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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 Tolerance, 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

1955 - Publication of The Return of the King, being the last part of 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.

1977 - A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines.

1979 - The John F Kennedy library is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.

1984 - The Monterey Bay Aquarium opens in Monterey Bay, California.

1990 - World Series: The Cincinnati Reds sweep the Oakland Athletics 4-0. Jose Rijo would be the Series MVP.

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 Red Sox defeat the Yankees 10-3 in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, becoming the first team in baseball history to win a seven-game series after losing the first three games.

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1463 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (d. 1512)

1469 - Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism (d. 1539)

1496 - Claude, Duke of Guise, 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, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (d. 1723)

1677 - Stanislaus I Leszczyński, King of Poland (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)

1784 - Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1865)

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)

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)

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)

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)

1925 - Art Buchwald, American newspaper columnist

1931 - Mickey Mantle, 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, baseball player

1937 - Wanda Jackson, American rock and rockabilly singer

1938 - Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road Photographer (d. 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

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

1953 - Keith Hernandez, baseball player

1953 - Bill Nunn, American actor

1954 - Steve Orich, Orchestrator

1955 - Aaron Pryor, American boxer

1955 - David Profumo, English novelist

1956 - Danny Boyle, English film director

1958 - Dave Finlay, Northern Irish professional wrestler

1958 - Lynn Flewelling, American fantasy author

1958 - Viggo Mortensen, American actor

1958 - Dave Krieg, American football player

1958 - Ivo Pogorelic, Croatian pianist

1958 - Scott Hall, American professional wrestler

1960 - Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player (d. 2004)

1961 - Ian Rush, Welsh footballer

1961 - Michie Tomizawa, Japanese Voice Actress

1963 - Julie Payette, Canadian astronaut

1965 - William Zabka, American actor

1966 - Allan Donald, South African cricketer

1966 - Stefan Raab, German entertainer

1966 - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda leader (d. 2006)

1967 - Luck Mervil, Québécois actor and singer

1969 - Juan Gonzalez, baseball player

1969 - Laurie Daley, Australian rugby league player

1970 - Chavo Guerrero, Jr., American professional wrestler

1970 - Michelle Malkin, American political commentator and author

1971 - Dannii Minogue, Australian singer

1971 - Snoop Dogg, American rapper

1976 - Tom Wisniewski, American guitarist (MxPx)

1977 - Matt Jansen, English footballer

1978 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer

1979 - John Krasinski, American actor

1981 - Willis McGahee, American football player

1983 - Alex Nackman, musician

1983 - Takayuki Yamada, Japanese Actor

1983 - Luis Saritama, Ecuadorian footballer

1984 - Scott Fuller, radio personality

1984 - Florent Sinama-Pongolle, French footballer

1985 - Jennifer Nicole Freeman, American actress

1985 - James Sutton, British Racing Driver

1988 - Risa Niigaki, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)

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460 - Aelia Eudocia, Byzantine Empress

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

1713 - Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (b. 1652)

1740 - Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1685)

1865 - Champ Ferguson, Confederate guerilla

1890 - Sir Richard Burton, British explorer and writer (b. 1821)

1900 - Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet (b. 1846)

1910 - David B. Hill, Governor of New York (b. 1843)

1920 - Max Bruch, German composer (b. 1838)

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)

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:

Cassie Gaines (b. 1948)

Steve Gaines (b. 1949)

Ronnie Van Zant (b. 1948)

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)

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)

2003 - Jack Elam, American actor (b. 1918)

2004 - Anthony Hecht, American poet (b. 1923)

2004 - Chuck Hiller, 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)

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October 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Bahá'í Faith - Holy Day - Birth of the Báb

French Republican Calendar - Orge (Barley) Day, twenty-ninth day in the Month of Vendémiaire