539 BC – King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost 70 years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration.
415 – Jewish autonomy in Palestine ended by the Romans and Raban Gamliel forced from office
733 – Battle at Tours (Poitiers): Charles Martel’s Frankish and Burgundian forces beat those of al-Andalus under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi halting influence of Islam
1346 – Battle of Neville’s Cross: King David II of Scotland is captured by Edward III of England at Calais, and imprisoned in the Tower of London for eleven years.
1660 – Nine Regicides, the men who signed the death warrant of Charles I, are hanged, drawn and quartered, another is hanged.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
1787 – Boston blacks, petition legislature for equal school facilities
1848 – William “Candy” Cummings, created curve ball – Born
1849 – Frederic Chopin, Polish/French pianist/composer, dies at 39
1871 – President Grant suspends writ of habeas corpus during US Civil War
1888 – Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).
1905 – The October Manifesto issued by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
1907 – Guglielmo Marconi’s company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland.
1912 – Pope John Paul I (d. 1978) was born.
1915 – Arthur Miller, NYC, playwright. Married to Marilyn Monroe (Death of a Salesman, Crucible), (d. 2005) Born
1917 – First British bombing of Germany in World War I.
1918 – Ralph Wilson, American businessman, founded the Buffalo Bills (d. 2014) was born.
1919 – RCA is incorporated as the Radio Corporation of America.
1930 – Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (d. 2003) was born.
1931 – Al Capone convicted of income tax evasion.
1933 – Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
1938 – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle rider and stuntman (d. 2007) was born.
1937 – J. Bruce Ismay, English businessman, Titanic Survivor (b. 1862) died.
1941 – James Seals, Sidney Tx, singer (Seals & Crofts-Summer Breeze)Born
1941 – For the first time in World War II, a German submarine attacks an American ship.
1941 – German troops execute the male population of the villages Kerdyllia in Serres, Greece.
1943 – The Holocaust: Sobibór extermination camp is closed.
1945 – Loyalty Day in Argentina, mass demonstrations held to release Juan Perón
1945 – Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens becomes Prime Minister of Greece between the pull-out of the German occupation force in 1944 and the return of King Georgios II to Greece.
1946 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (The Doobie Brothers) (d. 2012) was born.
1947 – Michael McKean, NYC, actor (Laverne & Shirley, Saturday Night Live, Spinal Tap) Born
1948 – Margot Kidder, Yellowknife, actress (Lois Lane, Amityville Horror) Born
1953 – Joseph Bowie, American trombonist (Defunkt and Black Artists Group) was born.
1956 – The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria, England.
1956 – Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer play a famous chess game called The Game of the Century. Fischer beat Byrne and wins a Brilliancy prize.
1956 – Fran Cosmo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Boston and Orion the Hunter) was born.
1957 – French author Albert Camus awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
1959 – Dolph Lundgren, actor (Rocky 4, Masters of Universe) [or Nov 3] Born
1961 – NY Museum of Modern Art hangs Henri Matisse’s “Le Bateau” upside-down It wasn’t corrected until December 3rd
1962 – Mike Judge, American animator, director, screenwriter, producer and actor was born.
1963 – Norm Macdonald, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter was born.
1966 – A fire at a building in New York City kills 12 firefighters, the fire department’s deadliest day until the September 11, 2001 attacks.
1967 – Henry Pu Yi, last emperor of China, dies at 61
1968 – Ziggy Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter, guitarist, and voice actor (Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers) was born.
1969 – Plastic Ono Band’s “Cold Turkey” is released in UK
1969 – Wyclef Jean, Haitian-American rapper, producer, and actor (Fugees) was born.
1969 – Rick Mercer, Canadian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter was born.
1970 – Montreal: Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
1972 – Eminem, American rapper, producer, and actor (D12, Outsidaz, and Bad Meets Evil) was born.
1973 – 5-mo oil embargo by Arab states against US & Netherlands begins
1974 – John Rocker, American baseball player – Born
Jack Blood Interviews Former MLB Pitcher John Rocker: CIA, 911, Ron Paul, Freedom vs Security, Geopolitics… and baseball. Rocker’s book is “Scars and Strikes”
1977 – German Autumn: Four days after it is hijacked, Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu, Somalia, where a team of German GSG 9 commandos later rescues all remaining hostages on board.
1978 – Pres Carter signs bill restoring Jefferson Davis citizenship
1979 – Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1979 – The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law creating the US Department of Education and US Department of Health and Human Services. (Jimmy Carter)
1980 – As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican
1986 – US Senate approved immigration bill prohibiting hiring of illegal aliens & offered amnesty to illegals who entered prior to 1982 (Reagan / Bush)
1988 – Lyndon LaRouche pleads innocent to fraud, conspiracy indictment
1988 – Phillip Morris announces $11 Billion tender offer for Kraft
1989 – 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco Bay Area and causes 57 deaths directly (and 6 indirectly).
1991 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, country singer, dies of liver disease at 72
1994 – Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces.
1998 – At Jesse, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, a petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 1200 villagers, some of whom are scavenging gasoline.
2002 – Derek Bell, Irish harpist (The Chieftans) (b. 1935)Dies
2003 – The pinnacle was fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, a 101-floor skyscraper in Taipei, allowing it to surpass the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur by 50 meters (165 feet) and become the World’s tallest highrise.
2005 – The Colbert Report first airs.
2006 – The United States population reaches 300 million.
2007 – Joey Bishop, American entertainer, member of the Rat Pack (b. 1918)Dies
2007 – The Dalai Lama receives the United States Congressional Gold Medal.
2012 – Sylvia Maria Kristel, Dutch actress, dies from throat and liver cancer at 60
2012 – The exoplanet Alpha Centauri Bb is discovered orbiting Alpha Centauri
2012 – Lance Armstrong loses a host of endorsements in the wake of his doping scandal
2012 – Tens of thousands protest austerity measures in Greece