# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/883 "2017-10-23T05:22:37Z")
**October 23, 1958** : [The Springhill Mine Disaster](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://interestingcanadianhistory.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/springhill-nova-scotia-mine-disaster-oct-23-1958/amp/&ved=0ahUKEwjm0I_F_oXXAhXG6yYKHUmWDYUQFgjDATAc&usg=AOvVaw3wXoWChxCuJEzVIsy0V8DD&cf=1)kills 74 in Nova Scotia. It was caused by an underground earthquake known as a “bump.” This was one of the deadliest such mining bumps ever to occur in North America. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/884 "2017-10-23T15:29:30Z")
**October 23, 1915** – In New York City, up to 33,000 women march on Fifth Avenue to advocate their right to vote. (No reason all of these historic events have to be disasters or military losses!) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/885 "2017-10-24T04:43:41Z")
**October 24, 1901** : [Annie Edson Taylor](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/annie-edson-taylors-1901-retirement-plan-go-over-niagara-falls-in-a-barrel.amp&ved=0ahUKEwij5d7GtojXAhXJOSYKHcloDBIQFgjhATAk&usg=AOvVaw31mlUQJ-mef70KFmj2OBYD&cf=1) becomes the first person ever to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive. The retired schoolteacher was celebrating her 63rd birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/886 "2017-10-25T05:47:42Z")
**October 25, 1918** : [The SS _Princess Sophia_](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm%3Fsection%3DDigital-Archives%26page%3DLand-Sea-Air%26cat%3DShips-and-Boats%26viewpost%3D2%26ContentId%3D2563&ved=0ahUKEwi4j6_khIvXAhUQcCYKHQVoBjk4ChAWCFcwDQ&usg=AOvVaw1n0oWpTyPE1sLDteYrfYRp) sinks in Lynn Canal near Juneau Alaska with a loss of all 342 aboard. One day earlier this passenger ship had grounded on the Vanderbilt Reef in heavy snow and wind. Many rescue ships arrived, but none were able to get close enough to the striken SS _Princess Sophia_ to enable a rescue. Instead of improving as expected, the weather grew even worse. The ship finally sank before rescue could be made. The only survivor was an Irish Setter, found a day later. It was shivering and covered with oil when discovered on an island several miles from the disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/887 "2017-10-26T05:15:11Z")
**October 26, 1881** : [The gunfight at the O.K. Corral.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral&ved=0ahUKEwiQnoSWw43XAhUBdSYKHSd2CWoQmhMIYTAM&usg=AOvVaw012Rghdp3W8Av8lcIbSzjC) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/888 "2017-10-26T13:19:16Z")
October 26, 1977: Ali Maow Maalin, the last natural case of smallpox, develops rash in Merca district, Somalia. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/889 "2017-10-27T04:47:03Z")
**October 27, 1948** : [The Dunora Smog Event](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Donora_smog&ved=0ahUKEwidlom9-4_XAhUJRCYKHVdQDhYQmhMIYjAM&usg=AOvVaw2-BImIkoEMVbN21Um1jjGW) unfolds in Pennsylvania. A toxic cloud of smog builds up over Donora. When it dissipates five days later 20 people are dead and nearly half the town of 14,000 are ill. Another 50 would die of respiratory illness over the next month. A University of Cincinnati study estimates smog deaths might have numbered in the thousands had helpful rains not come when they did. Pollution from the town’s zinc plant had become trapped in a cool air pocket. This worst of U.S. smog events led to clean air regulation and is often credited with helping launch the environmental movement in the country. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/890 "2017-10-27T13:30:35Z")
**October 27, 1904:** The first underground New York City Subway line opens; the system becomes the biggest in United States, and one of the biggest in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/891 "2017-10-28T04:57:18Z")
**October 28, 1915** : [The St. Johns’s School Fire](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/suffer-the-little-children-remembering-the-who-died-in-the/article_d069f2f1-3e88-5be1-8c02-7c6f8fb2d2ec.html&ved=0ahUKEwjr8tOFwJLXAhXDTSYKHc7cDOQQFggxMAE&usg=AOvVaw3mglwKCCr1Of5LuQqBWuV3) in Peabody, Massachusetts kills 21 children. This tragedy leads to regulations requiring all exit doors to open outwards in schools. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/892 "2017-10-29T05:39:18Z")
**October 29, 1894** : [The SS _Wairarapa_](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ourstuff/October.htm&ved=0ahUKEwifsb6mjJXXAhVGWSYKHQbrB-8QFgidATAb&usg=AOvVaw1XR7JjTy9-IXTlnodGhDFg) wrecks in thick fog off New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island. 135 are killed in the sinking. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/893 "2017-10-29T14:54:06Z")
**October 29, 1929:** The New York Stock Exchange crashes in what will be called the Crash of '29 or “Black Tuesday”, ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/894 "2017-10-31T02:01:30Z")
**October 31st, 1517** , Martin Luther inadvertently fucks Europe’s shit up by starting a debate about indulgences which quickly led to millions repudiating the legitimacy of the Catholic Church and the old political dream of a united Christendom, which lead to, in times, millions dead and the entire idea of _religion_ becoming unpalatable to many. While he probably sent some copies to various people prior to this date, All Hallows Eve is the traditional date given for Luther posting the 95 theses in his church at Wittenberg, Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/895 "2017-10-31T04:12:12Z")
**October 31, 1876** : [The Great Backerganj Cyclone](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Bengal-cyclone-of-1876&ved=0ahUKEwiiu73j5ZnXAhUJSyYKHSe9AdUQFghhMAg&usg=AOvVaw2g74P5OkBadoPMPxtigxqP)makes landfall in Bangladesh with 140 mph winds and a massive storm surge. An estimated 200,000 are killed in what is surely one of the deadliest weather events in human history. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/896 "2017-10-31T14:00:05Z")
**October 31, 1963:** A propane tank explosion at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum in Indianapolis kills 74 people and injures another 400 during an ice skating show. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/897 "2017-11-01T05:23:12Z")
**November 1, 1952** : [The United States detonates the world’s first hydrogen bomb.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.army.mil/article-amp/47341/the_island_is_missing&ved=0ahUKEwjN29_bz5zXAhWDOyYKHSMHB94QFgi-ATAY&usg=AOvVaw2Gpteo11D5SKcDVJVU4D0M&cf=1) The test island, Eniwetok, is completely vaporized. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/898 "2017-11-02T05:41:56Z")
**November 2, 1957** : [The Levelland, Texas UFO sightings](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levelland_UFO_Case&ved=0ahUKEwig1vyxlZ_XAhWF5CYKHcaaBdgQFggmMAA&usg=AOvVaw0CZpvhv9roVafhb6E5-9z7) cause a national brouhaha. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/899 "2017-11-03T04:17:39Z")
**November 3, 1982** : [The Salang Tunnel Fire.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salang_Tunnel_fire&ved=0ahUKEwivwZ3ZwKHXAhWMKiYKHVPOBGQQFggmMAA&usg=AOvVaw1GcWs94NPPEezjeNgfcLZj) This was probably the deadliest road incident in history, but the true numbers are unknown. The Salang tunnel in Afghanistan was built on the high Salang Pass by the Soviets in the 1960’s. The tunnel is approximately 1.7 miles long and is at very high altitude. The cramped passageway barely has room for cars to pass in opposite directions. Mist, dust and exhaust make visibility inside very poor even with headlights. Most vehicles move at about only 5 mph. But because the route can save hundreds of miles in transport, the road and tunnel are heavily travelled. In 1982 something terrible happened as a Russian troop convoy was passing through the tunnel. Whether by accident or deliberate act, a fuel truck exploded sending a massive fireball and chain reaction through the crowded tunnel. Officially according to the Soviets, the death toll was in the low hundreds. But many accounts have estimated the number of dead much higher, with possibly as many as 2700 Russians and Afghans killed. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/900 "2017-11-03T19:25:49Z")
\*\* November 3, 1957:\*\* Sputnik 2 launches from a secret site in Kazakhstan. Six times heavier than Sputnik 1 and designed to fly nearly twice as high, it also carried a true - and tragic - Soviet hero: Laika, the space dog! > **[Remembering Laika, Space Dog and Soviet Hero](https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/remembering-laika-space-dog-and-soviet-hero)** > > Sixty years ago, for the first time in history, an animal was launched into orbit. What is her legacy? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/901 "2017-11-04T04:35:09Z")
**November 4, 1875** : [The SS \*Pacific \*](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.historylink.org/File/8914&ved=0ahUKEwjTp8-rh6TXAhUCwiYKHVvoB-MQFghLMAI&usg=AOvVaw1gepdcIyl7kHbepDG_-S8j) collides with the SS \*Orpheus \*off the coast of Washington. The \*Pacific \*sinks, taking an estimated 275 people to their deaths. Only 2 aboard that ship survive. The \*Orpheus \*is not severely harmed in the collision, and apparently unaware of the damage to the _Pacific_, it sails away. There were reports the Captain of the \*Orpheus \*had been drinking that evening. Indeed the very next day the \*Orpheus \*ran aground when the captain mistook one lighthouse for another. Fortunately all on board that vessel were able to escape with their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/902 "2017-11-05T05:18:27Z")
**November 5, 1930** : [The Millfield Mine Disaster](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.forgottenoh.com/Explosion/explosion.html&ved=0ahUKEwjF2OLv1abXAhWB6iYKHQnZCU8QFgimATAa&usg=AOvVaw16AuQbexi746o1Ztujp-gV) 82 are killed in an explosion at the Millfield Mine in Ohio. It is this state’s worst mining disaster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=46)