October 1st is

Homemade Cookies Day

Black Dog Day *

Fire Pup Day *

International Music Day *

International Coffee Day *

U.N. International Day of Older Persons *

Raccoon Appreciation Day *

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MORE! Annie Besant, Paul Dukas and Christel Takigawa, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Azerbaijan – Prosecutors’ Day

Cameroon – Unification Day

China, Hong Kong & Macau –
Guoqing Jie (National Day)

Christmas Island – Territory Day

Cyprus, Nigeria, Palau & Tuvalu –
Independence Day

Indonesia – Pancasila Sanctity Day
(5 principles of Indonesia)

Micronesia – 
Chuuk Constitution Day

San Marino – Captains Regent Investiture Day

South Korea – Armed Forces Day

Uzbekistan – O’qituvchi va Murabbiylar Kuni
(Teachers and Instructors Day)

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On This Day in HISTORY

331 BC – Though his forces are heavily outnumbered, Alexander the Great uses tactics and his light infantry to decisively defeat Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela, in what is now Iraqi Kurdistan

86 BC – Gaius Sallustius Crispus born, now usually called Sallust; Roman historian, politician and novus homo (new man), earliest known Roman historian with works which have at least partially survived to the present day; opponent of the old Roman aristocracy, and a partisan of Julius Caesar. Appointed as governor of Africa Nova, he amassed a great personal fortune through extortion and oppression, escaping condemnation only through Caesar’s influence

959 – Edgar I ‘the Peaceful’ is crowned King of England; his coronation ceremony is arranged by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and becomes the basis for future English coronation ceremonies down to the present day

A contemporary portrayal of King Edgar in the New Minster Charter

1526 – Dorothy Stafford born, Lady Stafford, who married her distant cousin Sir Henry Stafford. A staunch Protestant, she and her family went into exile in Switzerland during the reign of Mary I, but she returned to England with her children in 1559, after the coronation of Elizabeth I. She was appointed as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth, holding the office until Elizabeth’s death in 1603, becoming the queen’s trusted confidant, and having considerable influence with her. Her son Edward became the English Ambassador to France in 1578, largely due to her influence. Noted as a “continual Remembrancer of the Suits of the Poor” on her funeral monument

1553 – Coronation of Queen Mary I (‘Bloody Mary’) of England

Queen Mary I by Hans Eworth

1569 – Elizabeth I imprisons Duke of Norfolk for trying to wed Mary Queen of Scots

1730 – Richard Stockton born, American jurist, lawyer and legislator; member of the Second Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence; first Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court; his family donated some of the land for what would become Princeton University, and he was a trustee of the school for 26 years; his wife, poet Annis Boudinot Stockton, is one of the first women authors to be published in Colonial newspapers

1791 – The first session of the short-lived French Legislative Assembly, operating under the French Constitution of 1791; it will pass numerous reforms, most notably the transfer of registration of births, deaths and marriages from the Catholic  Church to the state, as well as changes to divorce and inheritance laws; the assembly is divided into two factions: one favors a constitutional  monarchy, but the democratic faction distrusts the king, and believes revolutionary measures are necessary

1800 – Spain cedes back to France the Louisiana territory that U.S would later purchase

1811 – The first steamboat on the Mississippi River arrives in New Orleans LA

1911 replica of the original steamboat

1814 – The Congress of Vienna opens, tasked with redrawing national borders in Europe after the defeat of Napoleon

1829 – South African College is founded in Cape Town, South Africa; it will later separate into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools

1832 – Texian political delegates convene at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Mexican Texas

1843 – The News of the World tabloid begins publication in London

1847 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer and academic, becomes the second woman to discover a comet (C/1847 T1), after Caroline Herschel, winning a prize established by King Frederick VI of Denmark

1847 – Annie Besant born, British socialist, women’s rights activist, theosophist, author and orator; notable speaker for the Fabian Society, the National Secular Society (NSS) and later for the Theosophist Society; prosecuted for publishing a book advocating birth control in 1877; also supported home-rule for Ireland and India, and labor movement actions, including the 1888 London matchgirls strike; elected to the London School Board for Tower Hamlets, even though few women could vote at the time

1859 – Clarissa M Thompson Allen born, African-American educator and author who wrote fictional stories based on real-life wealthy African-American families in the Southern U.S. Her most notable work was a collection of short stories, Treading the Winepress, also called A Mountain of Misfortune

1861 – Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management is published, selling 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print in revised editions to the present day

1862 – Esther Boise Van Deman born, a leading American archaeologist; first woman to specialize in Roman field archaeology, establishing the standards for dating ancient constructions using variations in building materials, which advanced the study of Roman architecture; author of The Building of the Roman Aqueducts and The Atrium Vestae

Esther Boise Van Deman, Villa Borghese (circa 1908)

1865 – Paul Dukas born, French composer and scholar; The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (L’apprenti sorcier)

1880 – The Edison Lamp Works begins commercial production of electric lamps

1880 – John Philip Souza is named director of the U.S. Marine Corps Band

1881 – William Boeing born, American engineer and aviation pioneer; founder of Boeing Company

1881 – Pixley ka Isaka Seme born, first of the first black lawyers in South Africa; a founding member and the first Treasurer-General of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) in 1912, which became the African National Congress (ANC) in 1923. He was the managing editor of the Abantu Batho, the newspaper of the SANNC, which was published in English, SeSotho, Zulu, Xhosa and SeTswana.  He was also a founding member (1912), and later President (1930-1936), of the ANC

1885 – Special delivery mail service begins in the U.S. with first routes in West Virginia

1890 – U.S. Congress passes the McKinley Tariff Act, raising rates to record levels, and also establishes Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Valley View by Ansel Adams

1891 – Stanford University opens its doors as a coeducational, tuition-free (until 1920) institution near Palo Alto CA

1893 – Faith Baldwin born, author of over 85 popular novels, frequently using women juggling career and family as a central theme; her last book, Adam’s Eden, was published in 1977, the year before she died at age 84

1896 – U.S. Post Office begins Rural Free Delivery

1898 – The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded

1903 – Vladimir Horowitz born in Russia, American piano virtuoso and composer, acclaimed as one of the greatest pianists of 20th century

1904 – Otto R. Frisch born in Germany, a Jewish physicist who left Germany in 1933; worked with Niels Bohr, coined the term “nuclear fission”; worked at Los Alamos on the first theoretical mechanism for detonating an atomic bomb

1908 – Ford’s Model T goes on sale for $825.00, or $850.00 for the touring car

1910 – Bonnie Parker born, infamous American robber and murderer; with partner Clyde Barrow, went on crime spree (1932 -1934); she dies in hail of bullets fired by police after an extended manhunt

1910 – The Los Angeles Times building is badly damaged by a bomb placed by a member of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers when it goes off prematurely, igniting gas lines, killing 21 people and injuring 100. After the union’s initial national success in organizing iron workers, industrialists, led by U.S. Steel and the American Bridge Company, form the National Erectors’ Association to bust the union, using labor spies, agents provocateur, private detectives, and strike breakers to restore “open shops.” Harrison Gray Otis, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, is vehemently anti-union, and uses his paper to rail against them

1912 – Kathleen Ollerenshaw born, English mathematician and politician; noted for work on critical lattices and most-perfect pandiagonal magic squares; an ear infection at age 8 left her almost completely deaf; Lord Mayor of Manchester (1975-1976), and High Sheriff of Greater Manchester (1978-1979), while serving as (Conservative party) Councilor for Rushholme (1956-1981); an amateur astronomer who donated her telescope to Lancaster University, where an observatory is named for her

1914 – Daniel J. Boorstin born, American historian, lawyer and author; Librarian of Congress (1975-1987); noted for the founding of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, which promotes literacy, public libraries and American literature. It is mainly supported by tax-deductible donations, and has affiliate centers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands

1918 – WWI: Arab forces led by  T.E. Lawrence “Lawrence of Arabia” capture Damascus

1924 – Leonie Gibson Kramer born, Dame Leonie Kramer, Australian academic; in 1968, she became the first woman full professor of English in Australia. She was also the first woman to chair the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1982-1983), and the first woman chancellor of the University of Sydney (1991-2001); Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1982) and a Companion of the Order of Australia (1993)

1928 – Duke Ellington and his orchestra record “The Mooche”

1928 – The Soviet Union introduces its first 5-year plan

1929 – Bonnie Owens born, American singer-songwriter; Just Between the Two of Us, Why Don’t Daddy Live Here Anymore? and Don’t Take Advantage Of Me

1931 – Spain adopts women’s suffrage

1935 – Julie Andrews born, singer and actress; noted for her four-octave vocal range, she has continued her career as an actress after botched surgery for nodules in 1997 damaged her vocal chords, limiting her range and ability to hold notes

1936 – General Franco, ‘El Caudillo’ (the leader) is proclaimed Spain’s head of state

1938 – Stella Stevens born, American actress, director and producer in film and television; noted for producing and directing the documentary The American Heroine, and directing the comedy movie The Ranch

1939 – Winston Churchill describes the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” during a radio broadcast

1940 – Phyllis Chesler born, American writer, feminist, and psychotherapist; noted for her best-selling and seminal book, Women and Madness; her other work covers gender issues, mental illness, divorce and child custody, surrogacy, second-wave feminism, pornography, prostitution, incest, violence against women, and honor killings; co-founder of the International Committee for Women of the Wall to promote the religious rights of Jewish Women in Jerusalem

1940 – The Pennsylvania Turnpike opens as the first U.S. toll superhighway

1949 – Mao Tse-tung raises flag of the People’s Republic of China as the Nationalists forces flee to Taiwan

1949 – Sheila Gilmore born, Scottish, British Labour Party politician; Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East (2010-2015); Edinburgh District Council member (1991-2007), appointed Convenor of Housing (1999)

1950 – Susan Greenfield born, Baroness Greenfield of Ot Moor, British scientist, author, broadcaster, Life Peer and member of the House of Lords since 2001; noted for work on treatments for  Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease; also interested in the neuroscience of consciousness and the impact of technology on the brain; senior research fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford; chancellor of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh (2005-2013); director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (1998-2010)

1952 – This is Your Life debuts on NBC-TV

1953 – Grete Waitz born, Norwegian marathon runner; former world record holder, as the first woman to run a marathon in under 2½ hours in 1979; she won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history; Olympic silver medalist in 1984, and gold medalist in 1983 World Championships

1957 – Éva Tardos born, Hungarian mathematician; Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University, and Associate Dean of the College of Computing and Information Science; Chair of the Cornell Department of Computer Science (2006-2010). Noted for research on algorithms, focusing on the design and analysis of efficient methods for combinatorial optimization problems on graphs or networks, and has also worked on network flow algorithms like approximation algorithms for network flows, cut, and clustering problems. Her recent work focuses on algorithmic game theory. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2007), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences (2013). Winner of the Fulkerson Prize (1988), the George B. Dantzig Prize (2006), the Van Wijngaarden Award (2011), the Gödel Prize (2012), the EATCS Award (2017), and the IEEE John von Neumann Medal (2019)

1958 – NASA replaces the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, 1915-1958)

1960 – Nigeria gains its independence from the United Kingdom

1961 – The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is formed, becoming the country’s first centralized military espionage organization

1961 – East and West Cameroon merge as the Federal Republic of Cameroon

1962 – Johnny Carson begins his 29-year stint as host of the Tonight show on NBC, following after Jack Paar

1962 – The Beach Boys first album, Surfin’ Safari, is released

1964 – The Free Speech Movement starts at the University of California at Berkeley

1964 – Japanese Shinkansen (“bullet trains”) begin Tokyo-to-Osaka rail service, with speeds reaching 320 mph (515 km)

Opening ceremonies for the Tokyo-to-Osaka train

1969 – The Concorde breaks the sound barrier for the first time

1971 – Walt Disney World opens in Orlando FL

1975 – International Music Day * – Yehudi Menuhin joins with UNESCO to initiate this day and promote the musical arts and UNESCO’s International Music Prize

1977 – Christel Takigawa born in Paris, Japanese television announcer and news presenter for Kyodo Television; FNN News Japan newscaster (2002-2009)

1979 – U.S. hands control of the Panama Canal Zone over to Panama

1980 – Robert Redford becomes the only man ever featured on the cover of The Ladies’ Home Journal

1982 – Sony begins selling the first compact disc player, in Japan

1984 – U.S. Secretary of Labor Raymond Donovan announces his leave of absence after he’s indicted on larceny and fraud charges, but he is later acquitted

1988 – Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the President of the Soviet Union

1990 – In Croatia, minority Serbs proclaim autonomy

1990 – U.N. International Day of Older Persons * is established by a vote of the UN General Assembly

1991 – Abby Chava Stein born, American transgender  author and activist. She is the first openly transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community. Noted for her book, “Becoming Eve: My Journey From Ultra Orthodox Rabbi To Transgender Woman” 

1996 – While Fire Pup Day * had been around before the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) started in 1996, which recruits dogs rescued from shelters to partner with firefighters as search-and-rescue teams, it’s been a natural for this organization to promote a day dedicated to fire dogs

1999 – A celebration of 50^th anniversary of founding of the Peoples Republic of China takes place in Beijing

2002 – The first Raccoon Appreciation Day * is launched in California to make people aware of the raccoon’s place in maintaining the ecosystem

2008 – After an initial failure to pass, a $700 billion financial industry bailout wins  lopsided passage in the Senate, 74-25, when it is loaded with tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, raises the cap on Federal Deposit Insurances from $100,000 to $250,000, and other sweeteners. The bailout money is to be used to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets from troubled institutions

2012 – The first National Black Dog Day, to highlight the plight of black dogs in shelters and end the stigma against their color

2014 – Thousands of pro-democracy protesters returned to the streets in Hong Kong on China’s National Day, which marks the founding of China’s Communist Party in 1949. Organizers aimed to bring out the largest crowds yet as a symbolic show of force in defiance of a government crackdown. Riot police tried to disperse crowds with tear gas but the demonstrators vow not to back down until they win assurances of free elections to pick Hong Kong’s next leader

2015 – International Coffee Day * is officially set on October 1 by the International Coffee Organization, and launched in Milan Italy. The ICO began in London in 1963, under the auspices of the UN because of the great economic importance of coffee; currently, it has 50 producing member countries and 7 importing member countries

2017 – In Las Vegas, Nevada, a shooter on a balcony of the 32^nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort uses multiple semi-automatic rifles to fire over 1,100 rounds into the crowd below at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, leaving 58 people dead, 500 wounded, and 351 injured in the resulting panic – the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history

2019 – Hilary Clinton, on the media circuit to promote The Book of Gutsy Women, which she co-wrote with her daughter Chelsea, was asked about the gutsiest thing she had ever done. “Personally, make the decision to stay in my marriage,” she answered, without elaborating, then added: “Publicly, politically, run for president. And keep going. Just get up every day and keep going.”

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