HISTORY TODAY: October 02

1909

Orville Wright sets an altitude record, flying at 1,600 feet.
This exceeded Hubert Latham’s previous record of 508 feet.

1535

Having landed in Quebec a month ago, Jacques Cartier reaches a town, which he names Montreal.

1862		An Army under Union General Joseph Hooker arrives in Bridgeport, Alabama to support the Union forces at Chattanooga. Chattanooga’s Lookout Mountain provides a dramatic setting for the Civil War’s battle above the clouds.
1870		The papal states vote in favor of union with Italy. The capital is moved from Florence to Rome.
1871		Mormon leader Brigham Young, 70, is arrested for polygamy. He is later convicted, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the conviction.
1879		A dual alliance is formed between Austria and Germany, in which the two countries agree to come to the other’s aid in the event of aggression.
1909		Orville Wright sets an altitude record, flying at 1,600 feet. This exceeded Hubert Latham’s previous record of 508 feet.
1931		Aerial circus star Clyde Pangborn and playboy Hugh Herndon, Jr. set off to complete the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean from Misawa City, Japan.
1941		The German army launches Operation Typhoon, the drive towards Moscow.
1950		The comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schultz, makes its first appearance in newspapers.
1964		Scientists announce findings that smoking can cause cancer.
1967		Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice, is sworn in. Marshall had previously been the solicitor general, the head of the legal staff of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and a leading American civil rights lawyer.
1980		Congressional Representative Mike Myers is expelled from the US House for taking a bribe in the Abscam scandal, the first member to be expelled since 1861.
1990		Flight 8301 of China’s Xiamen Airlines is hijacked and crashed into Baiyun International Airport, hitting two other aircraft and killing 128 people.
2001		NATO backs US military strikes in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Born on October 2
1847		Paul von Hindenburg, German Field Marshall during World War I and second president of the Weimar Republic.
1869		Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi, political leader of India and pioneer of nonviolent activism.
1871		Cordell Hull, Secretary of State for President Franklin Roosevelt.
1879		Wallace Stevens, poet.
1890		Julius Henry ‘Groucho’ Marx, comedian, one of the five Marx brothers (the others being Chico, Harpo, Zeppo and Gummo).
1900		William A. ‘Bud’ Abbott, comedian, the straight man to Lou Costello.
1901		Roy Campbell, poet (The Flaming Terrapin).
1904		Graham Greene, novelist (The Power and The Glory, The Heart of the Matter).
1907		Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish biochemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1957) for his work on nucleotides, nucleosides, and nucleotide coenzymes.
1933		John Bertrand Gurdon, English developmental biologist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (2012) for the discovery that mature cells can be converted to stem cells.
1937		Johnnie Cochran, high-profile African American lawyer whose many famous clients included O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson.
1938		Rex Reed, actor and film critic; co-hosted the At the Movies TV show.
1945		Don McLean, singer, songwriter guitarist, best known for “American Pie,” his tribute to Buddy Holly and early rock ‘n’ roll.
1945		Martin Hellman, cryptologist, co-inventor of public key cryptography.
1949		Annie Leibovitz, photographer whose subjects include John Lennon and the Rolling Stones.
1951		Sting (Gordon M.T. Sumner), singer, songwriter, musician, actor; lead singer and bass player for the band The Police before launching a successful solo career.
1970		Kelly Ripa, actress, producer, co-host of Live! with Kelly and Michael TV talk show.

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