On This Day In History
29 October 1618. English explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh (aged 65), was beheaded in Whitechapel, London on a charge of treason and conspiracy against James I (James VI of Scotland). His execution came a full 15 years after he had been convicted of treason in a sham trial. pic.twitter.com/JMotkE8Eob
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1863. The International Committee of the Red Cross was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, to protect victims of international and internal armed wars. The ICRC has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 3 times: in 1917, 1944 and 1963. pic.twitter.com/4exQ5RLCrg
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1886. Fred Archer, regarded as the greatest British flat racing jockey of the 19th century (maybe of all time), rode his last winner, at Newmarket. He committed suicide just 10 days later, due to severe depression, and constant dieting to keep his weight down. pic.twitter.com/ey6FmNi4RP
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1901. Anarchist, Leon Czolgosz (aged 28), the assassin of US President William McKinley, was electrocuted by 3 jolts, each of 1,800 volts, in Auburn Prison. His execution came 45 days after his victim’s death. pic.twitter.com/bLUlObHhM9
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1923. Turkey became a republic after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The first president was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who transformed the country into a secular, industrial nation and is regarded as Turkey’s most important 20th century leader. pic.twitter.com/Xv3KxptOOK
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1929. “Black Tuesday”. This was the day the Wall Street Stock Market suffered its most devastating fall. It was followed by the “Great Depression” of the 1930s, which had a huge impact on trade and international upheaval around the world. pic.twitter.com/BqZTCNBdBP
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1969. The first-ever computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet. The first successful connection on ARPANET was made between SRI (Stanford Research Institute) programmer, Bill Duvall, and UCLA student programmer, Charley Kline. pic.twitter.com/IzbpjhdlTf
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1988. Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram re-ran the famous 367 metre “Chariots of Fire” race at Trinity College, Cambridge. The “Court Run” involved running around Great Court within the length of time that it takes the College clock to strike the hour of 12. Coe won. pic.twitter.com/ygAV3qBELI
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 1998. Space Shuttle, Discovery, blasted off with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. Glenn spent most of his time in space participating in investigations on the effect of space travel on the ageing process. pic.twitter.com/pU0HaUEbZj
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 2011. Disgraced DJ and TV presenter, Jimmy Savile, died (aged 84). He had hosted Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It. After his death, over 500 allegations of sexual abuse were made against him. Police concluded that he was one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders. pic.twitter.com/jREB45MS0q
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
29 October 2015. The Chinese government announced the end of the One-Child Policy after 35 years. This divisive family planning rule, which was introduced in 1980 because of fears of a population boom, restricted families to just 1 child. pic.twitter.com/MOsFOkQRt2
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 29, 2022
October 30th
1340 Battle of Rio Salado (or Tarifa): King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile defeat Sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of Morocco and Yusuf I of Granada, last Marīnids invasion of Iberian Peninsula
1899 Battle of Ladysmith, Natal: Boers defeat the British, leading to the Siege of Ladysmith
1905 "October Manifesto" Russian Tsar Nicholas II grants civil liberties and accepts the first Duma (Parliament)
1917 British government gives final approval to Balfour Declaration
1973 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time
Did You Know?
Soviet Union tests a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb named Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated
Today in History in 1961
Would You Believe?
A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells "The War of the Worlds", narrated by Orson Welles, allegedly causes a mass panic
Today in History in 1938
This day 202 years ago – 30 October 1816 – the family of Edward Lynch burned to death in their home, Wildgoose Lodge, Co. Louth, after it was set on fire. The youngest victim was five months old.
The arsonists sought revenge after Lynch had thwarted an earlier attempted robbery. pic.twitter.com/FX9w92bheg
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) October 30, 2018
This day 24 years ago – 30 October 1997 – Mary McAleese was elected President, making Ireland the first country ever to elect two female heads of state consecutively.
For more info, pick up a copy of This Day in Irish History, available online and in all good bookshops now. pic.twitter.com/alPzGCXgJV
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) October 30, 2021
Septima Poinsette Clark, educator, was called 'The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement' by Martin Luther King. Her lifetime work improved literacy and enfranchisement amongst black Americans, overseeing the foundation of over 800 'citizenship schools'. https://t.co/8XVI7mMKg7 pic.twitter.com/Pl6sW2b7LK
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) October 30, 2022
On this day in 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy began serving sentences in Birmingham after defying a city ban on anti-segregation protests. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/UutrHoB9l8
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) October 30, 2022
30 October 1938. A play of War of the Worlds by HG Wells, starring Orson Welles was broadcast on US-CBS radio. Some listeners mistook the radio bulletins of an invasion from Mars as the real thing. On the next day, the scare was on the front pages of newspapers coast-to-coast. pic.twitter.com/TbPP9ja6Gi
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 30, 2022
30 October 1960. Argentinian football legend, Diego Maradona, was born in Buenos Aires. He’s regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. He was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award (along with Pele). pic.twitter.com/keOPlKAgR7
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 30, 2022
30 October 1960. Michael Woodruff performed Britain’s first successful kidney transplant, at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. From then on, until his retirement in 1976, he performed 127 kidney transplants. Also in 1960, he published his book The Transplantation of Tissues and Organs. pic.twitter.com/DjxEJOGIJv
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) October 30, 2022