HISTORY TODAY: October 03

1985

The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight.

1739		Russia signs a treaty with the Turks, ending a three-year conflict between the two countries.
1776		Congress borrows five million dollars to halt the rapid depreciation of paper money in the colonies.
1862		At the Battle of Corinth, in Mississippi, a Union army defeats the Confederates.
1906		The first conference on wireless telegraphy in Berlin adopts SOS as a warning signal.
1929		The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes officially changes its name to Yugoslavia.
1940		The U.S. Army adopts airborne, or parachute, soldiers. Airborne troops are later used in World War II for landing troops in combat and infiltrating agents into enemy territory. ADAVANTAGE MEDIA CONSULTING
1944		German troops evacuate Athens, Greece.
1952		The UK successfully develops a nuclear weapon, becoming the world’s third nuclear power.
1963		A violent coup in Honduras ends a period of political reform and ushers in two decades of military rule.
1985		The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight.
1990		After 40 years of division, East and West Germany are reunited as one nation.
1993		The Battle of Mogadishu takes place, in which 18 US soldiers and some 1,000 Somalis are killed during an attempt to capture officials of the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s organization.
Born on October 3
1800		George Bancroft, historian, known as the “Father of American History” for his 10-volume A History of the United States.
1900		Thomas Wolfe, American novelist (Look Homeward Angel); not to be confused with American novelist Tom Wolfe (The Right Stuff).
1916		James Herriot, Yorkshire veterinarian and author of All Creatures Great and Small.
1925		Gore Vidal, writer (“Myra Breckinridge,” “Burr,” “Lincoln”); one of the screenwriters on the movie Ben Hur (1959).
1935		Charles “Charlie” Duke, the youngest astronaut to walk on the moon (1972); retired from US Air Force as a brigadier general.
1938		Eddie Cochran, influential rock ‘n’ roll pioneer (“Summertime Blues”).
1941		Chubby Checker (Ernest Evans), singer, songwriter who popularized the dance The Twist; Billboard magazine ranked “The Twist” as the most popular single in its Hot 100 since the list’s debut in 1958.
1954		Al Sharpton, African-American minister, civil rights activist, TV and radio talk show host; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for the US presidency in 2004.

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