1737 Earthquake kills 300,000 & destroys « of Calcutta India
1776 Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, New York. Although defeated, the American flotilla delayed the British advance and caused it to fall back into winter quarters.
1776 Brig Gen Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet defeated by British
1797 British naval forces defeat Dutch off Camperdown, the Netherlands
1811 The Juliana, the 1st steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation
1824 Marquis de Lafayette visits the Washington Navy Yard during his year long tour of America. He returned to the yard the next day, October 12, to continue his visit.
1864 Slavery abolished in Maryland
1865 Pres Johnson paroles CSA VP Alexander Stephens
1890 Daughters of the American Revolution founded
1890 The First 100 yard dash under 10 seconds (John Owens 9-4/5 secs, Wash DC)
1899 The Boer War begins in South Africa
1918 Lt. Wallace L. Algie (20th Cdn. Infantry Batt.) wins the Victoria Cross at Cambrai, France
1919 The first transcontinental air race ends
1922 The first woman FBI "special investigator" appointed (Alaska Davidson)
1923 German mark falls to 10 billion per œ, 4 billion per $
1927 Lou Gehrig elected MVP
1932 The first political telecast (Democratic National Committee) at CBS, NYC
1936 "Professor Quiz", 1st radio quiz show premieres
1942 Battle of Cape Esperance begins In two-day battle, American task force stops Japanese attack on Guadalcanal and sinks two Japanese ships while losing only USS Duncan (DD-485).
1945 Chinese civil war begins, Chiang Kai-Shek vs Mao Tse-Tung
1945 Typhoon hits Okinawa, damaging many Navy ships.
1950 Task Force 77 Aircraft destroy North Korean vessels off Songjin and Wonsan and north of Hungham.
1958 2nd US Moon probe, Pioneer 1, reaches 113,810 km, falls back
1961 USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 66,100 m
1962 2nd Vatican Council (21st ecumenical) convened by Pope John XXIII
