October

October happens to be the tenth month of the year with thirty-one days. It was originally the eighth month but with the introduction of January and February, it became the tenth month. It is commonly associated with the season of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

October 1

In 1908, Ford’s Model T, a car designed for the masses went on sale for the first time.

In 1946, twelve Nazi leaders were sentenced to death at the International War Crimes Tribunal in Germany.

In 1949, rise of the People’s Republic of China with Mao Zedong as Chairman.

India’s popular music composer Sachin Dev Burman was born on this day in 1906.

October 2

In 1869, Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi also known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu was born in Porbandar, Gujarat.

The day also marks the birthday of Lal Bahadur Shastri, India’s second Prime Minister in the year 1904.

October 3

In 1929, Yugoslavia was adopted as the official name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

In 1990, East and West Germany reunited as the Federal Republic of Germany after 45 long years of cold war.

In 1992 Geet Sriram Sethi from India won the World Professional Billiards Championship achieving a world record English billiards break of 1276. He won the title again four times.

October 4

In 1957, the world saw the dawn of the Space Age when the Russians launched Sputnik I, the first satellite into orbit.

October 7

Discovery of New Zealand by an English explorer, Captain Cook in 1769.

The date marks the birthdays of South African Leader Bishop Desmond Tutu (1931) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (1952).

Mother Teresa started the Missionaries of Charity on this day in 1950.

October 10

In 1970, Fiji gained its Independence.

Birthdays of R K Narayan, Indian writer (1906), actress Rekha (1954).

October 11

In the year 1939 Albert Einstein wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt that his theories could lead Germany to develop an atomic bomb and suggested that US must develop its own bomb. This led to the top secret Manhattan Project.

Birth of popular Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan (1942).

October 13

In the year 1792, the cornerstone of the White House was laid by George Washington. The building was designed by James Hoban. It was first known as the Presidential Palace but later became popular by the name of White House.

In 1884, Greenwich was established as the universal time from which standard times throughout the world are calculated.

In 1943, Italy declared war on Germany after the downfall of Mussolini and collapse of his Fascist government.

October 14

Nazi Germany announced its withdrawal from the League of Nations and said it would no longer form a part of the Geneva Disarmament Conference in the year 1933.

In 1964, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Birth of Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir in 1981.

October 15

In 1844, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was born. He is popular for stating that “God is dead”.

Birth of Indian scientist and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 1931.

October 16

In the year 1853, the Crimean war began after the Turkish Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, Britain, France and portions of Italy. In fact one of the battles was immortalised by Tennyson in his poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.

In 1905, the Bengal Partition came into force with the formation of Eastern Bengal, Assam and Bengal.

The date marks the birthdays of Noah Webster (1758) who is known for the dictionary he compiled and Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854).

October 19

In the year 1987, “Black Monday” occurred on Wall Street as stocks plunged by 22.6 per cent.

In 2003, Mother Teresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

October 21

In 1805, The Battle of Trafalgar took place between the British Royal Navy and the French and Spanish fleets. Napoleon was defeated in the battle.

In 1879, Thomas Edison tested an electric incandescent lamp and kept it lit for over thirteen hours.

In 1943, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose announced the establishment of the Provincial Government of Free India.

October 24

In 1861, the first transcontinental telegram was sent from San Francisco to Washington.

In 1922, the Irish Parliament voted to adopt a Constitution for an Irish Free State.

In 1929, “Black Thursday” occurred in New York Stock Exchange causing a panic sale of nearly 13 million shares.

The United Nations was founded in 1945.

Birth of Indian cartoonist R. K. Narayan in 1921.

October 28

In 1636, Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in America was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was gifted by the people of France to commemorate the French American alliance during the American Revolutionary War. It was raised on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbour.

In 1918, the Republic of Czechoslovakia was founded.

The date also marks the birthday of Microsoft founder Bill Gates (1955) and Indian American business executive Indra Nooyi (1955).

October 29

In 1929, the stock market clashed in America leading to The Great Depression, which lasted until the outbreak of World War II.

A super cyclone struck Odisha killing 10,000 people in the year 1999.

October 30

In 1990, Great Britain was connected with the European continent for the first time via a new rail tunnel under the English Channel.

Birth of Indian nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha in 1909.

October 31

Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in NBA in the year 1950.

As a part of Russia’s de-Stalinization programme, Joseph Stalin’s body was removed from the mausoleum in Red Square and reburied within the Kremlin walls among the graves of lesser Soviet heroes in the year 1961.

In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards leading to the Anti Sikh riots in the country.