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October 24, 1929, is remembered as Black Thursday, the first day of the Wall Street Crash. Within a week the great bull market of the 1920s was finished, and the Great Depression was on its way.
Oct 24, 2026
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3 min read
The Hungarian Revolution began on October 23, 1956. It was crushed by Soviet tanks within two weeks, but it exposed the nature of Soviet rule in Eastern Europe to the entire world.
Oct 23, 2026
On October 22, 1797, Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent from a balloon, over the Parc Monceau in Paris. He landed badly shaken, slightly airsick, and alive.
Oct 22, 2026
Alfred Nobel was born on October 21, 1833. The inventor of dynamite held 355 patents, built a global industrial empire, and wrote a one-page will that created the most famous prizes in the world.
Oct 21, 2026
Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House on October 20, 1973. The Danish architect who designed it had left Australia in anger seven years earlier and never returned.
Oct 20, 2026
General Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781. A French fleet had made it possible, and the defeat convinced Britain that the American colonies could not be recovered.
Oct 19, 2026
Herman Melville's whaling epic first appeared on October 18, 1851, under the title The Whale. It sold poorly, wrecked his career, and was rediscovered only long after his death.
Oct 18, 2026
Al Capone was convicted of federal income tax evasion on October 17, 1931. The most notorious gangster in America was brought down by accountants, and he never ran Chicago again.
Oct 17, 2026
On October 16, 1962, President Kennedy was told that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. The confrontation that followed brought the world closer to nuclear war than it has ever come.
Oct 16, 2026
The Gregorian calendar took effect on October 15, 1582, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Poland. Ten days were deleted to fix an ancient error, and it took the rest of the world more than three centuries to catch up.
Oct 15, 2026
