On This Day November 1

The Russian mystic Rasputin first met Tsar Nicholas II on November 1, 1905, at the Peterhof Palace. The Tsar recorded the event in his diary, writing that he and his wife Alexandra had "made the acquaintance of a man of God - Grigory, from Tobolsk province." By late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a healer for the royal family's son Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia.

Alexandra Feodorovna with her children, Rasputin and the nurse (1908)

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On This Day October 31

The papacy was earning a good income by the indulgences system that allowed Christians to purchase remission from penance in purgatory. Appalled at the indulgences system, the Augustinian monk Martin Luther nailed up on the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, his Ninety-five Theses, (the standard way of raising issues for debate), arguing that a Christian has had a full pardon from God and no need of indulgences. The Protestant Reformation had begun.

1517 Nuremberg printing of the Ninety-five Theses as a placard

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On This Day October 30

Jane Austen's first successful novel Sense and Sensibility was published anonymously (it was attributed to " Lady") on October 30, 1811. She had to pay to have it published, but her investment paid off; by the middle of 1813, the novel had sold out its first print run of 750 copies. It then had a second print run later that year, making Austen a total profit of £140.

Title page from the original 1811 edition

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On This Day October 29

American entrepreneur Milton Reynolds first came across the Bíró ballpoint pen during a business trip to Argentina where they were first made. Recognizing their commercial potential, he founded Reynolds International Pen Company to manufacture them. His product Reynolds' Rocket ballpoint pens went on sale at Gimbels department store in New York City on October 29, 1945 for $12.95. Reynolds advertised it as the pen "to write under water." It was immediately successful: $100,000 worth sold the first day on the market.

Birome advertisement in Argentine magazine Leoplán, 1945. Wikipedia 

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On This Day October 28

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886. President Grover Cleveland, the former New York governor, presided over the event, which was marked by the city's first ticker-tape parade. The statue, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Maurice Koechlin, who was chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel's engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower, designed the internal structure.

Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World (1886) by Edward Moran

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On This Day October 27

The city of Amsterdam was first settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century. The name means 'dam on the Amstel.' The earliest recorded use of the name "Amsterdam" is from a certificate dated October 27, 1275, when the inhabitants, who had built a bridge with a dam across the Amstel, were exempted from paying a bridge toll by Count Floris V.

The GIFT-LETTER of 1275

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On This Day October 26

The first edition of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels was published in two volumes on October 26, 1726, priced at 8s. 6d. The book was an instant sensation and sold out its first run in less than a week. The novel's full title was Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships. (Swift was nervous about the reaction his satire might provoke, hence the Lemuel Gulliver pseudonym).

First edition of Gulliver's Travels

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On This Day October 25

On October 25, 1764 the daughter of a Congregational minister, Abigail, married John, who was the son of a farmer. The minister was so enraged that she was marrying beneath her that the lesson he read was from Luke 7 v33, "John came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine and some say he has a devil in him." John Adams (1735-1826) later became the second president of the United States.

John Adams – 1766 Portrait by Blyth

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On This Day October 24

Nuremberg watchmaker Stephan Farffler died on October 24, 1689. Farffler, who was either a paraplegic or an amputee, built in 1655 the world's first self-propelling wheelchair. The three-wheeled device used a system of cranks and cogwheels and is also believed to have been a precursor to the modern-day bicycle and tricycle.

Farffler's carriage of 1655

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On This Day October 23

On October 23, 1906, Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont made the first powered heavier-than-air flight in Europe. Santos-Dumont piloted his 14-bis biplane before a large crowd of witnesses at the grounds of Paris' Château de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne for a distance of 60 metres (197 ft) at a height of about five meters (16 ft).

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On This Day October 22

Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first jump from a balloon with a frameless parachute on October 22, 1797. He was dropped from about 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) over Monceau Park in Paris in a 23-ft.-diameter parachute made of white canvas with a basket attached. Garnerin was airsick on the way down as his invention lacked the hole in the top to steady it.

First use of a frameless parachute, by André Garnerin in 1797

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On This Day October 21

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought on October 21, 1805 between the navies of France and Spain on one side, and Great Britain on the other near Cape Trafalgar in southwest Spain. At the battle, 27 British ships led by Admiral Nelson defeated 33 French and Spanish ships. The French and Spaniards lost 22 ships in the battle; all the British ships survived. Britain's victory allowed them to become the world's largest sea power for 100 years.

The Battle of Trafalgar J. M. W. Turner

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On This Day October 20

Muffin The Mule was the first character created for children’s TV. Muffin first appeared on television in an edition of For the Children broadcast by the BBC on October 20, 1946. The presenter who played the piano while Muffin danced on it was Annette Mills, who was the sister of actor Sir John Mills.

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On This Day October 19

The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon to Isabella I of Castile on October 19, 1469 paved the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain. Under Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles I, and Philip II, Spain became one of the most powerful empires in the world. The discoveries of Christopher Columbus made on behalf of Spain were followed by the conquest of most of Central and South America.

Christopher Columbus meets Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon

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On This Day October 18

Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick was first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London in October 18, 1851. Moby-Dick is now considered by some as the greatest contribution of American letters to world literature. However, after a run of successful seafaring tales, this was the first flop for ex-cabin boy Herman Melville. The centennial of Melville's birth in 1919 became the starting point of a revival of his work, as. critics discovered his major novels and stories, including Moby-Dick.

Title page of the first edition of Moby-Dick, 1851

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On This Day October 17

It was on platform 2 of Dartford station on October 17, 1961 that a young Keith Richards spotted a young Mick Jagger with two blues albums under his arm and got talking to him about music. The pair joined musician Brian Jones's band half a year later after he placed an advertisement in Jazz News on May 2, 1962, inviting musicians to audition for a new R&B group at the Bricklayer's Arms pub. They shared an admiration of Muddy Waters and the band was named The Rolling Stones after the American bluesman's "Rollin' Stone Blues."

An early incarnation of The Rolling Stones

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On This Day October 16

In the mid 1840s a Boston dentist called William Morton started to experiment with using ether to anesthetize a patient before extracting a tooth. He persuaded one of America’s most prominent surgeons Doctor John Warren, to conduct the first public demonstration of ether as a general anesthetic on October 16, 1846, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with Morton as an anesthetist. The operation for removing a tumor from the lower jaw of a Mr Abbott was a success and the patient felt no pain.

Re-enactment of the first public demonstration of general anesthesia by William T. G. Morton 

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On This Day October 15

When running for the Presidency, Abraham Lincoln was urged to grow a beard, in order to look more dignified. Lincoln objected, not liking hair under his chin, calling it "a piece of silly affection". He was persuaded in part thanks to a letter dated October 15, 1860 from 11-year-old Grace Bedell suggesting that the presidential candidate grow a beard.

A beardless Lincoln in 1858

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On This Day October 14

The Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeated the English army at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066. Their victory was the beginning the Norman conquest of England, which put an end to 500 years of Anglo-Saxon rule. One of the contributory factors towards the Normans' victory was the drunken condition of many of the Saxons at Hastings. Indeed some of the French invaders recorded in their chronicles their amazement as to how inebriated the English soldiers were on the battlefield.

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings

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On This Day October 13

Marie Antoinette met the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on October 13, 1762 in Vienna, when she was seven, (he was two months her junior). Mozart performed a short musical concert for the Imperial Family. When the Empress asked him what he would like as a reward, the young child genius is said to have responded by saying he would like the hand of the Empress's youngest daughter - Marie-Antoinette - in marriage (much to the Empress's amusement.)

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/

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On This Day October 12

Construction on Rio de Janeiro's beloved statue of Jesus, which is perched atop the mountain known as Corcovado, began in 1922. The statue officially opened on October 12, 1931. Weighing in at 635 long tons, the soapstone-and-concrete statue's welcoming arms stretch almost 97 feet across. The Christ the Redeemer is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and can be seen in many Hollywood movies and music videos.

Aerial view of the statue. By Gustavo Facci from Argentina - Flickr

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On This Day October 11

Theodore Roosevelt became the first American president to fly in an airplane on October 11, 1910. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright brothers at Kinloch Field (Lambert–St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.

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On This Day October 10

On October 10, 1789, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French physician, stood before the National Assembly and proposed an apparatus designed for carrying out executions by beheading be adopted as the official means of capital punishment. The device, a decapitation piece of equipment incorporating a vertically-descending blade was originally called a louisette. It was later named after Guillotin, however his family were unhappy at having their name attached to such a device.

Marie Antoinette's execution by guillotine on October 16, 1793

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On This Day October 9

The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. Coming during a very active hurricane season, the storm formed on October 9, 1780 and struck Barbados the next day with winds possibly exceeding 200 mph. It then passed over several other islands between October 10–16, leaving mass destruction in its wake. Thousands of deaths were reported on each island, and between 22,000–27,501 people had died by the time the storm dissipated.

HMS Egmont, when dismasted on 11 October near the Island of St Lucia

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On This Day October 8

Pyotr Tchaikovsky conducted the first performance of his Pathétique symphony, which was dedicated to his nephew, in St Petersburg, on October 8, 1893. The symphony was written in Tchaikovsky's summer house in Klin, 50 miles northwest of Moscow. Writing to his nephew the composer said, "I consider the Symphony the best thing I've ever done."

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On This Day October 7

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel is the current holder of the Premier League record for most consecutive appearances with 310, a feat he achieved during spells at Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur. Until the American footballer was left out of the Tottenham team on October 7, 2012, the previous Premier League game Friedel missed was Blackburn's last fixtures of the 2003–04 season against Birmingham City, on May 15, 2004.

Friedel playing for Aston Villa. By Dagur Brynjólfsson

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On This Day October 6

The Jazz Singer, the first prominent talking movie, opened on October 6, 1927. There were only two talking sequences, during which 354 words were spoken. The film’s star, Al Jolson, said 340 of them. One of his lines was the famous: "You ain’t heard nothing yet." Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and ended the silent film era. 

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On This Day October 5

Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died of milk sickness on October 5, 1818, age 34. after her family dairy cow ate poisonous mushrooms and she drank the milk. The  9-year-old Abraham assisted his father in the making of her coffin by whittling the wooden pegs that held the planks together. His 11-year-old sister Sarah cared for him until their father remarried the next year.

Nancy Hanks Lincoln depiction

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On This Day October 4

The first US Open Men's Golf Championship was played at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island on October 4, 1895. It was a one-day event played over 36 holes immediately after the three-day U.S. Amateur, which received much more attention at the time. The Championship was won by 21-year-old English golfer Horace Thomas Rawlins who worked as an assistant at the club. His prize was $150 plus a $50 golf medal and the silver Open Championship Cup.

Horace Rawlins, winner of the inaugural U.S. Open in 1895.

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On This Day October 3

Between 58-51 BC, the Romans under Julius Caesar subdued Gaul selling thousands of Belgic tribes into slavery by a process of total annihilation of Gaelic forces. At the Battle of Alesia, Caesar's 100,000 troops were outnumbered 4:1 but they still won when on October 3, 52BC Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrendered to the Romans. Ancient historians are notorious for exaggerating numbers of this kind, but Caesar's conquest of Gaul was certainly the greatest military triumph since the campaigns of Alexander the Great.

Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of Julius Caesar. Painting by Lionel Royer.

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On This Day October 2

The first ball-based computer mouse was developed by German company Telefunken for their TR 86 process computer system. The device was named Rollkugel (German for "rolling ball") and released on October 2, 1968. Telefunken considered their invention too small to apply for a patent. 

The Telefunken Rollkugel RKS 100-86 . By Marcin Wichary

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