TODAY IN HISTORY October 10

680 – Muhammad’s grandson Husayn ibn Ali is decapitated by Caliph Yazid I’s troops.

1760 – In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname – descended from escaped slaves – gain territorial autonomy.

1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in the Caribbean.

1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 students.

1846 – Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.

1913 – President Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal.

1928 – Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.

1938 – Abiding by the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia completes its withdrawal from the Sudetenland.

1957 – President Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanaian finance minister Gbedemah after he is refused service in a Delaware restaurant.

1967 – The Outer Space Treaty comes into force. The treaty’s main points are that it prohibits the placing of nuclear weapons in space, limits the use of the Moon and all other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes only, and establishes that space shall be free for exploration and use by all nations, but that no nation may claim sovereignty of outer space or any celestial body.

The Outer Space Treaty does not ban military activities within space, military space forces, or the weaponization of space, with the exception of the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space As of June 2019, 109 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 23 have signed but not yet completed ratification.

1973 – Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax.

1985 – US Navy aircraft intercept an Egyptian airliner carrying the perpetrators of the Achille Lauro hijacking, and force it to land in Italy.

2015 – Twin bomb blasts in the Turkish capital Ankara kill 102 and injure 400.

786 – Saga, emperor of Japan (d. 842)

1344 – Mary of Waltham, duchess of Brittany (d. 1361)

1629 – Richard Towneley, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1707)

1731 – Henry Cavendish, French-English chemist, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1810)

1813 – Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer and philanthropist (d. 1901)

1858 – Maurice Prendergast, American painter and academic (d. 1924)

1877 – William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Morris Motors (d. 1963)

1901 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (d. 1966)

1917 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (d. 1982)

Thelonious Monk 1966 Live in Denmark Take a few minutes to watch and listen to the genius of Monk

1930 – Harold Pinter, playwright, screenwriter, director Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)

1946 – John Prine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1708 – David Gregory, Scottish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1659)

1911 – Jack Daniel, American businessman, founded Jack Daniel’s (b. 1849)

1913 – Adolphus Busch, German-American brewer and businessman, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (b. 1839)

1985 – Orson Welles, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)

1998 – Clark Clifford, American captain, lawyer, and politician 9th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1906)

2013 – Scott Carpenter, commander, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1925)