October 1, 331BC
Alexander the Great beats Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela.
October 2, 1893: The Cheniere Caminada Hurricanestrikes Louisiana and kills about 2000 people.
October 3, 1955: *Captain Kangaroo *premieres on CBS.
October 4, 1918: The T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey explodes killing approximately 100 people and injuring many more. This event is one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. The accident occurred at the tail end of WWI, and estimates are that munitions destroyed in this single accident could have supplied the Western Front for six months. Nearly a century later, explosive debris scattered by this disaster is still occasionally found.
**October 5, 1864 **: A cyclone hits Calcutta, India.The city is flooded and close to 60,000 are killed.
October 6, 1918: The HMS *Otranto *collides with another troopship during a storm off the Isle of Islay. 470 on board are killed.
October 7, 1825: The Great Miramichi Firedestroys New Castle, New Brunswick. Over 160 die. This fire ranks among the three largest fires ever recorded in North America.
October 8, 1871: The day it rained fire in Wisconsin. The deadliest wildfire in history, The Great Peshtigo Firekills somewhere between 1200 and 2500 in a single day. It has been described as a tornado of fire. The area burned in this fire is 50% larger than the state of Rhode Island.
October 9, 1963: The Vajont Dam Landslide Disasterkills about 2000 people in Italy. An inland tsunami occurred after a huge chunk of mountain broke off into the newly created lake above the Vajont Dam. Though the dam actually survived, the huge wave blown over top of the dam destroyed everything in its path. The villages below the dam were wiped away and the area was said to resemble a moonscape afterwards.
October 10, 1888: The Mud Run train disasterkills 64 in Pennsylvania.
October 11, 1987: First public display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
October 11, 1138: In one of history’s deadliest earthquakes, Aleppo and the surrounding area is destroyed. An estimated 230,000 people die.
October 12, 1654: The Delft Thunderclap, an accidental explosion of more than 90,000 pounds of gunpowder, destroys much of this city in the Netherlands. Over a hundred are killed and thousands injured.
October 14, 1939: The HMS *Royal Oak *is sunk by a German U-boat. Over 800 men are lost.
October 15, 1954: Originally forecast to miss the United States, Hurricane Hazelmakes landfall near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The destructive storm would go on kill 95 in the US and 81 in Canada.
October 19, 1870: The SS *Cambria, *a merchant cargo and passenger ship sinks in rough seas near Ireland after striking Tor Beg rock. 178 die. The one survivor John M’Gartland found himself on a lifeboat with about 15 other people trying to stay alive. Unfortunately the boat overturned in the weather and when it was righted again Mr. M’Gartland found himself alone except for a female corpse dressed entirely in black. He rode with her several hours until rescue.
October 20, 1944: The East Ohio Gas Leak Explosionin Cleveland kills over 130 people and destroys blocks of homes and businesses. 21 of the dead were never identified. While the cause of the disaster was probably a simple gas leak, there was some suspicion at the time of WWII sabotage.
October 21, 1966: The Aberfan Disaster.
After days of heavy rain, an enormous coal tip gives way and avalanches into a village in Wales. 144 die. Of the dead 116 were children. Most were young students at the Pantglas Junior School which was buried under the coal waste. Investigations later conclude that warnings of the danger were ignored and the National Coal Board receives heavy condemnation. But no one is held accountable.
October 21, 1983: The “meter” is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
October 22, 1707: The Scilly Naval Disaster.
Four ships of the Royal Navy are lost in a storm when they run upon rocks at the Isles of Scilly near the entrance to the English Channel. Somewhere between 1400 and 2000 are killed.