1609 – Children’s rhyme “Three Blind Mice” published in London.
1773 – America’s first asylum opens for ‘Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds’ in Virginia.
1792 – First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York.
1836 – 18″ of snow falls in Bridgewater, NY.
1859 – Self-proclaimed Emperor of the USA, Emperor Norton issues edict abolishing the US Congress.
1892 – US Pledge of Allegiance first recited in public schools during Columbus Day.
1900 – The first modern submarine is commissioned by the U.S. Navy as the USS Holland, named for its designer John Philip Holland.
1901 – Theodore Roosevelt renames “Executive Mansion” as “The White House”
1915 – Ford Motor Company under Henry Ford manufactures its 1 millionth automobile at the River Rouge plant in Detroit.
1928 – First use of iron lung (Boston’s Children Hospital)
1933 – Alcatraz becomes a federal prison (unofficially)
1942 – US navy defeats Japanese in WW II Battle of Cape Esperance.
1953 – US & Greece sign peace treaty (US bases)
1960 – JFK & Richard Nixon’s third presidential debate.
1962 – Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least $230 million in damages.
1973 – US President Richard Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice President.
1988 – George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis meet in their second presidential debate.
1991 – Statler Brothers Show premieres on TNN.
2000 – American destroyer USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
2017 – Long-lost bust of Napoleon by Auguste Rodin confirmed found in Madison borough hall, New Jersey, worth at least $4m.