Cassini Probe (NASA Fly-by orbiter and lander commissioned to study Saturn and its moons) is launched (1997) - Oct. 15
Great Storm of 1987 was an unusually strong weather system that became the worst storm to hit England since 1703 (1987) - Oct. 15
Hermann Goring (Nazi Party leader) commits suicide with cyanide the day before he was to be executed (1946) - Oct. 15
I Love Lucy (an American situation comedy) premieres on CBS (1951) - Oct. 15
Marie of Prussia (Queen of Bavaria and mother of Ludwig II, the Swan King) is born (1825) - Oct. 15
Mata Hari (a Frisian exotic dancer and courtesan convicted of spying for the Germans during WWI) is executed by firing squad (1917) - Oct. 15
Napoleon (French military and political leader) is exiled by the British to the island of St. Helena (1815) - 10/15
NASA's Galileo Orbiter spacecraft came within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon IO (2001) - 10/15
P.G. Wodehouse (English comic novelist best known for his "Jeeves," the butler, stories) is born (1881) - Oct. 15
China launches Shenzhou 5 - its first human spaceflight mission (2003) - 10/15
Staten Island Ferry crash involved a ferry crashing full speed into a concrete landing pier when docking killing 11 (2003) - 10/15
West Gate Bridge (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) collapses during construction killing 35 workers (1970) - Oct. 15
Sewing Lovers Day - Oct. 15
Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day (2017) - 10/15
Pregnancy and Infant loss Remembrance Day - Oct. 15
October 16, 2017
The Cuban Missle Crisis begins when President Kennedy is shown photographs of the Russian missile installations in Cuba (1962) - Oct. 16
Dictionary Day - Oct. 16
The Walt Disney Company is initially founded by Walt and Roy Disney as equal partners under its original name Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (1923) - 10/16
Marie Antoinette (Consort to Louis XVI of France) is executed by guillotine (1793) - 10/16
Million Man March (a political march convened by the Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan) occurs in Washington, DC (1995) - 10/16
The Nuremberg Trial Executions (10 Nazi War Criminals found guilty) are carried out in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison (1946) - Oct. 16
Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood by opening the 1st American birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY (1916) - Oct. 16
Pierre E. Trudeau (Canada's Prime Minister) invokes the War Measures Act in response to the October Crisis (1970) - Oct. 16
World Food Day (United Nations) - Oct. 16
Deborah Kerr (Scottish born stage, screen and television actress) dies at age 86 from the effects of Parkinson's disease (2007) - Oct. 16
Karol Jozef Wojtyla (Archbishop of Krakow) is elected as Pope John Paul II after two days and eight ballots (1978) - Oct. 16
Cardiff Giant (one of the most famous hoaxes in US history) is "discovered" by workers digging a well in Cardiff, NY (1869) - Oct. 16
National Bosses' Day (2017) - Oct. 16
October 17, 2017
The Beer Flood of London occurred killing 9 with 8 due to drowning and one due to alcohol poioning (1814) - Oct. 17
Pierre LaPorte (Canadian Vice-Premiere and Minister of Labout) is found dead in the trunk of a car (1970) - 10/17
Loma Prieta earthquake (a major quake that struk the San Francisco Bay Area of California during the warm-up for the 3rd World Series Game (1989) - Oct. 17
Louis XIII of France ascends the throne at age eight and a half upon the assassination of his father (1610) - Oct. 17
Joey Bishop (American entertainer best known as a member of the "Rat Pack") dies from multiple causes in his home in Newport Beach, CA (2007) - Oct. 17
Pasta Day - Oct. 17
October 18, 2017
Alaska Day celebrates the anniversary of the formal transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russia to the USA (1867) - Oct. 18
Azerbaijan becomes independent of the Soviet Union (1991) - Oct. 18
Chocolate Cupcake Day - 10/18
Bess Truman (wife of Harry S Truman, President of the United States) died of congestive heart failure at age 97 (1982) - 10/18
Margaret Tudor (eldest sister to Henry VIII) died of a severe stroke at Methven Castle, Scotland (1541) - 10/18
Moby Dick (novel by Herman Melville) is first published under the title "The Whale" (1851) - Oct. 18
Saint Luke's Feast Day - 10/18
Sarah Churchill (1st Duchess of Marlborough) dies in her eighty-fifth year at Marlborough House and was buried at Blenheim Palace (1744) - Oct. 18
Thomas Edison (American Inventor and business man) died in his home in New Jersey (1931) - Oct. 18
Boost Your Brain Day - 10/18
Great Basel earthquake is the most significant seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe in recorded history (1356) - Oct. 18
Watch a Squirrel Day - 10/18
October 19, 2017
Black Monday when the stock markets around the world crashed resulting in the largest "one-day percentage" decline in stock market history (1978) - Oct. 19
Change Your Life Day - Oct. 19
Lord Cornwallis surrenders to General George Washington after the battle of Yorktown (1781) - Oct. 19
Electricity Day - Oct. 19
Ferdinand of Aragon marries Isabella (Queen of Castille) laying the foundation for the political unification of Spain under Charles V (1469) - Oct. 19
Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a mimimum pressure of 882mb (2005) - Oct. 19
John of England (son of Henry II) dies from dysentery at Newark Castle leaving his nine-year-old son Henry to succeed him (1216) - Oct. 19
Jonathan Swift (an Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist best remembered for Gulliver's Travels) died (1745) - Oct. 19
Look Back on Your Life Day - Oct. 19
Marie-Therese-Charlotte of France (eldest child of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette) dies of pneumonia in Vienna Austria (1851) - Oct. 19
Diwali (Hindu, Sikh) Festival of lights celebrates the victory of good over evil, the uplifting of spiritual darkness (2017) - 10/19
Edna St. Vincent Millay (American Lyrical poet and playwright and 1st woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) is found dead at the bottom of her stairs (1950) - Oct. 19
October 20, 2017
Bela Lugosi (Hungarian film actor best known for his portrayal of Dracula) is born in Lugos (1882) - Oct. 20
Charles VI (Holy Roman Emperor and father of Maria Theresa) died (1740) - Oct. 20
Herbert Hoover (31st President of the United States) dies at age 90 (1964) - Oct. 20
Jacqueline Kennedy (widow of US President John F Kennedy) marries Aristotle Onassis (1968) - Oct. 20
Jane Wyatt (American Film and TV actress best known for her role on Father Knows Best) dies in her Bel Air home at age 96 (2006) - 10/20
Louisiana Purchase is ratified by the US Senate (1803) - 10/20
George Prince Ferry collides with the SS Frosta (Norwegian tanker) and sinks killing 78 with only 18 survivors (1976) - 10/20
Maria Theresa (Mother to Marie Antoinette) succeeds to the throne of Austria and soon after began the War of Austrian Succession (1740) - Oct. 20
Sydney Opera House is formally opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia (1973) - Oct. 20
National Mammography Day - 3rd Friday in October (2017) - Oct. 20
October 21, 2017
Aberfan Disaster occurred when a tip of coal waste slid down into the town killing 144 in its path with 116 being school children (1966) - 10/21
Apple Day (UK) celebrates the Apple in commemoration of the first Apple Day held in Covent Garden (1990) - Oct. 21
Apple Powerbook 100 is released (1991) - Oct. 21
Can Can (Dance) is officially born with the premiere of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld and its famous "Galop" (1858) - Oct. 21
Charles VII of France becomes co-ruler of France along with his cousin Henry VI of England after the death of Charles VI (1422) - Oct. 21
Comet Ikeya-Seki made its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) when it broke into three parts (1965) - Oct. 21
Count Your Buttons Day - Oct. 21
Thomas Edison invented the incandescent electric lamp (1879) - Oct. 21
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City opens (1959) - Oct. 21
Horatio Nelson (Captain in the British Royal Navy) is fatally shot in the back at the battle of Trafalgar (1805) - 10/21
The Sheik (a silent movie directed by George Melford starring Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres and Adolphe Menjou) premieres in Los Angeles with mixed reviews (1921) - Oct. 21
Valentich Disappearance occurred when pilot Frederick Valentich reported a UFO was trailing him, then all voice contact was lost (1978) - 10/21
Sweetest Day - 3rd Saturday in October (2016) - Oct. 22
October 22, 2017
Color Day - Oct. 22
Eat a Pretzel Day - 10/22
Dr. Harvey Hawley Crippen (An American Physician) is found guilty of murdering his wife (1910) - Oct. 22
Metropolitan Opera House opens in NYC with a performance of Faust (1883) - Oct. 22
Paul Cezanne (French artist and post-impressionist painter) died (1906) - Oct. 22
Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd (American gangster) is shot and killed by the FBI (1934) - Oct. 22
Andre-Jacques Garnerin carries out the first jump with a Silk parachute at Parc Monceau, Paris (1797) - Oct. 22
Princeton University is founded as "College of New Jersey" (1746) - Oct. 22
Used Car Day - Oct. 22
Mother-in-Law's Day 4th Sunday in October (2017) - 10/22
Most photos and captions are courtesy of Wikipedia
