1634 – Burchardi flood, known as the second “Grote Mandrenke,” kills about 15,000 in North Friesland, Denmark, and Germany
1902 – Commencement of 1st Test Cricket between South Africa and Australia
1954 – Revival of George Abbott, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s musical “On Your Toes” opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 64 performances
1962 – 1st appearance of a Gabor sister on Merv Griffin Show
1982 – Riot in Amsterdam as tram catches fire
2007 – Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to British novelist Doris Lessing
2013 – 10 people are killed and a hospital fire in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan
2019 – NBA YoungBoy releases the album mixtape “AI YoungBoy 2” which debuts at #1 on the US Billboard 200
Author: gil7
Today in History for 11th October 2025
Historical Events
1873 – Toronto Argonaut Football Club 1st game losing to U of Toronto
1943 – Baseball World Series: NY Yankees become first team to win 10 Championships; beat St. Louis Cardinals, 2-0 at Sportsman’s Park for 4 games to 1 series triumph
1958 – “Goldilocks” opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 161 performances
1969 – American blues musician Muddy Waters involved in a car crash that kills 3
1972 – MLB National League Championship: Cincinnati Reds beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 games to 2
Famous Birthdays
1902 – Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian freedom fighter and political leader, born in Sitab Diyara, British India (d. 1979)
1926 – Jean Alexander, British actress (Hilda Ogden in “Coronation Street”), born in Liverpool, England (d. 2016)
1940 – Bruce McTavish, New Zealand boxing referee (World Boxing Council Referee of the Year 2013, 15, 17), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2025)
1950 – Patty Murray, American politician (U.S. Senator from Washington), born in Bothell, Washington
1968 – Claude Lapointe, Canadian NHL center (Calgary Flames), born in Lachine, Quebec, Canada
Famous Deaths
1960 – Richard Cromwell [LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh], American actor (Jezebel, Riot Squad), dies of cancer at 50
1994 – Maja Bulgakova, Ukrainian actress (Krylja), dies in auto-accident at 62
2013 – Erich Priebke, German Nazi SS commander and war criminal responsible for the Ardeatine massacre of 335 Italians in Rome, dies in prison of natural causes at 100
2015 – Dean Chance, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1964, 67; Cy Young Award 1964; no-hitter 1967; LA / California Angels, Minnesota Twins), dies at 74
2024 – Kevin Bowring, Welsh rugby union coach (Wales 1995-98), dies from a heart attack at 70
Famous Deaths for 10th October 2025
732 – Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Arab Tihamite Governor of Andalusia, killed in combat at the Battle of Tours
1659 – Abel Tasman, Dutch seafarer and explorer (1st European to sight Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji), dies around the age of 55
1691 – Isaac de Benserade, French poet, dies at 77
1938 – Lord Hawke [Martin Hawke], English cricket batsman (5 Tests; Yorkshire CCC, Cambridge Uni CC, MCC), dies at 78
1983 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago), dies of a stroke at 80
1993 – Catherine Collard, French concert pianist (Schumann; Brahms), and teacher, dies of cancer at 46
1993 – Owen Saunders, English mathematician and mechanical engineer, dies at 89
2021 – Luis de Pablo, Spanish composer, and musicologist, dies at 91
2023 – Terry Dischinger, American College Basketball HOF guard (Purdue; 3 x NBA All-Star; NBA Rookie of the Year 1963 Baltimore Bullets; Detroit Pistons; Olympic gold 1960), dies at 82
2024 – Gunnar Eggen, Norwegian harness racer (Oslo Grand Prix, Olympiatravet, March of Dimes Trot 1988), dies at 78
Historical Events for 10th October 2025
1888 – Teetotalers’ excursion train crashes, killing 64 at Mud Run, Pennsylvania
1911 – Chinese revolutionaries begin an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty in Wuchang, causing the Viceroy of Huguang to flee the city (Taiwan National Day)
1913 – British passenger ship Volturno catches fire in the Atlantic, killing 136
1968 – George Harrison forms the music publishing company Singsong Ltd, though it only ever publishes one song, “Old Brown Shoe”
1985 – US fighter jets force an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, and the gunmen are placed in custody
1987 – Giants’ Jeffrey Leonard hits a playoff record home run in his fourth consecutive game
1990 – Mexican singer and actress Thalía releases her debut album “Thalía”
2015 – Bombing at a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey kills at least 95 and injures 200
Today in History for 10th October 2025
Historical Events
1902 – American outlaw Tom Horn’s murder trial begins, and he is eventually found guilty and sentenced to death
1911 – The KCR East Rail commences service between Kowloon and Canton
1938 – Germany completes its annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland
1977 – Amnesty International wins the Nobel Peace Prize, recognizing its significant role in human rights activism
1981 – Anwar Sadat’s funeral service held in Cairo
Famous Birthdays
1738 – Benjamin West, Anglo-American painter (Death of General Wolfe), born in Springfield, Province of Pennsylvania (d. 1820)
1854 – Gerónimo Giménez, Spanish composer, born in Seville, Spain (d. 1923)
1905 – Jane Winton, American actress (Hell’s Angel, Patsy, Don Juan), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1959)
1913 – Johnny Downs, American stage and screen actor, dancer, singer, and TV host, (Our Gang; Swing, Sister, Swing!; The Mad Monster), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1994)
1973 – Zach Thornton, American soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; MLS GK of the Year: 1998, 2009), born in Baltimore, Maryland
Famous Deaths
1723 – William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1665)
1930 – Adolf Engler, German botanist who worked on plant taxonomy and phytogeography (The Natural Plant Families), dies at 86
1991 – Stephen J Falat, dies after long illness at 34
2016 – Donn Fendler, American author and public speaker, who survived a week in the wilderness aged 12, dies at 90
2023 – Terry Dischinger, American College Basketball HOF guard (Purdue; 3 x NBA All-Star; NBA Rookie of the Year 1963 Baltimore Bullets; Detroit Pistons; Olympic gold 1960), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 9th October 2025
1562 – Gabriel Fallopius [Fallopio], Italian anatomist and early advocate for the use of condoms (Observationes anatomicae), dies at 39
1747 – David Brainerd, American missionary to the Native Americans, dies at 29
1793 – Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, French missionary (b. 1718)
1831 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek diplomat, first head of state of independent Greece (1828-31) and founding father of modern Greece, assassinated at 55
1868 – Howell Cobb, American politician (U.S. Secretary of Treasury), dies at 53
1940 – Wilfred Grenfell, British medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador, dies at 75
1955 – Alice Joyce, American actress (Song O’ My Heart), dies at 65
1972 – Miriam Hopkins, actress (Carrie, Barbary Coast), dies at 69
1998 – Ian Johnson, Australian cricket spin bowler and captain (45 Tests; 109 wickets), dies at 80
2016 – Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director (Ashes and Diamonds, Man of Iron), dies at 90
Historical Events for 9th October 2025
1876 – First two-way telephone conversation over outdoor wires
1910 – Nap Lajoie challenges Ty Cobb’s batting average with eight hits, six of which are bunts, as Browns’ third baseman Red Corriden plays deep, but Cobb still wins
1921 – Babe Ruth hits 1st World Series home run; only Sunday game ever pitched by Carl Mays
1968 – 2,000 students from Queen’s University Belfast try to march to Belfast City Hall in protest against “police brutality” but are blocked by loyalists led by Ian Paisley, leading to the formation of the student civil rights group People’s Democracy
1983 – Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar) bombing: North Korean agents attempt to assassinate the South Korean President, resulting in 21 deaths, including 9 South Korean government officials, presidential advisors, security team members, and 3 reporters
1986 – Stage musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and starring Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, premieres in London and runs for 13,629 performances
1992 – An estimated 13-kilogram meteorite lands in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York, destroying the family’s 1980 Chevrolet Malibu
2012 – Women’s rights and education activist Malala Yousafzai is shot by a Taliban gunman as she tries to board her school bus in the Swat district of northwest Pakistan
Today in History for 9th October 2025
Historical Events
1986 – US Senate convicts US District Judge Harry E. Claiborne, making him the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment after he is criminally convicted of tax evasion
1991 – San Jose Sharks beat Calgary 4-3 for their first NHL win
1992 – Action thriller film “Under Siege,” directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal in his most famous role, is released
2014 – Patrick Modiano wins the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature
2017 – American economist Richard Thaler is awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics
Famous Birthdays
1823 – Mary Ann Shadd Cary, American-Canadian anti-slavery campaigner, suffragist and 1st African American newspaper publisher (“The Provincial Freeman”), born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 1893)
1884 – Helene Deutsch [Rosenbach], Polish-American psychoanalyst, born in Przemyśl, Poland (d. 1982)
1904 – Carl Parrish, American composer, born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania (d. 1965)
1966 – David Cameron, British Prime Minister (Conservative: 2010-16), born in London, England
1972 – Roman Oben, American football tackle (NY Giants), born in Cameroon
Famous Deaths
1047 – Clemens II [Suitger], Pope (1046-47), dies (b. 1005)
1962 – Lulu McConnell, American vaudeville, radio, and television comedienne (It Pays To Be Ignorant), dies at 80
1983 – Suh Seok-jun, South Korea Deputy Prime Minister, killed (one of 21 victims) in Rangoon bombing at about 45
2011 – Pavel Karelin, Russian ski jumper (b. 1989)
2014 – Carolyn Ashley Kizer, American writer, dies from complications of dementia 89
Famous Deaths for 8th October 2025
1606 – John VI the Elder, Count of Nassau, father of 24, dies at 69
1820 – Henri Christophe, President of Haiti (1807-11) and King of Haiti (1811-20), dies at 53
1834 – François-Adrien Boieldieu, French opera composer known as ‘the French Mozart’ (La dame blanche – The White Lady), dies at 58
1941 – Gus Kahn, German-American lyricist (“It Had to Be You”; “Makin’ Whoopee”; “I’ll See You in My Dreams”), dies of a heart attack at 54
1969 – Eduardo Ciannelli, Italian actor (Foreign Correspondent, Gunga Din), dies at 80
1978 – Karl Swenson, American actor (Lars Hanson-Little House on the Prairie), dies of a heart attack at 70
1988 – Ernst Hermann Meyer, German composer, dies at 82
2002 – Phyllis Calvert [Bickle], British actress (Crash of Silence, The Man in Grey), dies at 87
2017 – Jerry Kleczka, American politician (Rep-D-WI, 1984-2005), dies at 73
2024 – Tim Johnson, American Democratic politician and senator from South Dakota (1997-2015), dies at 77
Historical Events for 8th October 2025
1873 – First women’s prison run by women opens at Indiana Reformatory Institution
1950 – Cleveland Browns play Pittsburgh for the first time and beat the Steelers 30-17
1961 – American Phil Hill’s Ferrari team does not participate in the season-ending US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, having already clinched the World Drivers’ Championship; English driver Innes Ireland wins Lotus’s first Grand Prix
1975 – San Antonio Spurs, then members of the ABA, defeat the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks 109-107 in the first basketball game played in the Louisiana Superdome
1977 – Largest baseball crowd in Pennsylvania, 64,924, sees Dodgers beat Phillies 4-1 in the 4th NL championship game (Dodgers win pennant)
1980 – British Leyland starts selling the Mini Metro
2001 – US President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security
2012 – John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka win the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on reprogramming mature cells to become pluripotent