Today October 14th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1066 – Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings – In England on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, the forces of William the Conqueror defeat the Saxon army and kill King Harold II of England.
1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland s independence.
1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1586 – Mary I of Scotland goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth I of England.
1656 – Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The marriage of church-and-state in Puritanism makes them regard the ritual-free Quakers as spiritually apostate and politically subversive.
1758 – Seven Years War: Austria defeats Prussia at the Battle of Hochkirk
1773 – The first recorded Ministry of Education, the Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Polish for Commission of National Education), is formed in Poland.
1773 – American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom s East India Company tea ships cargo are burned at Annapolis, Maryland.
1789 – George Washington proclaims the first Thanksgiving Day.
1805 – Battle of Elchingen, France defeats Austria
1806 – Battle of Jena-Auerstädt France defeats Prussia
1808 – The Republic of Ragusa is annexed by France.
1812 – Work on London s Regent s Canal starts.
1834 – In Philadelphia, Whigs and Democrats stage a gun, stone and brick battle for control of a Moyamensing Township election, resulting in one death, several injuries, and the burning down of a block of buildings.
1840 – Maronite leader Bashir II surrenders to the British forces and goes into exile in Malta.
1843 – The British arrest Irish nationalist Daniel O Connell for conspiracy.
1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Bristoe Station – Confederate General Robert E. Lee forces fail to drive the Union Army out of Virginia.
1867 – The 15th and last Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate resigns in Japan.
1882 – University of the Punjab is founded in present day Pakistan.
1884 – George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film.
1888 – Louis Le Prince films first motion picture: Roundhay Garden Scene.
1910 – English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his Farman biplane on Executive Avenue (now Pennsylvania Avenue) near the White House.
1912 – While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, former president Theodore Roosevelt is shot by saloonkeeper John Schrank. With a fresh flesh wound and the bullet still in him, Roosevelt still delivers his scheduled speech.
1913 – Senghenydd Colliery Disaster, the United Kingdom s worst coal mining accident, which claimed 439 lives.
1916 – Sophomore tackle and guard Paul Robeson is excluded from the Rutgers football team when Washington and Lee University refused to play against a black person.
1916 – The Perm State University was founded in Russia.
1920 – Part of Petsamo province is ceded by Soviet Union to Finland.
1925 – Anti-French uprising in Damascus (French inhabitants flee)
1926 – The children s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, is first published.
1933 – Nazi Germany withdraws from The League of Nations.
1939 – German U-Boat U-47 sinks British battleship HMS Royal Oak.
1940 – Balham tube disaster during the Blitz.
1942 – A German U-boat sinks the ferry SS Caribou, killing 137.
1943 – Prisoners at the Sobibor death camp in Poland revolt, resulting in the death of 11 SS. About half of the camp s 600 prisoners escape; about 50 survive the war.
1943 – U.S. 8th Air Force loses 60 B-17 Flying Fortresses during an assault on Schweinfurt.
1944 – Allied troops land in Corfu.
1947 – Chuck Yeager flies a Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound, the first man to do so in level flight.
1949 – Eleven leaders of the U.S. Communist Party are convicted, after a nine-month trial, of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government.
1949 – Chinese Red Army occupies Canton (Guangzhou).
1957 – Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first Canadian monarch to open the Parliament of Canada with the Speech from the Throne.
1958 – The U.S. conducts an underground nuclear weapon test at the Nevada Test Site.
1958 – The District of Columbia Bar Association votes to accept black Americans as members.
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.
1964 – Leonid Brezhnev becomes general secretary of the CPSU and leader of the Soviet Union, ousting Nikita Khrushchev.
1964 – American civil rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr becomes the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1966 – The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro.
1967 – Vietnam War: Folk singer Joan Baez is arrested in a blockade of the military induction center in Oakland, California.
1968 – Vietnam War: 27 soldiers are arrested at the Presidio in San Francisco for their peaceful protest of stockade conditions and the Vietnam War.
1968 – Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the United States Army and United States Marines will be sending about 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours.
1968 – First live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft Apollo 7.
1968 – A 6.8 earthquake destroys the Australian town of Meckering, and also ruptures all major roads and railways nearby.
1968 – Jim Hines of the USA becomes the first man ever to break the ten second barrier in the 100 metres Olympic final at Mexico City with a time of 9.95 sec. He would be the only man to do so until 1983.
1968 – The rebuilt Euston railway station in London is opened.
1969 – The United Kingdom introduces the 50p (fifty-pence) coin, replacing the ten-shilling note, in anticipation of the decimalisation of the currency in 1971.
1973 – Thailand s University Students, over 100,000 people, protested for a democratic government; 77 are killed and 857 injured by the soldiers. HM the King and his mother broadcasted live on television to ask both sides to stop.
1979 – The first Gay Rights March on Washington, D.C., the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, demands an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people, draws 200,000 people.
1981 – Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges the U.S. government with holding Richard Marshall of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner.
1981 – Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
1982 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs.
1994 – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
1998 – Eric Robert Rudolph is charged with 6 bombings including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia.
2008 – Canada s Conservatives led by Stephen Harper are re-elected.
Births
1257 – King Przemysl II of Poland (d. 1296)
1404 – Marie of Anjou, queen of France (d. 1463)
1493 – Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese warlord (d. 1568)
1499 – Claude of France, wife of Louis XII of France (d. 1524)
1630 – Sophia of Hanover, Princess Palatine and Electress of Saxony (d. 1714)
1633 – James II of England and VII of Scotland (d. 1701)
1643 – Bahadur Shah I, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1712)
1644 – William Penn, English founder of Pennsylvania (d. 1718)
1687 – Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (d. 1768)
1712 – George Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1770)
1726 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician (d. 1813)
1733 – François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, Austrian field marshal (d. 1798)
1784 – King Ferdinand VII of Spain (d. 1833)
1790 – Thursday October Christian (d. 1831)
1801 – Joseph Plateau, Belgian physicist (d. 1883)
1806 – Preston King, U.S. Senator from New York (d. 1865)
1842 – Joe Start, American baseball player (d. 1927)
1861 – Artur Gavazzi, Croatian geographer (d. 1944)
1869 – Joseph Duveen, British art dealer (d. 1939)
1873 – Ray Ewry, American athlete (d. 1937)
1873 – Jules Rimet, president of FIFA (d. 1954)
1882 – Eamon de Valera, Irish politician and patriot (d. 1975)
1882 – Charlie Parker, English cricketer (d. 1959)
1887 – Bernard Montgomery, British General. (d. 1976)
1888 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer (d. 1923)
1890 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th President of the United States (d. 1969)
1892 – Sumner Welles, American diplomat (d. 1961)
1893 – Lillian Gish, American actress (d. 1993)
1894 – E. E. Cummings, American poet (d. 1962)
1900 – Agustín Lara, Mexican composer (d. 1970)
1902 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist (d. 1963)
1904 – Christian Pineau, French World War II resistance fighter (d. 1995)
1906 – Hannah Arendt, German political theorist and writer (d. 1975)
1906 – Imam Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (d. 1949)
1907 – Allan Jones, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
1908 – Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (d. 2003)
1909 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German racecar driver (d. 1938)
1909 – Dorothy Kingsley, American screenwriter (d. 1996)
1910 – John Wooden, American basketball player and coach
1911 – Lê Ð?c Th?, Vietnamese general and politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1990)
1914 – Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2006)
1914 – Dick Durrance, American skier (d. 2004)
1914 – Harry Brecheen, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1916 – C. Everett Koop, United States Surgeon General
1918 – Marcel Chaput, French Canadian politician (d. 1991)
1926 – Bill Justis, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
1927 – Roger Moore, English actor
1928 – Frank E. Resnik, American business executive (d. 1995)
1929 – Yvon Durelle, Canadian boxer (d. 2007)
1930 – Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire (d. 1997)
1931 – Nikhil Banerjee, Indian classical musician (d. 1986)
1932 – Anatoly Larkin, Russian-American physicist (d. 2005)
1932 – Enrico di Giuseppe, American tenor (d. 2005)
1932 – Dyanne Thorne, American actress
1935 – La Monte Young, American composer
1938 – John W. Dean III, Watergate figure
1938 – Empress Farah Diba of Iran
1938 – Ron Lancaster, American-born Canadian football player and coach (d. 2008)
1939 – Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer
1939 – Rocky Thompson, American golfer
1940 – Perrie Mans, South African snooker player
1940 – Cliff Richard, English singer
1940 – Christopher Timothy, British actor
1941 – Art Shamsky, American baseball player
1941 – Jerry Glanville, American football coach
1942 – Evelio Javier, Filipino politician, lawyer, and civil servant (d. 1986)
1944 – Udo Kier, German actor
1945 – Colin Hodgkinson, English musician (Whitesnake)
1946 – Justin Hayward, English musician (Moody Blues)
1946 – James Robert Radio Kennedy, American football coach
1946 – Craig Venter, American biologist
1946 – Al Oliver, American baseball player
1946 – Dan McCafferty, Scottish musician (Nazareth)
1947 – Lukas Resetarits, Austrian cabaret artist
1948 – David Ruprecht, American game show host
1948 – Engin Arik, Turkish nuclear physicist (d. 2007)
1949 – Katy Manning, English/Australian actress
1949 – Katha Pollitt, American writer
1952 – Nikolai Andrianov, Soviet gymnast
1952 – Harry Anderson, American actor
1953 – Shelley Ackerman, American astrologer, writer, singer
1954 – Carole Malone, English newspaper columnist
1957 – Michel Després, Quebec politician
1958 – Thomas Dolby, English musician
1959 – A.J. Pero, American drummer (Twisted Sister)
1960 – Steve Cram, English athlete
1961 – Isaac Mizrahi American fashion designer
1962 – Jaan Ehlvest, Estonian chess player
1963 – Yim Jae-beom, South Korean singer
1963 – Lori Petty, American actress
1964 – Olu Oguibe, American artist
1964 – Joe Girardi, American baseball player
1964 – Jim Rome, American sport talk show host
1964 – David Kaye, Canadian actor
1965 – Jüri Jaanson, Estonian rower
1965 – Constantine Koukias, Australian composer
1965 – Steve Coogan, English actor
1965 – Karyn White, American singer
1966 – Savanna Samson, American porn star
1967 – Pat Kelly, American baseball player
1967 – Sylvain Lefebvre, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 – Stephen A. Smith, American sports journalist
1968 – Matthew Le Tissier, English footballer
1968 – Johnny Goudie, American musician
1969 – David Strickland, American actor (d. 1999)
1969 – P. J. Brown, American basketball player
1970 – Jim Jackson, American basketball player
1970 – Daniela Peštová, Czech supermodel
1970 – Jon Seda, Puerto Rican actor
1970 – Pär Zetterberg, Swedish football player
1971 – Jorge Costa, Portuguese footballer
1973 – Lasha Zhvania, Georgian politician
1974 – Natalie Maines, American musician (Dixie Chicks)
1974 – Jessica Drake, American porn star
1974 – Joseph Utsler, American musician
1975 – Floyd Landis, American cyclist
1975 – Shaznay Lewis, English singer (All Saints)
1976 – Nataša Kejžar, Slovenian swimmer
1976 – Henry Mateo, Dominican baseball player
1976 – Ben Pridmore, World Memory Champion
1977 – Kelly Schumacher, Canadian basketball player
1977 – Bianca Beauchamp, adult model
1977 – Jonathan Kerrigan, English actor
1977 – Tina Dico, Danish singer-songwriter
1978 – Justin Brannan, American musician, writer
1978 – Ryan Church, American baseball player
1978 – Paul Hunter, English snooker player (d. 2006)
1978 – Steven Thompson, Scottish footballer
1978 – Usher, American singer and actor
1978 – Javon Walker, American football player
1979 – Stacy Keibler, American actress and professional wrestler
1980 – Terrence McGee, American football player
1980 – Paul Ambrosi, Ecuadorian footballer
1980 – Niels Lodberg, Danish footballer
1981 – Boof Bonser, American baseball player
1982 – Cosmin Curiman, Romanian football player
1983 – Vanessa Lane, American porn star
1983 – Lin Dan, Chinese badminton player
1984 – LaRon Landry, American football player
1985 – Daniel Clark, American actor
1985 – Digão, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Alexandre Sarnes Negrão, Brazilian racing driver
1985 – Sherlyn, Mexican actress
1986 – Tom Craddock, English footballer
1986 – Skyler Shaye, American actress
1988 – MacKenzie Mauzy, American actress
1988 – Max Thieriot, American actor
1991 – Shona McGarty, English Actress
Deaths
1066 – Harold Godwinson, King of England
1092 – Nizam al-Mulk, Persian vizier (b. 1018)
1256 – Kujo Yoritsugu, Japanese shogun (b. 1239)
1318 – Edward Bruce, High King of Ireland
1552 – Oswald Myconius, Swiss Protestant reformer (b. 1488)
1565 – Thomas Chaloner, English statesman and poet (b. 1521)
1568 – Jacques Arcadelt, Flemish composer
1610 – Amago Yoshihisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1540)
1619 – Samuel Daniel, English poet (b. 1562)
1637 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (b. 1552)
1660 – Thomas Harrison, English Puritan soldier (b. 1606)
1669 – Antonio Cesti, Italian composer (b. 1623)
1703 – Thomas Hansen Kingo, Danish poet (b. 1634)
1711 – Tewoflos, Emperor of Ethiopia
1758 – Francis Edward James Keith, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (b. 1696)
1831 – Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (b. 1761)
1911 – John Marshall Harlan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1833)
1929 – Henri Berger, German composer and royal bandmaster (b. 1844)
1944 – Erwin Rommel, German field marshall (b. 1891)
1958 – Douglas Mawson, Australian Antarctic explorer (b. 1882)
1959 – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (b. 1909)
1960 – Abram Ioffe, Russian physicist (b. 1880)
1961 – Paul Ramadier, French politician (b. 1888)
1961 – Harriet Shaw Weaver, English political activist (b. 1876)
1967 – Marcel Aymé, French novelist and playwright (b. 1902)
1973 – Edmund A. Chester, American broadcaster and journalist (b. 1897)
1976 – Dame Edith Evans, English actress (b. 1888)
1977 – Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (b. 1903)
1983 – Willard Price, Canadian author and naturalist (b. 1887)
1984 – Martin Ryle, English radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1918)
1985 – Emil Gilels, Ukrainian pianist (b. 1916)
1986 – Keenan Wynn, American actor (b. 1916)
1989 – Michael Carmine, American actor (b.1959)
1990 – Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (b. 1918)
1997 – Harold Robbins, American novelist (b. 1915)
1998 – Cleveland Amory, American writer and animal rights activist (b. 1917)
1998 – Frankie Yankovic, American musician (b. 1916)
1999 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician (b. 1922)
2002 – Norbert Schultze, American composer and songwriter (b. 1911)
2003 – Patrick Dalzel-Job, English soldier and inspiration for James Bond (b. 1913)
2004 – Vlassis Bonatsos, Greek singer, actor and entertainer (b. 1949)
2005 – Jody Dobrowski, English murder victim (b. 1981)
2006 – Jared Anderson, American bassist (b. 1975)
2006 – Freddy Fender, American musician (b. 1937)
2006 – Maurice Grosse, British paranormal investigator (b. 1919)
2006 – Nancy Lynn, American aviator (b. 1956)
2006 – Gerry Studds, American politician (b. 1937)
2007 – Big Moe, American rapper (b. 1974)
2008 – Richard Cooey, American murderer and rapist (executed) (b. 1967)
Holidays and observances
RC Saints – Pope Callistus I, Angadrisma, Fortunatus of Todi
Teachers Day, or National Education Day in Poland
French Republican Calendar – Navet (Turnip) Day, twenty-third day in the Month of Vendémiaire
Chisinau s (Moldova s capital) local holiday (known as Hramul Orasului by locals).
World Standards Day
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