Today in History: October 18, 1469 Ferdinand and Isabella were one of the most famous power couples in European history. In their eyes, their crowning achievement wasn’t expanding their empire to include the New World, or uniting the various dominions that would become modern Spain- they believed their greatest accomplishment was driving out all Muslims from their country. When Ferdinand, […]

Today in History: October 17, 1777 The Battle of Saratoga, which was actually two battles that took place during September and October of 1777, was a major victory for the American Revolutionaries and a crucial turning point of the Revolutionary War. It was the push the French were looking for to enter the war against the British, which reinvigorated the […]

Today in History: October 16, 1793 During the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, was one of the most hated and prominent targets of the French revolutionaries. The French people disliked her because of her foreign birth (particularly being from Austria, the bitter enemy of France at the time) , ostentatious lifestyle and […]

Today in History: October 15, 1917 On this day in history, 1917, famed femme fatale exotic dancer and convicted spy, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle MacLeod, a.k.a. Mata Hari, was executed. Mata Hari first showed up in Paris in 1905.  In need of money after having recently left her abusive husband, she began performing exotic Asian dances, for which she quickly gained […]

This Day In History: October 14, 1066 The Battle of Hastings, like so many other battles, was a dispute over the line of succession to the English throne. But it ending up being much more than that – the Battle of Hastings, fought on this day in history, 1066, ushered in a new era in the English legal system, language […]

Today in History: October 11, 2002 On this day in history, 2002, ex-United States President Jimmy Carter was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his decades of effort through his Carter Center to “wage peace” using peaceful negotiations to resolve conflict. The Peace Prize has often been used through the years to make political statements, and in 2002 […]

Today in History: October 10, 1991 On this day in history, 1991, one of the series of killing sprees that would help inspire the phrase “going postal” occurred.  A former postal worker, Joseph Harris, who was angry that he had been fired eighteen months previously in April of 1990, murdered his ex-supervisor Carol Ott and her boyfriend in the home […]

This Day In History: October 9th While not given the fanfare of Columbus Day, today in the United States is, in fact, Leif Eriksson Day.  Leif Eriksson (other spellings include Ericson, Erikson or Eiriksson), also called “Leif the Lucky”, was the second son of the famous Norse explorer Eric the Red, who, after being booted out of Iceland somewhere around […]

Today in History: October 8, 1918 Corporal Alvin C. York, while at the head of a small detachment near the Meuse River in the Argonne Forest in France, killed at least 20 German soldiers and captured an additional 132 men, which later earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor. York was born in a log cabin near the Tennessee-Kentucky border […]

Today in History: October 7, 1975 A deportation order for John Lennon was reversed on this day in 1975, which allowed Lennon to legally remain in his adoptive home of New York City with his wife, Yoko Ono. After the invasion of Cambodia on April 30, 1970, and the shootings of four student protestors at Kent State just four days […]

Today in History: October 4th, 2011 On this day in history, 2011, a great injustice to one man, Michael Morton, that has since inspired a book (Depraved Prosecution) and a documentary (An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story), was undone. On August 13, 1986, Christine Morton (age 31) was found by a neighbor beaten to death in her bed in […]

Today in History: October 3rd: 1863: Lincoln Proclaims Thanksgiving an Official Holiday After the tireless efforts of the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb (and the “Oprah” of her day), Sarah Hale, to get a national Thanksgiving holiday created, President Abraham Lincoln declared on this day in history, 1863- just a few days after receiving Hale’s final letter on […]

Today Day in History: October 2, 1950 The First Peanuts comic strip was published: Peanuts, written by Charles Schulz and one of the most influential and beloved comic strips of all time, made its debut on this day in 1950 in nine different newspapers. What made Peanuts especially remarkable for its time was its astute social commentary, especially when compared […]

Today in History: October 1, 1890 Yosemite National Park, the site of such natural wonders as Half Dome and the majestic giant sequoia trees, was established by an act of Congress this day in 1890. Environmental activist John Muir and his associates campaigned tirelessly for the passage of this act, and their work finally came to fruition when President Benjamin […]

Today in History: September 30, 1955 In just over the course of a year and with only a grand total of three films to his credit, James Dean managed to achieve an unparalleled iconic status. He became the personification of the cool, rebellious visionary who made adolescence appear as a hero’s journey rather than an awkward and unwelcome rite of […]

Today in History: September 27, 1779 For the purpose of negotiating treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War, John Adams was appointed on this day in history by the Continental Congress as minister plenipotentiary, and sent to France to carry out his duties. Adams had traveled to Paris once before; he had tried to […]

Today in History: September 26, 1960 For the very first time, a debate between U.S. presidential candidates was broadcast on television for the consideration of the American people. The two presidential hopefuls were a Democratic Senator from Massachusetts named John. F. Kennedy, and the Vice-President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy went into the debate with several disadvantages. […]

Today in History: September 25, 1970 On Friday night at 8:30 p.m., after the popular show “The Brady Bunch,” ABC premiered a program that would give the production company Screen Gems its second show that proved to be hit with both TV and music audiences. Screen Gems enjoyed immense success with its first big smash “The Monkees,” and when it […]