Search

Advanced Search

Browse

To illustrate the depth one can access in our collections, we have compiled relevant archival imagery to frame a diverse cultural, political and chronological retrospective of noteworthy anniversaries. Be sure to bookmark this section as the calendar is a work in progress and will continue to expand.

October	Year	Anniversary	Event
1	1847	161st	Anne Besant, British educator and politician, is born.
1	1907	101st	The financial Panic of 1907 pushes President Roosevelt to ask his former enemy J. P. Morgan for help.
2	1967	41st	Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as Supreme Court justice, becoming the first African American on the U.S. Supreme Court.
2	1967	41st	Air strikes against North Vietnam continue despite disagreements in Congress and in Pres. Johnson's cabinet.
3	1862	146th	Under Gen. Van Dorn, the Confederates fail to recapture Corinth, a key rail center, when Rosecrans hands them a devastating defeat.
3	1952	56th	Britain tests its first atom bomb, off the coast of Australia.
4	1777	231st	Gen. Washington attacks Sir Howe's troops at Germantown, 5 miles north of the British-occupied capital, Philadelphia.
4	1822	186th	Rutherford B. Hayes, future U.S. president, is born in Delaware, Ohio.
4	1862	146th	Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and other standardized book series, born.
5	1877	131st	Nez Perce Chief Joseph surrenders to Gen. Miles, saying "My heart is sick and sad… I will fight no more forever."
5	1882	126th	Robert Goddard, pioneering U.S. rocket scientist, is born.
5	1892	116th	The Dalton Gang attempts their last robbery, in their hometown of Coffeyville, Kansas, and all but one of them are killed.
5	1947	61st	Harry Truman makes the first presidential speech on TV, asking Americans to eat no meat on Tuesdays and no poultry on Sundays.
6	1777	231st	The British capture Forts Montgomery and Clinton, but the Patriots block them from rescuing Cornwallis at the Battle of Saratoga.
6	1892	116th	Alfred Tennyson, British poet, is born.
6	1917	91st	Fannie Lou Hamer, courageous civil rights activist and delegate to the 1964 Democratic Convention, born.
7	1777	231st	At Bemis Heights, the second Battle of Saratoga, Patriot Generals Lincoln and Arnold rout the British during the Revolutionary War.
7	1897	111st	Elijah Muhammad, American black nationalist and U.S. leader of the Black Muslim movement, is born in Georgia.
8	1862	146th	At the Battle of Perryville Union Gen. Buell halts Gen. Bragg and the Confederate invasion of Kentucky.
8	1862	146th	Otto von Bismarck becomes chancellor of the German republic.
9	1547	461st	Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist and author of "Don Quixote de la Mancha," is baptized in Spain.
9	1812	196th	On Lake Erie, U.S. forces captures two British ships, the Detroit and the Caledonia, in the War of 1812.
9	1987	21st	Clare Booth Luce, U.S. politician, playwright and journalist, dies.
10	1837	171st	Robert Gould Shaw, colonel of the African-American 54th Massachusetts (who will die at Fort Wagner), is born.
10	1862	146th	Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee send John Magruder to take over the Trans-Mississippi Department in Texas.
10	1877	131st	The funeral of George Custer, who died when he attacked the Dakota Indians at Little Big Horn, is held at West Point.
10	1957	51st	Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanian finance minister K. A. Gbedemah, who was refused service in a Delaware restaurant.
11	1862	146th	Daring raider J. E. B. Stuart - gathering intelligence on McClellan - seizes horses, supplies and local officials in Chambersburg, PA.
11	1872	136th	Judge Harlan Fisk Stone, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, is born.
11	2002	6th	Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomacy in the Middle East during the 1970s.
12	1492	516th	Christopher Columbus reaches the Bahama Islands, believing he has found Asia.
12	1537	471st	The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, England's King Edward VI (who later beheaded his cousin Lady Jane Grey) is born.
12	1837	171st	Congress sanctions the use of Treasury notes but fails to calm the Panic of 1837, triggered when the Second Bank was dissolved.
12	1962	46th	Secretary of State Rusk criticizes Congress for backing peace efforts and insists the U.S. continue the bombing of North Vietnam.
13	1307	701st	In France, the Knights of Templar (Masons) are arrested, imprisoned, and tortured by order of King Philip the Fair.
13	1792	216th	Pres. Washington lays the cornerstone of the White House, but John Adams will be the first president to live in it.
14	1822	186th	French writer Victor Hugo marries his childhood sweetheart, Adele Foucher, despite the objections of his mother and brother
14	1912	96th	Campaigning for president, Teddy Roosevelt is shot, but papers in his breast pocket stop the bullet and he gives his speech.
14	1962	46th	Reconnaissance photos taken by an American U-2 spy plane reveal the presence of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
15	1872	136th	Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, U.S. First Lady, is born.
16	1962	46th	Pres. Kennedy learns of missile bases in Cuba, which will bring the US and USSR to the brink of nuclear war
17	1777	231st	In the turning point of the Revolutionary War, British forces surrender to Patriot troops in Saratoga, New York.
18	1867	141st	At a cost of $7.2 million, the U.S. takes possession of Alaska from Russia.
18	1982	26th	Former First Lady Bess Truman dies in Independence, Missouri.
19	1512	496th	In Germany, Martin Luther receives his doctorate in theology.
19	1882	126th	Explorer Henry Morton Stanley meets Pierre de Brazza, against whom he races to colonize the Congo in "the Scramble for Africa."
19	1907	101st	Bankers work through the night at J. P. Morgan's New York City home to stabilize the Panic of 1907.
20	1822	186th	Thomas Hughes, British writer, lawyer, politician and social reformer, is born.
21	1772	236th	Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet of the Romantic movement, is born.
21	1797	211st	The U.S. Navy frigate Constitution ("Old Ironsides" in the War of 1812), built to fight Barbary pirates, is launched in Boston's harbor.
21	1867	141st	Kiowa and Comanche chiefs sign the first Medicine Lodge Treaty under the watchful eye of the U.S. generals and politicians present.
21	1917	91st	The first U.S. troops to see action in World War I are assigned to the trenches in France.
21	1957	51st	The Elvis Presley film "Jailhouse Rock" opens.
21	1957	51st	Pres. Eisenhower decides to go on a speaking tour to bolster confidence and optimism about the U.S. economy.
21	1967	41st	Some 100,000 Vietnam War protestors rally at the Lincoln Memorial, then march to and besiege the Pentagon.
22	1962	46th	During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Pres. Kennedy announces an air and naval blockade of Cuba.
23	1777	231st	A British fleet, trying to reach British-occupied Philadelphia, is held off by Patriot artillery at Fort Mifflin.
23	1962	46th	The U.S. Defense Department releases photos showing Soviet ships on their way to Cuba.
23	1972	36th	Under Nixon, Americans negotiating peace with North Vietnam ask for further talks in hopes of calming South Vietnam's fears.
24	1537	471st	Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, dies 12 days after giving birth to Henry's first son, Prince Edward.
24	1862	146th	Lincoln orders Gen. Rosecrans to replace Gen. Buell, because of Buell's ineffective pursuit of Gen. Bragg after Perryville.
24	1962	46th	U.S. military forces prepare for war with Cuba and the Soviet Union by going to DEFCON2, a very high military alert.
25	1912	96th	Richard Strauss's opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" is performed for the first time, at the Vienna State Opera in Austria.
25	1962	46th	At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson shows photos of Soviet missiles installed in Cuba.
25	1972	36th	Pres. Nixon temporarily halts bombing over North Vietnam to show his approval of its concessions during secret talks in Paris.
26	1902	106th	Elizabeth Cady Stanton, U.S. suffragette, dies.
26	1962	46th	Kruschchev indicates he'll dismantle Cuban missile bases and Castro will refuse more weapons if the U.S. promises not to invade Cuba.
27	1682	326th	Philadelphia is founded by William Penn, who designs it to resemble a rural English town rather than a city (but to no avail).
27	1787	221st	The first of the "Federalist Papers" by Hamilton, Madison and Jay, calling for ratification of the Constitution, is published in New York.
27	1962	46th	During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev offers to remove his Cuban bases if JFK removes U.S. bases from Turkey.
28	1492	516th	Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba.
28	1922	86th	With the so-called "March on Rome," Fascist leader Benito Mussolini takes control of Italy's government.
28	1962	46th	The Cuban Missile Crisis ends when Khrushchev announces he intends to remove all Soviet offensive weapons from Cuba.
29	1682	326th	William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, lands at the place that became Chester, Pennsylvania.
29	1787	221st	Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" is first performed, in Prague.
29	1922	86th	Mussolini becomes the youngest prime minister in Italian history, at age 39, and institutes fascism throughout Italy.
29	1947	61st	Former First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland, who when Cleveland was 49 and she was his 21-year-old ward, dies at age 83.
30	1862	146th	Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, renowned astronomer who became a Union major general, dies of yellow fever during the Civil War.
30	1912	96th	James S. Sherman, banker and politician who became Taft's vice president, dies.
31	1517	491st	Martin Luther posts his "95 Theses" on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, triggering the Protestant Reformation.
31	1897	111st	Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese Nationalist, first constitutionally elected president of the Chinese Republic, is born.
31	1912	96th	The world's first gangster film, "Musketeers of Pig Alley" by Anita Loos and D. W. Griffith (shot with actual gang members), opens.