1933
Due to rising anti-Semitism and anti-intellectualism in Hitler’s Germany, Albert Einstein, the Nobel-prize-winning physicist, flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
| 1244 | The Sixth Crusade ends when an Egyptian-Khwarezmian force almost annihilates the Frankish army at Gaza. | |
| 1529 | Henry VIII of England strips Thomas Wolsey of his office for failing to secure an annulment of his marriage. | |
| 1346 | English forces defeat the Scots under David II during the Battle of Neville’s Cross, Scotland. | |
| 1777 | British Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne surrenders 5,000 men at Saratoga, N.Y. | |
| 1781 | British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown, marking a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proves to be the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompt the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. [From MHQ—The Quarterly Journal of Military History] | |
| 1815 | Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he has been banished by the Allies. | |
| 1863 | General Ulysses S. Grant is named overall Union Commander of the West. | |
| 1877 | Brigadier General Alfred Terry meets with Sitting Bull in Canada to discuss the Indians’ return to the United States. | |
| 1913 | Zeppelin LII explodes over London, killing 28. | |
| 1933 | Due to rising anti-Semitism and anti-intellectualism in Hitler’s Germany, Albert Einstein, the Nobel-prize-winning physicist, flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States. He will become an American citizen in 1940 and on the eve of World War II warn President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the potential development of “extremely powerful bombs of a new type,” recommending that the United States begin similar research. [From MHQ—The Quarterly Journal of Military History] | |
| 1941 | The U.S. destroyer Kearny is damaged by a German U-boat torpedo off Iceland; 11 Americans are killed. | |
| 1972 | Peace talks between the Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao government begin in Vietnam. | |
| 1994 | Dmitry Kholodov, a Russian journalist, is assassinated while investigating corruption in the armed forces; his murder begins a series of killings of journalists in Russia. | |
| 2001 | Rehavam Ze’evi, Israeli tourism minister and founder of the right-wing Moledet party, is assassinated by a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); he was the first Israeli minister ever assassinated. | |
| Born on October 17 | ||
| 1821 | Alexander Gardner, American photographer who documented the Civil War and the West. | |
| 1859 | Childe Hassam, American impressionist painter and illustrator. | |
| 1895 | Doris Humphrey, modern dance choreographer. | |
| 1903 | Nathanael West, novelist and screenwriter (Miss Lonely Hearts, The Day of the Locust). | |
| 1915 | Arthur Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge). | |
| 1918 | Rita Hayworth, film actress. | |
| 1930 | Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, author and columnist. | |
| 1938 | Evel Knievel, U.S. daredevil motorcycle stunt man. | |
| 1942 | Gary Puckett, singer, songwriter; lead singer of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (“Woman, Woman”; “Young Girl”). | |
| 1946 | Michael Hossack, drummer for the Doobie Brothers band | |
| 1946 | Adam Michnik, Polish historian and editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wybocza, Poland’s largest newspaper; named Europe’s Man of the Year by La Vie magazine (1989). | |
| 1948 | Margot Kidder, actress; best known for playing Lois Lane in four Superman movies between 1978 and 1987. | |
| 1958 | Alan Jackson, country singer with over 60 million records sold worldwide; his many awards include 2 Grammys and 16 Country Music Association awards; “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”; “Don’t Rock the Jukebox.” | |
| 1960 | Rob Marshall, theater and film director, choreographer; awards include 4 Emmys and an Academy Award for Best Picture (Chicago, 2002). | |
| 1968 | Ziggy Marley, Jamaican musician, leader of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers; oldest son of reggae great Bob Marley. | |
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