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1964–The Warren Commission, appointed by President Ford to study the Kennedy Assassination, releases its still controversial report, although no significant body of reputable evidence has yet arisen to contradict the commission’s essential verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.


808–Emperor Ninmyo of Japan is born Masara in Japan. He had nine Empresses, Imperial consorts, and concubines, and he had 24 Imperial sons and daughters.

823–Ermentrude of Orléans is born. She separated from her husband, Charles the Bald, after he executed her rebellious brother, William, in 866, and retreated to life in a nunnery.

1066–William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the River Somme, beginning the Norman conquest of England.

1271–Wenceslaus II of Bohemia is born in Prague, Bohemia. He was King of Bohemia (1278-1305), Duke of Cracow (1291-1305), and King of Poland (1300-1305).

1331–The Battle of Plowce is fought between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order.

1389–Italian ruler, Cosimo de' Medici, is born Còsimo di Giovanni degli Mèdici in Florence, Republic of Florence. He was the first of the Medici political dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance.

1422–After the brief Gollub War, the Teutonic Knights sign the Treaty of Melno with the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

1529–The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city.

1540–The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.

1557–Emperor Go-Nara of Japan dies in Kyoto, Japan, at age 62. He was also known as Nara II.

1590–Pope Urban VII dies of malaria in Rome, Papal States, at age 69. He served as the Pope for 12 days, making his reign the shortest papacy in history.

1601–Louis XIV is born at Château de Fontainebleau in France. He became King of France at age four, upon the death of his father, Louis XIII. He reigned for 72 years as the "Sun King."

1605–The armies of Sweden are defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Battle of Kircholm.

1660–Vincent de Paul dies in Paris, Kingdom of France, at age 79. He was a Roman Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. He is venerated as a Saint in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He was canonized in 1737. He was renowned for his compassion, humility, and generosity, and is known as the "Great Apostle of Charity."

1669–The Venetians surrender the fortress of Candia to the Ottomans, ending the 21-year-long Siege of Candia.

1700–Pope Innocent XII dies in Rome, Papal States, at age 85.

1722–Politician and philosopher, Samuel Adams, is born in Boston, Massachusetts Bay. He was the fourth Governor of Massachusetts. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States. He was a second cousin to President John Adams.

1777–Lancaster, Pennsylvania, becomes the capital of the United States for one day, after the Second Continental Congress evacuates Philadelphia to avoid invading British forces.

1787–The U.S. Constitution is submitted to the states for ratification.

1806–Businessman, Eberhard Anheuser, is born in Kreuznach (Nahe), French Occupied Electoral Palatinate, First French Empire. He co-founded Anheuser-Busch. He was a German-American soap and candle maker, as well as the father-in-law of Adolphus Busch.

1821–Mexico gains its independence from Spain.

1822–Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone.

1825–The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened.

1833–Indian philosopher and reformer, Ram Mohan Roy, dies of meningitis in Stapleton, Bristol, England, at age 61. He was the founder of the Brahmo Sabha movement in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential socio-religious reform movement. He was known for his efforts to establish the abolishment of “sati,” the Hindu funeral practicein some parts of Bengal, in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself in her husband’s funeral pyre. He introduced the word "Hinduism" into the English language in 1816.

1854–The steamship, SS Arctic, sinks with 300 people on board. This marks the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

1875–The merchant sailing ship, Ellen Southard, is wrecked in a storm at Liverpool, England..

1892–Book matches are patented by the Diamond Match Company.

1905–The physics journal, Annalen der Physik, receives Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?"

1908–The first production of the Ford Model T automobile is built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.

1912–W.C. Handy publishes Memphis Blues.

1916–Iyasu V is proclaimed deposed as ruler of Ethiopia in a palace coup in favor of his aunt Zewditu.

1917–Television producer, William T. Orr, is born in New York, New York. He is associated with a series of western and detective programs of the 1950s to the 1970s. On most of his Warner Bros. series, he was billed as "Wm. T. Orr." His prime time hits include Maverick, Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip, and F Troop. At the height of career in the early 1960s, Orr had nine programs on the prime time schedule.

1917–Artist, Edgar Degas, dies in Paris, France, at age 83. He never married and spent the last years of his life, nearly blind, restlessly wandering the streets of Paris. He was one of the founders of the French Impressionist movement. He is best known for his many works using ballet dancers as subjects.

1919–Actress, Jayne Meadows, is born Jayne Meadows Cotter in Wuchang, China. She appeared in the films Undercurrent, Lady in the Lake, The Luck of the Irish, David and Bathsheba, It Happened to Jane, College Confidential, City Slickers, The Player, and Casino. Her sister is actress, Audrey Meadows. She was married to comedian, Steve Allen.

1921–Composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, dies of a heart attack in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, at age 67. He is best known for the opera Hänsel und Gretel. In 1965, British singer, Arnold Dorsey, took his stage name from the composer.

1922–King Constantine I of Greece abdicates his throne in favor of his eldest son, George II.

1922–Film director, Arthur (Hiller) Penn, is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His films include The Left Handed Gun, The Miracle Worker, The Chase, Bonnie and Clyde, Alice’s Restaurant, Little Big Man, and The Missouri Breaks.

1927–Actress, Sada (Carolyn) Thompson, is born in Des Moines, Iowa. She is best known for her co-starring role on the TV series Family. She was also seen on The Nurses, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Love Boat, Father Dowling Mysteries, Cheers, ER, and Law & Order. She appeared in the films The Pursuit of Happiness, Desperate Characters, My Two Loves, Home Fires Burning, and Pollock.

1927–Artist, Hugo Ball, dies in St. Abbondio, Switzerland. A founder of the Dada movement, he is also known for an early critical biography of German novelist, Hermann Hesse.

1928–The Republic of China is recognized by the United States.

1930–Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Amateur Championship to complete the Grand Slam of golf. The old structure of the grand slam was the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur, and British Amateur.

1935–Joyce Johnson is born in New York, New York. By the time she was 14, she was sneaking out of the house to explore Greenwich Village, and meet the Beats, eventually becoming Jack Kerouac’s girlfriend. Her autobiography, Minor Characters, won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1983, and was about Kerouac, Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, William Burroughs, and many others. The “minor characters” for which the book was titled, were the gifted young women on the periphery of the dramatic lives of these famous male writers.

1937–The Balinese Tiger is declared extinct. It was found solely on the Indonesian island of Bali, and is the first tiger subspecies to go extinct in recent times.

1938–The Ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth, launches in Glasgow, Scotland.

1940–The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan, and Italy.

1941–The National Liberation Front (Greece) is established and Georgios Siantos is appointed acting leader.

1941–The SS Patrick Henry is launched becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships.

1942–The last day of the September Matanikau sees action on Guadalcanal as U.S. Marine Corps troops barely escape after being surrounded by Japanese forces near the Matanikau River.

1942–Glenn Miller and His Orchestra perform together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, prior to Miller's entry into the U.S. Army.

1944–The Kassel Mission results in the largest loss by a USAAF group on any mission in World War II.

1944–Evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson, dies of accidental overdose of pills compounded by kidney failure in Oakland, California, at age 53. Millions of dollars passed through McPherson's hands: however, when her personal estate was calculated, it amounted to $10,000. She founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. McPherson's preaching style, extensive charity work, and ecumenical contributions were a major influence in revitalization of American Evangelical Christianity in the 20th century.

1947–Singer and actor, Meat Loaf, is born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas. He is best known for his album Bat Out of Hell which was produced by Todd Rundgren. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy of albums (consisting of Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose) has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Almost 40 years after its release, it still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and it stayed on the charts for over nine years, making it one of the best selling albums in history. He is also known for his powerful wide-ranging operatic voice and theatrical live performances. He appeared in the films The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Americathon, Scavenger Hunt, Roadie, Out of Bounds, Wayne’s World, and Leap of Faith.

1954–The Tonight Show, hosted by Steve Allen, makes its debut on NBC-TV.

1956–USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first man to exceed Mach 3 while flying the Bell X-2. Shortly thereafter, the craft goes out of control and Captain Apt is killed.

1956–Olympic athlete, Babe Didrickson, dies of colon cancer in Galveston, Texas, at age 45. She excelled in golf, basketball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and one silver medal for track and field in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. She went on to become America's first female golf celebrity and the leading player of the 1940s and early 1950s.

1959–Typhoon Vera kills nearly 5,000 people in Japan.

1961–Sierra Leone joins the United Nations.

1962–The Yemen Arab Republic is established.

1962–Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, is published, inspiring an environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

1962–Architect, Louis Skidmore, dies of an undisclosed illness in Winter Haven, Florida, at age 65. His firm, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, was one of the largest builders of skyscrapers in the 1950s.

1964–The Warren Commission, appointed by President Ford to study the Kennedy Assassination, releases its still controversial report, although no significant body of reputable evidence has yet arisen to contradict the commission’s essential verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

1964–The Beach Boys appear on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, performing I Get Around.

1968–The stage musical, Hair, opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, England, where it played 1,998 performances, until its closure was forced by the roof collapsing on the theatre in July 1973.

1972–Rory Storm, leader of The Hurricanes, dies of suicide, as does his mother.

1972–Actress, Gwyneth (Kate) Paltrow, is born in Los Angeles, California. She appeared in the films Malice, Flesh and Bone, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Jefferson in Paris, Moonlight and Valentino, Emma, Sliding Doors, Hush, A Perfect Murder, Shakespeare in Love, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums, Austin Powers in Goldmember, View from the Top, Sylvia, and Proof. Her parents are actress, Blythe Danner, and film producer, Bruce Paltrow.

1974–John Lennon is a guest disc jockey on radio station KHJ-AM in Los Angeles, California.

1975–The last use of capital punishment in Spain sees the executions of five members of militant organizations, sparking worldwide protests against the Spanish government and the withdrawal of numerous ambassadors.

1977–A U.S. Navy McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II crashes into a residential neighborhood in Yokohama, Japan, killing two children on the ground and injuring seven other people.

1979–The U.S. Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th U.S. Cabinet agency.

1979–Actress-singer, Gracie Fields, dies of pneumonia in La Canzone Del Mare, Capri, Italy, at age 81. She was a comedienne and star of both film and music hall.

1979–Jimmy McCulloch, of Wings, dies of cardiac arrest due to acute morphine poisoning at his flat in Maida Vale, North West London, England, at age 26. He was not known to be a user of hard drugs.

1979–Elton John collapses onstage while performing Better Off Dead at the Universal Amphitheatre, in Los Angeles, California. After a 10-minute delay, he returns and completes the concert. He was suffering from exhaustion brought on by the flu.

1981–Actor, Robert Montgomery, dies of cancer in New York, New York, at age 77. He was the host the TV series Robert Mongomery Presents for seven seasons. He appeared in the films The Divorcee, The Big House, Private Lives, Night Fright, Riptide, Night Must Fall, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Rage in Heaven, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, They Were Expendable, and Lady in the Lake.

1983–Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like computer operating system.

1985–Actor, Lloyd Nolan, dies of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 83. He appeared in the films The Texas Rangers, Ebb Tide, St. Louis Blues, Johnny Apollo, Blues in the Night, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Lemon Drop Kid, A Hatful of Rain, Peyton Place, Portrait in Black, Susan Slade, Never Too Late, Ice Station Zebra, Airport, Earthquake, and Hannah and Her Sisters.

1988–The National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar.

1989–The classic animated film, Yellow Submarine, has a worldwide release with a ”digitally enhanced stereo hi-fi soundtrack.”

1993–The Sukhumi massacre takes place in Abkhazia.

1996–In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city of Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

1996–The Julie N, a tanker ship, spills thousands of gallons of oil after crashing into the Million Dollar Bridge in Portland, Maine.

1997–Communications are suddenly lost with the Mars Pathfinder space probe.

1998–The Google search engine goes into operation on the Internet.

2001–In Zug, Switzerland, Friedrich Leibacher shoots 18 citizens, killing 14 of them. He then shoots himself.

2002–Timor-Leste joins the United Nations.

2003–SMART-1 satellite is launched.

2003–Dancer, singer, and actor, Donald O'Connor, dies of heart failure in Woodland Hills, California, at age 78. He appeared in the films Sing You Sinners, Beau Geste, On Your Toes, Mister Big, Francis, Singin’ in the Rain, I Love Melvin, Call Me Madame, Walking My Baby Back Home, There's No Business Like Show Business, Cry for Happy, and That Funny Feeling.

2007–NASA launches the Dawn probe.

2008–CNSA astronaut, Zhai Zhigang, becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.

2012–A mass shooting takes place at Accent Signage Systems, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, killing six people (including the gunman who committed suicide) and wounding two others.

2014–The eruption of Monut Ontake takes place in Japan.

2015–A total lunar eclipse takes place during a Supermoon, visible across much of the world. The last one took place in 1983, and the next will in 2033.

2016–President Barack Obama nominates Jeffrey DeLaurentis as the first U.S. Ambassador to Cuba since 1961.

2016–Mitochondrial donation allows the first “three person baby” to be born. Due to the uncharted nature of producing a child with three sources of DNA, this subject is currently quite contentious in the field of bioethics, as is the case with many other gene therapies. Currently, mitochondrial donation techniques are legal in the United Kingdom.

2016–BlackBerry announces that it has decided to stop making its own devices and will rely on partners to manufacture the phones. BlackBerry was once the phone of choice for Wall Street traders, politicians, and celebrities, thanks in part to its well-regarded security system.

2016–Knott’s Berry Farm announces they are shutting down the Halloween attraction, Fear VR, after the feature caused concern among mental health advocates who expressed their concern that the portrayal of a possessed girl in a hospital as part of a virtual-reality horror show stigmatizes and denigrates individuals with mental illnesses.

2016–Three bombings kill at least 17 people in Baghdad, Iraq.

2016–A bus skids off a mountain road in central Nepal, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than a dozen others.

2017–Thirty thousand people are evacuated in Ukraine following an explosion in an ammunition dump 110 miles southwest of Kiev.

2017–Multi-millionaire publisher, Hugh Hefner, dies in Los Angeles, California, at age 91. He will be laid to rest in a crypt next to Marilyn Monroe, which he purchased in 1992. He was best known as the editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, which he founded in 1953, and as chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, the publishing group that operates the magazine.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Ermentrude of Orléans; St. Vincent de Paul; a dispenser for Diamond matches; Arthur Penn; Aimee Semple McPherson; a building by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; Gwyneth Paltrow; a gel from the animated film Yellow Submarine; Donald O'Connor; and Knott's Berry Farm's horror ride Fear VR.
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