Historical Events on Wednesday, 1st October

01/10/2024

Israel invaded Southern Lebanon, marking the fifth Israeli invasion of Lebanon since 1978.

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel occupies the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel's western coast lies on the Mediterranean Sea, its southern tip reaches the Red Sea, and to the east is Earth's lowest point near the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is the government seat and proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv is Israel's largest urban area and economic centre.

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01/10/2022

One hundred and thirty-five are killed in a human crush following a football match at Kanjuruhan Stadium in East Java, Indonesia.

On 1 October 2022, a fatal crowd crush occurred following an association football match at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Following a loss by home side Arema to their rivals Persebaya Surabaya, around 3,000 Arema supporters invaded the pitch. Police said that the rioting supporters attacked the players and the team officials. The police attempted to protect the players and stop the riot, but the crowds clashed with security forces. In response, riot police units deployed tear gas, which triggered a stampede of people in the stadium trying to escape the gas. A crush formed at one exit, resulting in fans being asphyxiated.

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01/10/2021

The 2020 World Expo in Dubai begins. Its opening was originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expo 2020 was a World Expo hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.

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01/10/2019

Kuopio school stabbing: One dies and ten are injured when Joel Marin, armed with a sabre, attacks a school class at Savo Vocational College in Kuopio, Finland.

The Kuopio school stabbing occurred on 1 October 2019 at Savo Vocational College in Kuopio, North Savo, Finland. Armed with a longsword, 25-year-old student Joel Otto Aukusti Marin killed a female student and wounded eleven others. He also carried an air pistol which was not used during the attack; it was initially mistaken for a real firearm. The attack ended when a policewoman shot and wounded Marin.

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01/10/2018

The International Court of Justice rules that Chile is not obliged to negotiate access to the Pacific Ocean with Bolivia.

The International Court of Justice, or colloquially the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by other UN organs and specialized agencies. The ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between countries, with its rulings and opinions serving as primary sources of international law. It is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.

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01/10/2017

An independence referendum, later declared illegal by the Constitutional Court of Spain, takes place in Catalonia.

An independence referendum was held on 1 October 2017 in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and called by the Generalitat de Catalunya. The referendum, known in the Spanish media by the numeronym 1-O, was declared unconstitutional on 7 September 2017 and suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain after a request from the Spanish government, who declared it a breach of the Spanish Constitution. Additionally, in early September the High Court of Justice of Catalonia had issued orders to the police to try to prevent the unconstitutional referendum, including the detention of various persons responsible for its preparation. Due to alleged irregularities during the voting process, as well as the use of force by the National Police Corps and Civil Guard, international observers invited by the Generalitat declared that the referendum failed to meet the minimum international standards for elections.

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Sixty people are killed and 867 others injured in a mass shooting at a country music festival at the Las Vegas Strip in the United States; the gunman, Stephen Paddock, later commits suicide.

On October 1, 2017, a mass shooting occurred when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada from his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel. He fired more than 1,000 rounds, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413 others. The ensuing panic brought the total number of injured to about 867. About an hour later, he was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The motive for the shooting is officially undetermined.

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01/10/2016

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, Pedro Sánchez, resigns. He would return to the position a year later.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social democratic political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in government longer than any other political party in modern democratic Spain: from 1982 to 1996 under Felipe González, 2004 to 2011 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and since 2018 under Pedro Sánchez.

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01/10/2015

A gunman kills nine people at a community college in Oregon.

On October 1, 2015, a school shooting occurred at the Umpqua Community College campus near Roseburg, Oregon, United States. Chris Harper-Mercer, a 26-year-old who was enrolled at the school, fatally shot an assistant professor and eight students in a classroom, and injured eight others. Roseburg police detectives responded to the incident and engaged Harper-Mercer in a brief shootout. After being wounded, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The school shooting is the deadliest in Oregon's history, surpassing the 1998 Thurston High School shooting.

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Heavy rains trigger a major landslide in Guatemala, killing 280 people.

On October 1, 2015, heavy rains triggered a major landslide in the village of El Cambray Dos within Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala—15 km (9.3 mi) east of Guatemala City, killing at least 280 people and leaving dozens unaccounted for across the village. The landslide leveled much of the village, leaving some areas under 15 m (49 ft) of earth and debris.

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The American cargo vessel SS El Faro sinks with all of its 33 crew after steaming into the eyewall of Hurricane Joaquin.

SS El Faro was a United States-flagged, combination of roll-on/roll-off and lift-on/lift-off cargo ship crewed by U.S. merchant mariners. Built in 1975 by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. as Puerto Rico, the vessel was renamed Northern Lights in 1991 and, finally, El Faro in 2006. She sank with her entire crew of 33 on October 1, 2015, after steaming into the eyewall of Hurricane Joaquin.

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01/10/2014

A series of explosions at a gunpowder plant in Bulgaria completely destroys the factory, killing 15 people.

The 2014 Gorni Lom explosions were a series of explosions that began on the afternoon of October 1, 2014, at 16:59 pm local time at the former Midzhur Ammo Plant in the village of Gorni Lom, in Bulgaria's northwestern Vidin Province. The series of blasts completely destroyed the factory, killing 13 men and 2 women who were inside and injuring three others who were some distance away. As a result of the blast, October 3 was declared a day of national mourning in the country.

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A double bombing of an elementary school in Homs, Syria kills over 50 people.

The Homs school bombing occurred on 1 October 2014 in Homs, Syria in an Alawite majority neighborhood during the Syrian civil war. The attacker initially detonated an IED that was in front of the Akrama al-Makhzumi Al-Muhdatha elementary school. Then he blew himself up at another gate of a nearby school, Akrama al-Makhzumi. The double bombing killed 54 people: 47 children, three members of security forces and four adult civilians. The attack was the deadliest strike to occur in a government controlled area in over a year, with no group immediately taking responsibility.

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01/10/2012

A ferry collision off the coast of Hong Kong kills 38 people and injures 102 others.

On 1 October 2012, at approximately 20:23 HKT, the passenger ferries Sea Smooth and Lamma IV collided off Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island, Hong Kong. This occurred on the National Day of the People's Republic of China, and one of the ships was headed for the commemorative firework display, scheduled to take place half an hour later. With 39 killed and 92 injured, the incident was the deadliest maritime disaster in Hong Kong since 1971.

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01/10/2009

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases from Scotland.

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01/10/2003

The popular and controversial English-language imageboard 4chan is launched.

An imageboard (IB) is a type of Internet forum that focuses on the posting of images, often alongside text and discussion. The first imageboards were created in Japan as an extension of the textboard concept. These sites later inspired the creation of a number of English-language imageboards.

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01/10/2001

Militants attack the state legislature building in Kashmir, killing 38.

On Monday, 1 October 2001, three militants belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out an attack on the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar using a Tata Sumo loaded with explosives, ramming it into the main gate with three fidayeen suicide bombers. 38 people, plus the three attacker terrorists, were killed.

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3G wireless technology first becomes available when it is adopted by Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo.

3G refers to the third generation of cellular network technology. These networks were rolled out beginning in the early 2000s and represented a significant advancement over the second generation (2G), particularly in terms of data transfer speeds and mobile internet capabilities. The major 3G standards are UMTS and CDMA2000 ; both of these are based on the IMT-2000 specifications established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

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01/10/2000

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Palestinians protest the killing of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah by Israeli police in northern Israel, beginning the "October 2000 events".

Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the former territory of Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict have included Palestinian refugees, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.

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01/10/1994

Palau enters a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country located in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands, while the eastern and central parts make up the Federated States of Micronesia.

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01/10/1991

Croatian War of Independence: The Siege of Dubrovnik begins.

The siege of Dubrovnik was a military engagement fought between the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Croatian forces defending the city of Dubrovnik and its surroundings during the Croatian War of Independence. The JNA started its advance on 1 October 1991, and by late October, it had captured virtually all the land between the Pelješac and Prevlaka peninsulas on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, with the exception of Dubrovnik itself. The siege was accompanied by a Yugoslav Navy blockade. The JNA's bombardment of Dubrovnik, including that of the Old Town—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—culminated on 6 December 1991. The bombardment provoked international condemnation, and became a public relations disaster for Serbia and Montenegro, contributing to their diplomatic and economic isolation, as well as the international recognition of Croatia's independence. In May 1992, the JNA retreated to Bosnia and Herzegovina, less than 1 kilometre from the coast in some places, and handed over its equipment to the newly formed Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). During this time, the Croatian Army (HV) attacked from the west and pushed back the JNA/VRS from the areas east of Dubrovnik, both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by the end of May linked up with the HV unit defending the city. Fighting between the HV and Yugoslav troops east of Dubrovnik gradually died down.

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01/10/1989

Denmark introduces the world's first legal same-sex registered partnerships.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Denmark since 15 June 2012. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was introduced by the Thorning-Schmidt I Cabinet, and approved 85–24 by the Folketing on 7 June 2012. It received royal assent by Queen Margrethe II on 12 June and took effect three days later. Polling indicates that a significant majority of Danes support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Denmark was the fourth Nordic country, after Norway, Sweden and Iceland, the eighth in Europe and the eleventh in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. It was the first country in the world to enact registered partnerships, which provided same-sex couples with almost all of the rights and benefits of marriage, in 1989.

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01/10/1987

The 5.9 Mw  Whittier Narrows earthquake shakes the San Gabriel Valley with a Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing eight and injuring 200.

The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake occurred in the southern San Gabriel Valley and surrounding communities of Southern California, United States, at 7:42 a.m. PDT on October 1. The moderate magnitude 5.9 blind thrust earthquake was centered several miles north of Whittier in the town of Rosemead, had a relatively shallow depth, and was felt throughout southern California and southern Nevada. Many homes and businesses were affected and many roadways disrupted, mainly in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Damage estimates ranged from $213–358 million, with 200 injuries, three directly related deaths, and five additional fatalities that were associated with the event.

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01/10/1985

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Israel attacks the Palestine Liberation Organization's Tunisia headquarters during Operation Wooden Leg.

Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the former territory of Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict have included Palestinian refugees, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.

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01/10/1982

Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a constructive vote of no confidence.

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the Federal Republic from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998 and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU). Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest in German post-war history and is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany.

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EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) opens at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Epcot is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences division. The park opened on October 1, 1982, as EPCOT Center—the second of four theme parks built at the resort. Often referred to as a "permanent world's fair", Epcot is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, particularly technological innovation and international culture and is known for its iconic landmark Spaceship Earth, a geodesic sphere.

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Sony and Phillips launch the compact disc in Japan; on the same day, Sony releases the model CDP-101 compact disc player, the first player of its kind.

The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and is capable of holding uncompressed stereo audio. First released in Japan in October 1982, the CD was the second optical disc format to reach the market, following the larger LaserDisc (LD). In later years, the technology was adapted for computer data storage as CD-ROM and subsequently expanded into various writable and multimedia formats. As of 2007, over 200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide.

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01/10/1979

Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States.

Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX.

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The MTR, Hong Kong's rapid transit railway system, opens.

The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail and feeder bus services, centred around a 10-line rapid transit network, serving the urbanised areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. The system encompasses 245.3 km (152.4 mi) of railways, as of December 2022, with 179 stations—including 99 heavy rail stations, 68 light rail stops and 1 high-speed rail terminus.

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01/10/1978

Tuvalu gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Tuvalu is an island country in the Polynesian sub-region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands, northeast of Vanuatu, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji.

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01/10/1975

Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Philippines.

Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III, billed as the Thrilla in Manila, was the third and final boxing match between undisputed champion Muhammad Ali, and former champion Joe Frazier, for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. The bout was conceded after fourteen rounds on October 1, 1975, at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines, located in Rizal at the time of the event.

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01/10/1971

Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida.

The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. One of the most iconic and pioneering entertainment resort complexes in the world, it is a cornerstone in popular entertainment. While Walt Disney World was originally estimated to cover about 25,000 acres, more recent estimates place the property closer to 27,000 acres.

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The first practical CT scanner is used to diagnose a patient.

The history of X-ray computed tomography (CT) traces back to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen's discovery of X-ray radiation in 1895 and its rapid adoption in medical diagnostics. While X-ray radiography achieved tremendous success in the early 1900s, it had a significant limitation: projection-based imaging lacked depth information, which is crucial for many diagnostic tasks. To overcome this, additional X-ray projections from different angles were needed. The challenge was both mathematically and experimentally addressed by multiple scientists and engineers working independently across the globe. The breakthrough finally came in the 1970s with the work of Godfrey Hounsfield, when advancements in computing power and the development of commercial CT scanners made routine diagnostic applications possible.

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01/10/1969

Concorde breaks the sound barrier for the first time.

Concorde is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies began in 1954 and a UK–France treaty followed in 1962, as the programme cost was estimated at £70 million . Construction of six prototypes began in February 1965, with the first flight from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The market forecast was 350 aircraft, with manufacturers receiving up to 100 options from major airlines. On 9 October 1975, it received its French certificate of airworthiness, and from the UK CAA on 5 December.

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01/10/1968

Guyana nationalizes the British Guiana Broadcasting Service, which would eventually become part of the National Communications Network, Guyana.

National Communications Network (NCN) is a national, state-owned television and radio broadcasting corporation in Guyana. It was formed in 2004 through the merger of the government radio service, Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), and the government-run television service, GTV. NCN's studios are situated on Homestretch Avenue in Georgetown.

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01/10/1966

West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with no survivors in Oregon. This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9.

West Coast Airlines Flight 956 was a scheduled commercial flight in the western United States which crashed on October 1, 1966, approximately 5.5 miles (9 km) south of Wemme, Oregon, southeast of Portland. Thirteen passengers and five crew members were aboard, but none survived. In its first week of service, the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and subsequent fire.

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01/10/1965

At dawn, seven Indonesian Army officers and a police inspector were assassinated by the September 30 Movement at Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta. In addition, two more officers were killed in Yogyakarta. The Army pinned the murders to the Communist Party of Indonesia, resulting in mass killings of suspected leftists.

The Indonesian Army is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR) "People's Security Army" first emerged as a paramilitary and police corps.

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01/10/1964

The Free Speech Movement is launched on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.

The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was a massive, long-lasting student protest which took place during the 1964–65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Other student leaders include Jack Weinberg, Tom Miller, Mario Savio, Michael Rossman, George Barton, Brian Turner, Bettina Aptheker, Steve Weissman, Michael Teal, Art Goldberg, Jackie Goldberg and others.

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Japanese Shinkansen ("bullet trains") begin high-speed rail service from Tokyo to Osaka.

The Shinkansen , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. The system was developed to provide connections between Tokyo and other regions of the country. In addition to long-distance services, some sections in and around the largest metropolitan areas are used for commuter travel.

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01/10/1963

On its third anniversary as an independent nation, Nigeria became a republic.

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 mi2). With a population of more than 236 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, and the world's sixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where its capital, Abuja, is located. The largest city in Nigeria by population is Lagos, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the largest in Africa.

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01/10/1962

James Meredith becomes the first African American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi.

James Howard Meredith is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississippi after the intervention of the federal government. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights and apply to the University of Mississippi. His goal was to put pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce civil rights for African Americans. The admission of Meredith ignited the Ole Miss riot of 1962 where Meredith's life was threatened and 31,000 American servicemen were required to quell the violence – the largest ever invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

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01/10/1961

The United States Defense Intelligence Agency is formed, becoming the country's first centralized military intelligence organization.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) specializing in military intelligence.

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East and West Cameroon merge to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both geostrategic locations. Cameroon's population of nearly 31 million people speak 250 native languages, in addition to the national tongues of English and French. The capital city of the country is Yaoundé.

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The CTV Television Network, Canada's first private television network, is launched.

The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a division of the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE. It is Canada's largest privately or commercially owned network consisting of 22 owned-and-operated stations nationwide and two privately owned affiliates, and has consistently been placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival Global Television Network in key markets.

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01/10/1960

Nigeria gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Independence Day is an annual public holiday in Nigeria observed on 1 October to commemorate the country's independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. It is celebrated nationwide with official ceremonies, military parades, cultural displays, and other public events. The holiday commemorates the formal transfer of sovereignty that took place in Lagos at midnight on 1 October 1960, when the Union Jack was lowered and replaced with Nigeria's green–white–green flag. Princess Alexandra of Kent, representing Elizabeth II, presented the constitutional instruments of independence, and the new federal government formally assumed authority. Preparations for the inaugural festivities included cultural events, receptions, and the commissioning of new infrastructure.

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01/10/1958

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics is replaced by NASA.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets and personnel were transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NACA is an initialism, pronounced as individual letters rather than as a whole word, as was NASA during the early years after being established.

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01/10/1957

The motto In God We Trust first appears on U.S. paper currency.

"In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States, the U.S. state of Florida, and the nation of Nicaragua. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, via a joint resolution, replacing E pluribus unum, which had been the de facto motto since the initial design of the Great Seal of the United States.

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01/10/1955

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is established.

Xinjiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia. The largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world, Xinjiang spans over 1.6 million square kilometers (620,000 sq mi) and has about 25 million inhabitants. Xinjiang borders the countries of Afghanistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The rugged Karakoram, Kunlun, and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders, as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions are claimed by India but administered by China. Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. The best-known route of the historic Silk Road ran through the territory from the east to its northwestern border.

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01/10/1953

Andhra State is formed, consisting of a Telugu-speaking area carved out of India's Madras State.

Andhra State, created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra.

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A United States-South Korea mutual defense treaty is concluded in Washington, D.C.

The Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea is a treaty between South Korea and the United States signed on October 1, 1953, two months after the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement which brought a halt to the fighting in the Korean War. The agreement commits the two countries to provide mutual aid if either faces external armed attack and allows the United States to station military forces in South Korea in consultation with the South Korean government.

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01/10/1949

The People's Republic of China is established.

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the second-most populous country after India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, representing 17% of the world's population. China borders fourteen countries by land across an area of 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), making it the third-largest country by area. The country is divided into 33 province-level divisions: 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the capital, while Shanghai is the most populous city by urban area and largest financial center.

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01/10/1947

The North American F-86 Sabre flies for the first time.

The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet powered fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War (1950–1953), fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war, the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras. Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the 1950s, the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces.

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01/10/1946

Nazi leaders are sentenced at the Nuremberg trials.

The Nuremberg trials were international criminal trials held by France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States against leaders of defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of several countries across Europe and committing atrocities against their citizens in the Second World War.

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The Daegu October incident occurs in Allied-occupied Korea.

The Autumn Uprising of 1946, also called the 10.1 Daegu Uprising of 1946 was a peasant uprising in South Korea against the policies of the United States Army Military Government in Korea headed by General John R. Hodge and in favor of restoration of power to the people's committees that made up the People's Republic of Korea. The uprising is also sometimes called the Daegu Riot or Daegu Resistance Movement. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Korea uses a neutral name, the Daegu October Incident.

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01/10/1943

World War II: After the Four Days of Naples, Allied troops enter the city.

The Four Days of Naples was an uprising in Naples, Italy, against Nazi German occupation forces from 27 September to 30 September 1943, immediately prior to the arrival of Allied forces in Naples on 1 October during World War II.

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01/10/1942

World War II: USS Grouper torpedoes Lisbon Maru, not knowing that she is carrying British prisoners of war from Hong Kong.

USS Grouper (SS/SSK/AGSS-214), a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grouper.

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01/10/1940

The Pennsylvania Turnpike, often considered the first superhighway in the United States, opens to traffic.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for 360 miles (580 km) across the southern part of the state, connecting Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian Mountains. A component of the Interstate Highway System, it is part of I-76 between the Ohio state line and Valley Forge, I-276 between Valley Forge and Bristol Township, and I-95 from Bristol Township to the New Jersey state line.

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01/10/1939

World War II: After a one-month siege, German troops occupy Warsaw.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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01/10/1938

Pursuant to the Munich Agreement signed the day before, Nazi Germany begins the military occupation and annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The agreement provided for the German annexation of part of the First Czechoslovak Republic called the Sudetenland, where three million people, mainly ethnic Germans, lived. The pact is known in some areas as the Munich Dictate, or the Munich Betrayal, because of a previous 1924 alliance agreement and a 1925 military pact between France and the Czechoslovak Republic.

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01/10/1936

Spanish Civil War: Francisco Franco is named head of the Nationalist government of Spain.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic and included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 for what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

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Spanish Civil War: The Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia dissolves itself, handing control of Catalan defence militias over to the Generalitat.

The Central Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias of Catalonia was an administrative body created on 21 July 1936 by the president of the Government of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, under pressure by the anarcho-syndicalists of the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), which led the workers' struggle against the July 1936 military uprising in Barcelona.

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01/10/1931

The George Washington Bridge in the United States is opened, linking New Jersey and New York.

The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey, with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is named after George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States and the country's first president. The George Washington Bridge is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, carrying a traffic volume of over 104 million vehicles in 2019, and is the world's only suspension bridge with 14 vehicular lanes. The George Washington Bridge measures 4,760 feet (1,450 m) long, and its main span is 3,500 feet (1,100 m) long. It was the longest main bridge span in the world from its 1931 opening until the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opened in 1937.

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Clara Campoamor persuades the Constituent Cortes to enfranchise women in Spain's new constitution.

Clara Campoamor Rodríguez was a Spanish politician, lawyer and writer, considered by some the mother of the Spanish feminist movement. She was one of the main promoters for women's suffrage in Spain, included in the Spanish Constitution of 1931 in part owing to her advocacy.

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01/10/1928

The Soviet Union introduces its first five-year plan.

The first five-year plan of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economic goals, implemented by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, based on his policy of socialism in one country. Leon Trotsky had delivered a joint report to the April Plenum of the Central Committee in 1926 which proposed a program for national industrialisation and the replacement of annual plans with five-year plans. His proposals were rejected by the Central Committee majority which was controlled by the troika and derided by Stalin at the time. Stalin's version of the five-year plan was implemented in 1928 and took effect until 1932.

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Newark Liberty International Airport opens, becoming the first airport in the New York City metro area.

Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport is located in both Newark and neighboring Elizabeth, straddling the boundary between Essex and Union counties Owned by the two cities, it is leased to its operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Located approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of downtown Newark and 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of Manhattan, it is a major gateway to destinations in Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Asia. It is the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system behind John F. Kennedy International Airport and ahead of LaGuardia Airport.

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01/10/1923

The 1923 Imperial Conference opened in London.

The 1923 Imperial Conference met in London in the autumn of 1923, the first attended by the new Irish Free State. While named the Imperial Economic Conference, the principal activity concerned the rights of the Dominions in regards to determining their own foreign policy.

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Georges Carpentier knocked out former British heavyweight champion Joe Beckett a mere twenty seconds into the first round of their boxing match at Olympia in London.

Georges Carpentier was a French boxer, actor and World War I pilot. A precocious pugilist, Carpentier fought in numerous categories. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908 to 1926. A French professional champion on several occasions, he became the European heavyweight champion before the First World War. A sergeant aviator during the Great War, he was wounded before returning to civilian life. He then discovered rugby union, playing as a winger.

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01/10/1918

World War I: The Egyptian Expeditionary Force captures Damascus.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

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Sayid Abdullah becomes the last Khan of Khiva.

Sayid Abdullah Khan (1873–1933) was the last Khan of Khiva of the Khongirad (Qungrat) dynasty, from 1 October 1918 until 1 February 1920. His father was Muhammad Rahim Khan II.

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01/10/1915

The Metamorphosis written by Franz Kafka is published in the German journal Die Weißen Blätter

The Metamorphosis, also translated as The Transformation, is a novella by Franz Kafka published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, The Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect and struggles to adjust to this condition, as does his family. The novella has been widely discussed among literary critics, who have offered varied interpretations. In popular culture and adaptations of the novella, the insect is commonly depicted as a cockroach.

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01/10/1910

A large bomb destroys the Los Angeles Times building, killing 21.

On October 1, 1910, union members belonging to the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers (IW) detonated explosives they placed in the Los Angeles Times Building in Los Angeles, California, starting a fire that killed 21 people and injured more than 100 others. It was termed the "crime of the century" by the Los Angeles Times newspaper, which occupied the building.

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01/10/1908

Ford Model T automobiles are offered for sale at a price of US$825.

The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relatively low price was partly the result of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual handcrafting. The savings from mass production allowed the price to decline from $780 in 1910 to $290 in 1924. It was mainly designed by three engineers, Joseph A. Galamb, Eugene Farkas, and Childe Harold Wills. The Model T was colloquially known as the "Tin Lizzie".

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01/10/1903

Baseball: The Boston Americans play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of the modern World Series.

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners advancing around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate.

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01/10/1898

The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.

The Vienna University of Economics and Business is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university received triple accreditation.

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01/10/1891

Stanford University opens its doors in California, United States.

Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane, in memory of their only child, Leland Jr.

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01/10/1890

Yosemite National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.

Yosemite National Park is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by the Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers 1,187 mi2 (3,070 km2) in four counties – centered in Tuolumne and Mariposa, extending north and east to Mono and south to Madera. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, groves of giant sequoia, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity. Almost 95 percent of the park is designated wilderness. Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

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01/10/1887

Balochistan is conquered by the British Empire.

Balochistan is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people. Balochistan is very significant because of its strategic location, mineral wealth, long coastline along the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and potential for discoveries of oil and gas.

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01/10/1861

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print until the present day.

Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, also published as Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book, is an extensive guide to running a household in Victorian Britain, edited by Isabella Beeton and first published as a book in 1861. Previously published in parts, it initially and briefly bore the title Beeton's Book of Household Management, as one of the series of guidebooks published by her husband, Samuel Beeton. The recipes were highly structured, in contrast to those in earlier cookbooks. It was illustrated with many monochrome and colour plates.

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01/10/1832

Texian political delegates convene at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Mexican Texas.

Texians were white American immigrants to Mexican Texas and, later, citizens of the Republic of Texas. Today, the term is used to identify early Anglo settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of that era are referred to as Tejanos, and American citizens of the modern State of Texas regardless of race and ethnicity are referred to as Texans.

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01/10/1829

The South African College is founded in Cape Town, later separating into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools.

The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS).

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01/10/1827

Russo-Persian War: The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination of Armenia.

The Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 was the last major military conflict between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran, which was fought over territorial disputes in the South Caucasus region.

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01/10/1814

The Congress of Vienna opens with the intention of redrawing Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleon in the previous spring.

The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers and other stakeholders. The Congress was chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich and was held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815.

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01/10/1800

Via the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain cedes Louisiana to France, which would sell the land to the United States thirty months later.

The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between Spain and the French Republic by which Spain agreed in principle to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany. The terms were later confirmed by the March 1801 Treaty of Aranjuez.

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01/10/1795

More than a year after the Battle of Sprimont, the Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium) are officially annexed by Revolutionary France.

The Battle of Sprimont, or Battle of the Ourthe, was a battle during the War of the First Coalition between a corps of the French revolutionary Army of Sambre-and-Meuse under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and the left wing of an Austrian army under the François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt. The battle was fought to outflank and force the Austrian army away from their defensive line on the Meuse river, and was a French victory.

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01/10/1791

First session of the French Legislative Assembly.

The Legislative Assembly was the legislature of the Kingdom of France from 1 October 1791 to 20 September 1792 during the years of the French Revolution. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and National Convention. The Legislative Assembly saw an unprecedented turnover of four ministers of Justice, four ministers of the Navy, six ministers of the Interior, seven ministers of Foreign Affairs, and eight ministers of War.

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01/10/1787

Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn.

Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire.

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01/10/1779

The city of Tampere, Finland (belonging to Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden.

Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is in the Finnish Lakeland. Tampere's population is about 263,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of about 428,000. It is Finland's 3rd most populous municipality and the second most populous urban area in the country after the Helsinki metropolitan area.

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01/10/1730

Ahmed III is forced to abdicate as the Ottoman sultan.

Ahmed III was sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of sultan Mehmed IV. His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hacıoğlu Pazarcık, in Dobruja. He succeeded to the throne in 1703 on the abdication of his brother Mustafa II (1695–1703). Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha and the Sultan's daughter, Fatma Sultan directed the government from 1718 to 1730, a period referred to as the Tulip Era.

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01/10/1588

The coronation of Shah Abbas I of Persia occurs.

Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers in Iranian history and the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty.

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01/10/1553

The coronation of Queen Mary I of England is held at Westminster Abbey.

The coronation of Mary I as Queen of England and Ireland took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Sunday 1 October 1553. This was the first coronation of a queen regnant in England, a female ruler in her own right. The ceremony was therefore transformed. Ritual and costume were interlinked. Contemporary records insist the proceedings were performed "according to the precedents", but mostly these were provisions made previously for queens consort.

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01/10/0965

Pope John XIII is consecrated.

Pope John XIII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and the Roman nobility. After long and arduous negotiations, he succeeded in arranging a Byzantine marriage for Otto II, in an effort to legitimize the Ottonian claim to imperial dignity. He also established church hierarchy in Poland and Bohemia.

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01/10/0959

Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadwig.

Edgar, also known as Edgar the Peaceful, the Peacemaker and the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edmund I and his first wife, Ælfgifu. A detailed account of Edgar's reign is not possible, because only a few events were recorded by chroniclers and monastic writers, who were more interested in recording the activities of the leaders of the church.

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01/10/0366

Pope Damasus I is consecrated.

Pope Damasus I, also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382, which established the canon, or official list, of sacred scripture.

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01/01/1970

Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.

Alexander III of Macedon, most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20, and spent most of his reign conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Asia and Egypt. By the age of 30, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.

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