# 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:** 9
**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 8, 2016, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/161 "2016-10-08T08:14:06Z")
\*\*October 8, 1982: \*\*_Cats_ opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/162 "2016-10-09T21:16:22Z")
10/9/76 - A Fifth of Beethoven reaches #1 on Billboard Hot 100 chart ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/163 "2016-10-09T21:18:57Z")
**October 9, 1776:** Spanish missionaries settle in present-day San Francisco, California. ---
**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 10, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/164 "2016-10-10T00:04:12Z")
**October 9, 1604:** Supernova 1604, the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/165 "2016-10-11T01:52:27Z")
October 10, 1780 - A powerful storm slams the islands of the West Indies, killing more than 20,000 people, on this day in 1780. Known as the Great Hurricane of 1780, it was the deadliest storm ever recorded. ---
**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 11, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/166 "2016-10-11T14:22:04Z")
**October 11, 1975:** _Saturday Night Live_ debuts on NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/167 "2016-10-11T18:41:00Z")
**October 11, 1910:** Teddy Roosevelt becomes the first former US president to fly in an airplane, during a visit to Saint Louis, Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/168 "2016-10-11T19:43:10Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > **October 11, 1975:** _Saturday Night Live_ debuts on NBC. I feel I should point out that not only is today the 41st anniversary of the first _Saturday Night Live_ broadcast, it is also the Clintons’ 41st wedding anniversary. It seems appropriate that they all got their start on the same day. Happy Anniversary, Bill and Hillary. ---
**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 12, 2016, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/169 "2016-10-12T08:49:49Z")
**October 12, 1998:** Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie, Wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/170 "2016-10-13T07:29:14Z")
**October 12, 1810:** The German festival Oktoberfest is first held in Munich to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. (It’s still October 12 in Hawaii.) ---
**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 13, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/171 "2016-10-13T14:33:28Z")
October 13, 2016: Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize in Literature. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/172 "2016-10-13T14:57:00Z")
October 13, 54: Emperor Claudius is poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson Nero succeeds him. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/173 "2016-10-14T00:19:58Z")
October 13, 1775 - On this day, the Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force—the precursor to the United States Navy. FYI: Per Wikipedia: The schooner _Hannah_ was the first armed American naval vessel of the American Revolution and is claimed to be the founding vessel of the United States Navy. She was a fishing schooner owned by John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts and was named for his daughter, Hannah Glover. The crew was drawn largely from the town of Marblehead, with much of the ships ammunition being stored in Glover’s warehouse now located at Glover’s Square in Marblehead before being relocated to Beverly, Massachusetts. The schooner was hired into the service of the American Continental Army by General George Washington. Washington commissioned Nicholson Broughton to command the _Hannah_ on 2 September 1775 and ordered the vessel to, “…cruize against such vessels as may be found . . . bound inward and outward to and from Boston, in the service of the [British] army, and to take and seize all such vessels, laden with soldiers, arms, ammunition, or provisions . . . which you shall have good reason to suspect are in such service.” _Hannah_ set sail from the harbor of Beverly, Massachusetts on 5 September 1775, but fled to the protection of the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts two days later under the pursuit of HMS Lively and a second British vessel. Leaving Gloucester Harbor, _Hannah_ captured the British sloop Unity. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/174 "2016-10-14T11:28:27Z")
**October 14, 1582** : Because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. ---
**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 14, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/175 "2016-10-14T13:48:02Z")
**October 14, 1926:** The children’s book _Winnie-the-Pooh,_ by A. A. Milne, is first published. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/176 "2016-10-14T13:59:35Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **October 14, 1582** : Because of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Carefully re-reading the OP, I realize this is not an event. So… **October 14, 1066** : The Battle of Hastings - William the Conqueror’s Norman forces defeat the English army and kill King Harold II, ending the 600 year Anglo-Saxon reign over England. ---
**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 14, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/177 "2016-10-14T16:00:18Z")
**October 14, 1913** : [Senghenydd Colliers Mine Disaster](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senghenydd_Colliery_Disaster) kills 439. This is still the UK’s worst mining accident. ---
**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 15, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/178 "2016-10-15T05:45:07Z")
**October 15, 2008:** The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst day in the Dow’s history based on a percentage drop. ---
**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 15, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/179 "2016-10-15T16:21:43Z")
**October 15, 1917** : Mata Hari is executed in France. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/180 "2016-10-15T18:04:11Z")
**October 15, 1520:** King Henry VIII of England orders bowling lanes at Whitehall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=10)