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69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus, the commander of the Danube armies, loyal to Vespasian, defeat the forces of Emperor Vitellius.

1260 - The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France; the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

1260 - Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.

1360 - The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War.

1593 - Alleged teleportation of Gil Perez.

1648 - The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War.

1795 - Partitions of Poland: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is completely divided between Austria, Prussia and Russia

1812 - Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow.

1857 - Sheffield F.C., the world's first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England.

1861 - The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express.

1917 - Battle of Caporetto starts on the Austro-Italian front of World War I

1929 - "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.

1930 - A bloodless coup d'état in Brazil ousts Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, the last President of the First Republic. Getúlio Dornelles Vargas is then installed as "provisional president."

1931 - The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic.

1935 - Italy invades Ethiopia

1944 - World War II: The Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku is sunk.

1945 - Founding of the United Nations

1947 - Walt Disney testifies to the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.

1954 - Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam

1957 - the USAF starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.

1960 - Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing 165. Among the dead is Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash.

1964 - Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony)

1973 - Yom Kippur War ends

1977 - Veterans Day is observed on the fourth Monday in October for the seventh and last time. (The holiday is once again observed on November 11 beginning the following year.)

1980 - Government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union

1986 - Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow. After the verdict, the United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi was helped by Syrian officials.

1990 - Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti reveals to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian "stay-behind" clandestine paramilitary NATO army.

1995 - A total solar eclipse is visible from Iran, India, Thailand, and SE Asia. *

1998 - Launch of Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission

2002 - Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC.

2003 - Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic transport to a close, at least for the time being.

2004 - A plane carrying ten members of the NASCAR Hendrick Motorsports team crashes en route to the race held at Martinsville Speedway. There were no survivors.

2005 - Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in South Florida.

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51 - Domitian, Roman Emperor (d. 96)

1402 - David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (b. 1378)

1503 - Isabella of Portugal, queen of Spain and empress of Germany, wife of Charles I of Spain

1632 - Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microbiologist (d. 1723)

1675 - Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, English soldier and politician (d. 1749)

1710 - Alban Butler, English Catholic priest and writer (d. 1773)

1788 - Sarah Hale, American poet (d. 1879)

1804 - Wilhelm Eduard Weber, German physicist (d. 1891)

1811 - Ferdinand Hiller, German composer (d. 1885)

1854 - Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist (d. 1907)

1855 - James S. Sherman, Vice President of the United States (d. 1912)

1857 - Ned Williamson, baseball player (d. 1894)

1868 - Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer and writer (d. 1969)

1872 - Peter O'Connor, Irish athlete (d. 1957)

1875 - Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter (d. 1958)

1882 - Dame Sybil Thorndike, British Actress (d. 1976)

1887 - Octave Lapize, French cyclist (d. 1917)

1891 - Rafael Molina-Trujillo, President of the Dominican Republic (d. 1961)

1901 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born American actress and dancer (d. 1959)

1903 - Melvin Purvis, American Federal Bureau of Investigation agent (d. 1960)

1904 - Moss Hart, American dramatist (d. 1961)

1906 - Alexander Gelfond, Russian mathematician (d. 1968)

1909 - Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)

1911 - Sonny Terry, American blues musician (d. 1986)

1913 - Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (d. 1984)

1915 - Bob Kane, American cartoonist (d. 1998)

1915 - Roger Milliken, American millionaire

1920 - Marcel Schützenberger, French mathematician (d. 1996)

1923 - Denise Levertov, English-born poet (d. 1997)

1925 - Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d. 2003)

1926 - Y. A. Tittle, American football player

1927 - Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer and actor (d.1992)

1927 - Gilbert Bécaud, French singer, composer and actor (d. 2001)

1929 - George Crumb, American composer

1929 - Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer

1929 - Hubert Aquin, French Canadian novelist, political activist and editor (d. 1977)

1930 - The Big Bopper, American singer (d. 1959)

1930 - Johan Galtung, Norwegian scientist

1930 - Sultan Ahmad Shah, King of Malaysia

1931 - Sofia Gubaidulina, Russian composer

1932 - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1932 - Robert Mundell, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate

1933 - Ronald and Reginald Kray, British gangsters

1933 - Norman Rush, American writer

1935 - Malcolm Bilson, American pianist and music professor

1936 - Bill Wyman, English musician (The Rolling Stones)

1937 - Santo Farina, American guitarist and composer (Santo & Johnny)

1939 - F. Murray Abraham, American actor

1940 - Martin Campbell, New Zealand film director

1941 - William H. Dobelle, American biomedical engineer; artificial organ pioneer

1945 - Anthony Christian, English Artist

1945 - Gérald Larose, Quebec labour union executive

1946 - Jerry Edmonton, Canadian drummer (Steppenwolf)

1947 - Kevin Kline, American actor

1948 - Paul and Barry Ryan, British composer-singer twins ("The Ryan Twins")

1948 - Kweisi Mfume, American civil rights activist, U.S. Congressman from Maryland

1950 - Steven Greenberg, composer

1950 - Rawly Eastwick, baseball player

1954 - Mike Rounds, Governor of South Dakota

1954 - Thomas J. Mulcair, Quebec politician

1957 - Ron Gardenhire, baseball manager

1960 - Ian Baker-Finch, Australian golf player

1960 - Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and comedian (d. 1999)

1961 - Mary Bono, U.S. Congresswoman from California

1962 - B.D. Wong, American actor

1962 - Dave Blaney, American race car driver

1966 - Roman Abramovich, Russian oil magnate and owner of Chelsea F.C.

1967 - Jacqueline McKenzie, Australian actress

1971 - Dervla Kirwan, Irish actress

1971 - Caprice Bourret, American model and actress

1972 - Scott Peterson, American murderer

1972 - Pat Williams, American football player

1973 - Levi Leipheimer, American cyclist

1973 - Jackie McNamara, Scottish footballer

1973 - Mike Matthews, baseball player

1974 - Wilton Guerrero, baseball player

1975 - Juan Pablo Ángel, Colombian footballer

1976 - Petar Stoychev, Bulgarian long distance swimmer

1977 - Iván Kaviedes, Ecuadoran footballer

1979 - Ben Gillies, Australian musician (Silverchair)

1980 - James Killian, American football player

1980 - Monica, American singer

1980 - Matthew Amoah, Ghanian footballer

1981 - Tila "Tequila" Nguyen, American model

1981 - Zac Posen, American fashion designer

1981 - Mallika Sherawat, Indian actress

1983 - Brian Vickers, American race car driver

1983 - Adrienne Bailon,American actress and singer

1985 - Wayne Rooney, English footballer

1989 - Eliza Taylor-Cotter, Australian actress

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996 - King Hugh Capet of France (b. 938)

1260 - Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt

1375 - King Valdemar IV of Denmark (bc. 1320)

1537 - Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII of England

1572 - Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, English politician (bc. 1508)

1601 - Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (b. 1546)

1655 - Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (b. 1592)

1669 - William Prynne, English Puritan leader (b. 1600)

1672 - John Webb, English architect (b. 1611)

1708 - Kowa Seki, Japanese mathematician

1725 - Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (b. 1660)

1799 - Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (b. 1739)

1821 - Elias Boudinot, American President of the Continental Congress (b. 1740)

1852 - Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician (b. 1782)

1898 - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (b. 1824)

1912 - Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian composer (b. 1842)

1915 - Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist (b. 1828)

1922 - George Cadbury, British chocolate and cocoa manufacturer (b. 1839)

1935 - Dutch Schultz, American gangster (b. 1902)

1938 - Ernst Barlach, German sculptor (b. 1870)

1943 - Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, French Canadian poet (b. 1912)

1944 - Louis Renault, French automobile manufacturer (b. 1877)

1945 - Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian traitor (executed) (b. 1887)

1948 - Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (b. 1870)

1957 - Christian Dior, French fashion designer (b. 1905)

1966 - Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician (b. 1896)

1971 - Carl Ruggles, American composer (b. 1876)

1972 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (b. 1919)

1972 - Claire Windsor, American actress (b. 1897)

1974 - David Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1908)

1985 - Maurice Roy, Archbishop of Quebec, (b. 1905)

1991 - Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (b. 1921)

1997 - Don Messick, American voice actor (b. 1926)

2001 - Wolf Rüdiger Hess, German neo-Nazi (b. 1937)

2002 - Winton M. Blount, United States Postmaster General (b. 1921)

2002 - Harry Hay, American activist (b. 1912)

2004 - Randy Dorton, American race car crew member (b. 1954)

2004 - Ricky Hendrick, American race car team owner (b. 1980)

2004 - James Cardinal Hickey, American Catholic archbishop (b. 1920)

2005 - José Azcona del Hoyo, President of Honduras (b. 1926)

2005 - Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (b. 1913)

2006 - Enolia McMillan, American civil rights activist (b. 1904)

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2006 Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr.

R.C. Saints - optional memorial of Antonio Maria Claret

French Republican Calendar - Poire (Pear) Day, third day in the Month of Brumaire

Also see October 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Zambia - Independence Day (1964)

United Nations Day (charter 1945)

Discordianism - Maladay

Take Back Your Time Day