. (1825)
The "Gunfight at the OK Corral" occurs. Wyatt Earp, his two brothes, and "Doc" Holliday, have a shootout with the Ike Clanton gang. (1881)
The Erie Canal opens. (1825)


October 27

President Theodore Roosevelt's birthday. The "Teddy bear" was named after him. (1858)


October 28

France presented the U.S. with the statute of Liberty. (1886)
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is completed. (1965)
Harvard College was founded (1636)


October 29

The New York Stock Exchange crashed on what came to be known as "Black Tuesday", starting the Great Depression (1929)


October 30

First successful television experiment by the inventor John Logie Baird (1925)
Dr. Albert Schweitzer received the Peace Prize (1952)
Gen. George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1953)
The U.S.S.R. tested a hydrogen bomb that had a force of 58 megatons (1961)


October 31

Magician Harry Houdini dies from complications of a ruptured appendix. (1926)
Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi was assassinated. (1984)
Nevada became the 36th state. (1864)
Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole (1956)