You may wish to write about the following historical events. Dates are given 6 months in advance to allow you time for research and writing. Dates and facts are taken from a reliable source, but we cannot guarantee their accuracy. Please cross-check all information as part of your research and let us know of any errors.
We will shortly be publishing The Date-A-Base Book: forthcoming historic anniversaries 2008-2012, which will contain over 100 entries for each month (more than twice the size of our current lists!) and over 6,000 entries in total. More details next month.
800 years ago (1 Oct 1207)
Birth of Henry III, King of England
700 years ago (13 Oct 1307)
On the orders of Philip IV of France, the Knights Templars in Paris were arrested and charged with heresy
375 years ago (20 Oct 1632)
Birth of Sir Christopher Wren, English architect
(Designer of St Paul’s Cathedral, founder of the Royal Society)
375 years ago (24 Oct 1632)
Birth of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscope pioneer
(The first person to observe bacteria and protozoa)
375 years ago (31 Oct 1632)
Birth of Jan Vermeer, Dutch artist
325 years ago (19 Oct 1682)
Death of Thomas Sir Browne, English physician and author
(Best known for his book of reflections ‘Religio Medici’)
275 years ago (6 Oct 1732)
Birth of Nevil Maskelyne, English astronomer
(Noted for his contribution to the science of navigation)
250 years ago (30 Oct 1757)
Death of Edward Vernon, English admiral
225 years ago (27 Oct 1782)
Birth of Niccolò Paganini, Italian composer and violin virtuoso
150 years ago (24 Oct 1857)
The first football club, Sheffield FC, was set up by a group of Cambridge University Old Boys
90 years ago (15 Oct 1917)
Death of Mata Hari, Dutch spy – executed
80 years ago (6 Oct 1927)
The Hollywood movie “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson was released
(The first feature-length “talkie”)
70 years ago (19 Oct 1937)
Death of Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-born British physicist
(Founding father of nuclear physics)
60 years ago (14 Oct 1947)
American test pilot Charles “Chuck” Yeager made the first supersonic flight, at Rogers Dry Lake, California, USA
50 years ago (4 Oct 1957)
The USSR launched Sputnik I, the first satellite
50 years ago (25 Oct 1957)
Death of Christian Dior, French fashion designer
50 years ago (29 Oct 1957)
Death of Louis B. Mayer, American movie executive
(Head of MGM studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
40 years ago (3 Oct 1967)
Death of Woody Guthrie, American folk singer and songwriter
40 years ago (5 Oct 1967)
The first ‘majority verdict’ by a British jury was given in a Brighton court case
40 years ago (8 Oct 1967)
The first breathalyser test was carried out on a British motorist, in Somerset
40 years ago (8 Oct 1967)
Death of Clement Attlee, British prime minister 1945-1951
40 years ago (9 Oct 1967)
Death of Che Guevara, Argentinian-born guerilla leader and revolutionary, murdered in Bolivia
30 years ago (14 Oct 1977)
Death of Bing Crosby, American singer and actor
25 years ago (8 Oct 1982)
The Polish government banned Solidarity and forbid the setting up of new trade unions
25 years ago (11 Oct 1982)
The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII’s navy, was raised, having sunk in the Solent in 1545
25 years ago (31 Oct 1982)
The Thames barrier, part of London’s flood defences, became operational and was raised for the first time. (Officially opened by the Queen in May 1984)
20 years ago (9 Oct 1987)
Death of Clare Booth Luce, American writer and politician
20 years ago (16 Oct 1987)
Hurricane-force winds hit southern England, killing 18 people, injuring hundreds, and causing massive damage. Weather forecasters were criticised for failing to predict it
20 years ago (19 Oct 1987)
‘Black Monday’ – the world’s stock markets collapsed after a wave of panic selling on Wall Street
20 years ago (19 Oct 1987)
Death of Jacqueline du Pré, British cellist
20 years ago (23 Oct 1987)
Former British champion jockey Lester Piggott was jailed for three years for tax evasion
20 years ago (29 Oct 1987)
Death of Woody Herman, American jazz musician and bandleader
10 years ago (2 Oct 1997)
British scientists showed that new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was the same disease as BSE or ‘mad-cow disease’
10 years ago (3 Oct 1997)
Death of A. L. (Alfred Leslie) Rowse, British historian and writer
(Leading authority on Elizabethan England)
10 years ago (12 Oct 1997)
Death of John Denver, American singer and songwriter
10 years ago (14 Oct 1997)
Death of Harold Robbins, American novelist
10 years ago (15 Oct 1997)
British driver Andy Green set a new land speed record and broke the sound barrier in the Thrust SSC jet car, at Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA
10 years ago (16 Oct 1997)
Death of James Michener, American writer
10 years ago (25 oct 1997)
The Million Woman March took place in Philadelphia, USA
10 years ago (30 Oct 1997)
A court in Massachusetts, USA found British nanny Louise Woodward guilty of murdering a child in her care
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