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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret Mead
Wikiquote (Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s.)
October 15th, 1211
Byzantine Empire (East Roman Empire):
1211 - Battle of the Rhyndacus; The Latin emperor Henry of Flanders defeats the Nicaean emperor Theodore I Lascaris.
Wikipedia Image: The Baptism of Constantine painted by Raphael's pupils (1520–1524, fresco, Vatican City, Apostolic Palace); Mural of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 19th century, Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria; Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna; The Greek fire was first used by the Byzantine Navy during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid); Alexios I, founder of the Komnenos dynasty.
October 15th, 1529
Siege of Vienna: ends as the Austrians rout the invading Turks, turning the tide against almost a century of unchecked conquest throughout eastern and central Europe by the Ottoman Empire.
Wikipedia Painting: Battle of Vienna, 1683.
October 15th, 1582
The first complete Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15.
Wikipedia Image: Detail of the tomb of Pope Gregory XIII celebrating the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.
October 15th, 1764
Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Wikipedia Image: Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
October 15th, 1793
French Revolution: Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.
Wikipedia Painting: Marie Antoinette, credit Marie-antoinette.org.
October 15th, 1815
French Revolutionary Wars / Napoleonic Wars:
1815 - Napoleon I of France begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.
Wikipedia Painting: Battle of Trafalgar: The British HMS Sandwich fires to the French flagship Bucentaure (completely dismasted) in the battle of Trafalgar;
Napoleon in Berlin (Meynier). After defeating Prussian forces at Jena, the French Army entered Berlin on 27 October 1806;
Battle of the Bridge of Arcole Napoleon Bonaparte leading his troops over the bridge of Arcole, by Horace Vernet;
Napoleon as King of Italy (Appiani);
Napoleon Crossing the Alps (David). In 1800 Bonaparte took the French Army across the Alps, eventually defeating the Austrians at Marengo;
Charge of the Russian Imperial Guard cavalry against French cuirassiers at the Battle of Friedland, 14 June 1807;
Battle of Borodino as depicted by Louis Lejeune. The battle was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars;
Napoleon's withdrawal from Russia, a painting by Adolph Northen;
Wellington at Waterloo by Robert Alexander Hillingford;
Napoleon is often represented in his green colonel uniform of the Chasseur à Cheval, with a large bicorne and a hand-in-waistcoat gesture.
Napoleon Emperor Defeated at Fontainebleau.
October 15th, 1863
American Civil War:
1863 - H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.
1864 - Battle of Glasgow; is fought, resulting in the surrender of Glasgow, Missouri and its Union garrison, to the Confederacy.
Wikipedia Image: ● Lincoln Memorial; an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument.
● The northern army led by George McClellan and the southern army led by Robert E. Lee met at Antietam Creek, Maryland in September, 1862. It was a bloody battle where 13,000 Confederates and 12,000 Union troops died in just one day. McClellan had hesitated to attack before the battle thus letting the southern troops regroup. Also, he had saved reserves and refused to use them at the end of the battle thinking that Lee was holding reserves for a counterattack, even though those reserves didn't exist. The Union victory stopped Lee's northward advance and was a turning point in the war.
● Battle of Antietam / Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland
● First Battle Between Ironclads: CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
● Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. The Atlantic.
October 15th, 1878
The American inventor, Edison Electric Light Company begins operation.
Wikipedia Image: Thomas Edison / First Edison Jumbo Dynamo, credit National Museum of American History.
October 15th, 1880
American Indian Wars:
1880 - The Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.
Wikipedia Photos: American Indians - Chief Crazy Horse, Tashunca-uitco (1849 - 1877) ● Geronimo Apache Chief (1829 - 1909) ● Indian Chief 'Two Eagles'; Crow Indian Chief ● Snake Cheif ● Band of Chiricahua Apache Indians, followers of legendary renegade Geronimo, attending a peace negotiation after a long struggle against U.S. government attempts to force them onto reservations - Tombstone, Arizona (1886), Life Magazine ● American Horse - Oglala ● Native American Arapaho Indian ● Washakie, Shoshone leader ● Arapaho American Indian Chief.
● Painting: Trail of Tears, American Indian Wars © Christine Chzasz.
October 15th, 1888
The "From Hell" letter sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.
Wikipedia Sketch - Painting: "With the Vigilance Committee in the East End: A Suspicious Character" from The Illustrated London News, 13 October 1888 / Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of London serial killer "Jack the Ripper".
October 15th, 1894
Dreyfus affair in France, Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly arrested for spying.
Wikipedia Image: Alfred Dreyfus; Excerpt 'Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters', New York Times; The Dreyfus Affair produced an enormous amount of postcards. This card uses the well-known anti-Semitic image of the treacherous Jew (Dreyfus) in the form of a snake (From the postcard series 'Museum of Horror' #6: 'The Traitor'); Dreyfus as a Wandering Jew; Colonel Estherhazy, The true traitor, UTexas.edu.
October 15th, 1917
World War I
1917 - At Vincennes outside of Paris Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad or spying for the German Empire
Wikipedia Image: Mata Hari on a 1906 postcard.
October 15th, 1928
German airship Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Wikipedia Photo: Zeppelin Airship D-LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin was launched for the first round-the-world flight
October 15th, 1934
Soviet Republic of China collapses when Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army successfully encircles Ruijin, forcing the fleeing Communists to begin the Long March.
Wikipedia Photo: In 1934, Mao Zedong headed the Long March. The Long March was when the Chinese Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, forced the Chinese Communists, led by Mao Zedong, on a march to the caves of Shaanxi. (colorized)
October 15th, 1939
New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated.
Wikipedia Photo: La Guardia Airport.
October 15th, 1945
World War II: former premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval is shot by a firing squad for treason.
Wikipedia Photo: premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval / Pierre Laval with German Commanders in Paris (source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H25719 / CC-BY-SA [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de).
October 15th, 1951
The first episode of I Love Lucy, an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley airs on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
Wikipedia Photo: I Lovw Lucy Montage.
October 15th, 1989
Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.
Wikipedia Photo: Rare Photos of Wayne Gretzky, Sports Illustrated
October 15th, 2001
National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io.
Wikipedia Photo: Galileo Spacecraft was the first Planet Jupiter Obiter, NASA.
October 15th, 2008
Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst day in the Dow's history based on a percentage drop.
Wikipedia Photo: The New York Stock Exchange floor, credit Associated Press; and fisheye view, credit © Geoff Sills, © Eric L Bowers.
October 15th, 2013
Earthquake:
2013 - Bohol earthquake; a 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes the Philippines, resulting in more than 215 deaths.
Wikipedia Image: Preliminary Determination of Epicenters / Aleppo Syria; Anchorage, Alaska - March 28, 1964 Prince William Sound USA earthquake and tsunami; 8.9 Mega Earthquake Strikes Japan; Tsunami Swirls Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture March 12 2011. credit NOAA / NGDC, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, USGS, National Geographics.
Photo: 1138 Aleppo earthquake was among the deadliest earthquakes history. Historical records suggest that 230,000 people were killed.