October 10
Today is marked as
World Mental Health Day, so, go crazy.
Today is also
World Homeless Day, so go home if you have one.
World Porridge Day, also today, raises awareness, and funds, to aid starving children in developing countries.
Events
1780
The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,00030,000 in the Caribbean.
1845 In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the
United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipman students and seven professors.
1846
Triton, the largest moon of the planet
Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer
William Lassell.
1871
Chicago burns after a barn accident. The fire lasts from October 8 to October 10.
1897 German chemist
Felix Hoffmann discovers an improved way of synthesizing
acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).
1902 - The
Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. was formed, in Kalamazoo Michigan.
1913 United States
President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, ending construction on the Panama Canal.
1928
Chiang Kai-shek becomes
Chairman of the Republic of China.
1933
United Airlines Boeing 247 mid-air explosion: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
1939 - The real
Eleanor Rigby died in her sleep of unknown causes at the age of 44.
1957 The
Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident.
<--Interesting read.
1964 The opening ceremony of the
1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary satellite.
1970 In Montreal, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour
Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the
FLQ terrorist group.
1971 Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States,
London Bridge reopens in
Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
1978 -
Joe Perry and
Steven Tyler from
Aerosmith were injured after a
cherry bomb was thrown on stage during a gig in Philadelphia. The group performed behind a safety fence for the rest of the tour.
1979 -
The Rose, starring
Bette Midler as a self-destructive 1960s rock star, (transparently based on
Janis Joplin) premiered in Los Angeles. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (
Frederic Forrest), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Bette Midler, in her screen debut), Best Film Editing and Best Sound.
1980 - The funeral of
Led Zeppelin's drummer,
John Bonham, took place. Bonzo was found dead at guitarist
Jimmy Page's house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours) aged 32.
1985 United States Navy
F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the
Achille Lauro cruise ship, and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.
2010 The
Netherlands Antilles are dissolved as a country.
2014 - Former professional basketball player and
Harlem Globetrotter Rico Harris disappears after visiting his mother's home in Alhambra, California. Aside from an accidental cell phone video, after extensive searches, no trace of the 6' 9", 300 lb. forward has been found.
Births
1813 Giuseppe Verdi♪ ♫; 1819 Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger; 1825 Paul Kruger; 1858 Maurice Prendergast

; 1900 Helen Hayes; 1917 Thelonious Monk

; 1924 James Clavell; 1924 Ed Wood; 1926 Oscar Brown♪ ♫; 1926 Richard Jaeckel; 1927 Dana Elcar (
MacGyver); 1933 Jay Sebring (Manson Family victim); 1940 Winston Churchill (no, not
that one, this one's his grandson); 1941 Peter Coyote; 1945 - Alan Cartwright

(Procol Harum); 1946 Charles Dance; 1946 John Prine

♪ ♫; 1946 Ben Vereen♪ ♫; 1948 Cyril Neville

(Neville Bros.); 1950 Nora Roberts; 1953 Midge Ure♪ ♫(Ultravox, Thin Lizzy, co-wrote
Do They Know It's Christmas?); 1954 David Lee Roth♪ ♫(Van Halen); 1958 Tanya Tucker♪ ♫; 1959 Julia Sweeney; 1959 Bradley Whitford (
The West Wing); 1963 Daniel Pearl

; 1965 Chris Penn (
Reservoir Dogs); 1965 Rebecca Pidgeon♪ ♫; 1966 Bai Ling

; 1969 Brett Favre; 1973 Mario Lopez; 1974 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

; 1976 Bob Burnquist; 1979 Mύa♪ ♫
Deaths
1659 Abel Tasman; 1759 Granville Elliott; 1872 William H. Seward; 1911 Jack Daniel (yeah,
that one); 1913 Adolphus Busch (yeah,
that one); 1935 Gustave Loiseau

; 1963 Ιdith Piaf♪ ♫; 1964 Eddie Cantor♪ ♫; 1985 Yul Brynner; 1985 Orson Welles; 1998 Marvin Gay, Sr. (father and murderer of Marvin Gaye); 2001 Eddie Futch

; 2004 Christopher Reeve

;
2010 Solomon Burke♪ ♫("I was young. Girls were coming from every angle. I couldn't love them all.
But I tried."); 2010 Joan Sutherland♪ ♫; 2012 Alex Karras (NFL,
Webster, 'Mongo' in
Blazing Saddles); 2015 Steve Mackay (The Stooges)