I'm not easily scared; from the age of 8, I learned what it means to have everything you know taken away and what it means to persevere. I approach politics the same way. - Ilhan Omar, U.S. Representative from Minnesota
Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for
you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned
if you do, and damned if you don't.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
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OCTOBER is:
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
LGBTQ+ History Month
National Stop Bullying Month
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October 10th is:
Angel Food Cake Day:
International Stage Manager’s Day: October 10, 2013 – launched by the Stage Management Association UK; now observed in over a dozen countries
Shift10 Day: October 10, 2016 – a movement to encourage buying from non-chain businesses by pledging to spend 10% of your budget at local businesses and farmers’ markets
U.S. Naval Academy Day: October 10, 1845 – The Naval School opens in Annapolis MD with 50 midshipmen – later renamed the U.S. Naval Academy
World Day Against the Death Penalty: organized by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, a group of 38 human rights organizations, local and regional authorities, bar associations, and trade unions. Over 70% of the world’s countries have abolished capital punishment in law or practice.
World Homeless Day: October 10, 2010 – organized as a day to advocate for increased funding for assistance to the homeless, more affordable housing, coordination of efforts to aid homeless people, and other issues related to homelessness
World Mental Health Day: October 10, 2013 – inaugurated as part of the World Health Organization’s comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2020
China – Double Ten Day — 1911 Wuchang Uprising on the 10th day of 10th month — see also Taiwan
Cuba – War of Independence Day
Curaçao – National Flag & Anthem Day
Fiji – Fiji Day: October 10, 1973 – Fiji becomes independent after nearly a century of British rule
Finland – Finnish Literature Day
Kenya – Mazingira (environmental) Day
North Korea – Party Foundation Day
Sri Lanka – Army Day
Suriname – Maroons Day: October 10,1760 – celebrates the signing of a treaty with Dutch colonizers by the Ndyuka people, one of six ‘Maroon’ peoples in Suriname and French Guiana, descended from African slaves brought to work on Dutch-owned plantations who escaped into the rain forests, that secures their territorial autonomy
Taiwan – National Day: October 10, 1911 – The beginning of the Wuchang Uprising, which leads to the collapse of China’s Qing dynasty, and the establishment of the Republic of China
Vietnam – Capital Liberation Day
October 10th in World History:
680 AD – Battle of Karbala: The forces of Yazid I, the Umayyad Caliph, intercept the caravan of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad, who had refused to give allegiance to Yazid when he ascended the throne; in the battle, Husayn is killed and beheaded, along with most of his family and supporters, including his six-month old son, while the rest of the women and children are taken prisoner. The dead are widely regarded as martyrs by Sufi and especially Shia Muslims. Mainstream Sunni Muslims regard the incident as an historical tragedy, but without influence on Islamic theology or traditions
732 – Battle of Tours: A combined Frankish and Burgundian force commanded by Charles Martel defeats an army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who is killed, near the Aquitaine border close to Tours in western France
1355 – Zhu Biao born, Crown Prince of the Ming Empire, noted for the far-reaching consequences of his death from illness in 1392 at the age of 36. Zhu Biao’s younger brother Zhi Di usurped the throne from Zhu Biao’s son, Zhu Yunwen, and became the Yongle Emperor. He started destroying or falsifying records concerning his childhood and rebellion, instituted a massive purge of Confucian scholars in Nanjing, and granted extraordinary extralegal powers to the eunuch secret police. He moved the imperial capital from Nanjing to Beiping (now Beijing), then greatly expanded the imperial examination system to gain more control over Confucian scholars-bureaucrats. He died leading a 1424 military campaign in the Gobi Desert. He is equally remembered for his building program, including the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, his ambitious and costly military campaigns, and his cruel despotism, killing most of the servants who had been in the palace during his brother’s reign, and torturing to death many of his nephew’s supporters. He was succeeded by his son Zhu Gaochi, the Hongxi Emperor, who did much to restore the civil government
Porcelain Tower at Nanjing — watercolour by Lieutenant James Henry Butt
1629 – Richard Towneley born, English mathematician and astronomer, one of the pioneers in research astronomy
1684 – Jean-Antoine Watteau born, French Rococo painter
1731 – Henry Cavendish born, British natural philosopher, scientist; important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist
1837 – Robert Gould Shaw born, American Union Colonel who commanded the 54th Massachusetts, the first all-Black regiment in the Northeast, and supported his men in refusing their pay until it was equal to white troops’ wages; killed at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner in South Carolina while leading his men at the parapet of the enemy fort; only 315 men from the 54thwere left after the battle, but it proved the bravery of Black soldiers and led to more Union recruitment of African-American troops
1846 – English astronomer William Lassell discovers Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune
1861 – Fridtjof Nansen born, Norwegian explorer, scientist, and humanitarian; president of the Norwegian League of Nations Society, worked on behalf of stateless refugees, devising a document that became known as the Nansen passport, that over time was recognized by more than 50 countries, enabling refugees to cross borders legally – Marc Chagall, Igor Stravinsky and Anna Pavlova were among the holders of Nansen passports. Nansen was awarded the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize for his work repatriating prisoners of war, aiding refugees, and efforts to aid millions of sufferers during the Russian famine
1865 – John Wesley Hyatt patents the billiard ball
1868 – Carlos Manuel de Céspedes issues the “10th of October Manifesto” — signaling the start of an all-out military uprising to gain Cuba’s independence from Spain
1870 – Louise Mack born, Australian novelist, poet and journalist-columnist, pioneering woman war correspondent; she was traveling in Europe as a correspondent for the London Daily mail in 1914, and became an eye witness to the WWI German invasion of Antwerp, Belgium; the Evening News and the Daily Mail published her accounts of what she saw; her diary of the time she spent behind enemy lines was later published as A Woman’s Experiences in the Great War
1871 – After two days, the Great Chicago Fire had burned itself out, aided by rain which began falling late in the evening of October 9. The fire killed almost 300 people, destroyed 3.3 square miles (9 km) of the city, and left over 100,000 people homeless
1886 – The Tuxedo dinner jacket makes its debut in New York City, named by the multi-millionaire members of the Tuxedo Club at Tuxedo Park, an upper NY state retreat developed by Pierre Lorillard IV, scion of the Lorillard Tobacco Company family
1898 – Lily Daché born in France, American fashion designer, entrepeneur and author, noted for her hat designs; author of Lilly Daché’s Glamour Book and her autobiography, Talking through My Hats
1900 – Helen Hayes born as Helen Hays Brown, American actress of stage, screen, and television, whose career spanned 80 years, dubbed the “First Lady of the American Theatre.” She is one of only 15 performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. Hayes also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Medal of Arts. In 1982, she was a co-founder with Ladybird Johnson of the National Wildflower Research Center. Hayes was a notable philanthropist, donating time and money to several causes, especially New York’s Riverside Shakespeare Company, and the Helen Hayes Hospital, a physical rehabilitation hospital, which was renamed in her honor in 1974, after she had served on its Board of Visitors since 1944, advocating tirelessly for the hospital and raising funds
1901 – Alberto Giacometti born, Swiss sculptor
1901 – Frederick Douglass Patterson born, American academic and administrator; at Tuskegee Institute, he founded the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee in 1944, and was the college’s president (1935-1953); founder of the United Negro College Fund. Honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987
1902 – K. Shivarama Karantha born in British India, Indian polymath, author, social activist, environmentalist, and filmmaker; considered a very influential novelist in the Kannada language, publishing 47 novels, 31 plays, collections of short stories, essays, and poetry, and 13 books on art. Honored with the 1978 Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor
1903 – Vernon Duke born in Russia, American composer and songwriter; composed the music for “Taking a Chance on Love,” “I Can’t Get Started,” and “April in Paris” among many other songs
1903 – The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) is founded by Englishwoman Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia in Manchester, later moving operations to London. The WSPU was a militant organization campaigning for suffrage for British women. Their slogan was “Deeds, not words”
1909 WSPU poster by Hilda Dallas — Hammersmith WSPU chapter banner — WSPU pin
1905 – Aksella Luts born as Aksella Kapsta, Estonian actress, screenwriter, dancer, choreographer, film editor, and photojournalist. She and her husband Theodore Luts founded the Tartu Filmiühing (Tartu Film Society), and co-authored the script for Estonia’s first feature-length dramatic silent film, Noored kotkad (Young Eagles), about the 1918-1920 Estonian War of Independence, and the script for the 1932 melodrama Päikese lapsed (The Children Of The Sun). The film was Estonia’s first feature-length Estonian language sound film, for which Aksella Kuts choreographed a dance sequence. They moved to Finland in 1938, and Aksella worked as screenwriter for Fenno-Filmi OY under the masculine pen name Antti Metsalu. In 1944, they moved to Stockhom, Sweden, where she worked as a librarian and archivist for the Folk Universitetet. After WWII and the Soviet annexation of Estonia, they relocated to Brazil, where they founded a new film company, Theodor Lutsu firma, and she also worked oher jobs, including film editing for another company. Her husband died in 1980, and in 1996, she returned to Estonia, where she gave television and radio interviews until her death in 2005 at age 99
1908 – Mercè Rodoreda born, Spanish notable Catalan-language novelist and short story writer; Catalan is spoken primarily in Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands
1911 – Clare Hollingworth born, English journalist and author; in 1939, as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph traveling from Poland to Germany, she saw and reported German forces massed on the Polish border, and became the first war correspondent to report the outbreak of WWII; she was also at the scene when the King David Hotel in Jerusalem was bombed in 1946, and reported on the Algerian War in the early 1960s; she broke the story of Kim Philby’s defection to the Soviet Union in 1963, and covered the Vietnam War beginning in 1967
1913 – U.S President Wilson triggers the rigged explosion of Gamboa Dike, completing construction of the Panama Canal
1917 – Thelonious Monk born, American Jazz pianist and composer
1924 – James Clavell born in Australia, American author and screenwriter; his novel King Rat was inspired by his 3-years as a WWII POW in the notorious Changi Prison camp
1924 – Ludmilla Tchérina born in Paris to an exiled Circassian noble and a French mother; French prima ballerina, choreographer, artist, and author of two novels
1928 – Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China
1930 – Harold Pinter born, English playwright, screenwriter, director; winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature
1938 – Lily Tuck born, American author; her novel The News from Paraguay won the 2004 National Book Award for Fiction
1941 – Ken Saro-Wiwa born, Nigerian writer and activist; leader of the nonviolent campaign to restore the homeland of his people, the Ogoni, which suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of petroleum waste dumping. He was hanged during the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha in 1995, after being imprisoned for over a year before being tried and convicted of inciting murder, which also happened to 8 other leaders of the campaign; the trials were widely criticized by human rights organizations
1950 – Eleanor Robertson born, prolific best-selling American novelist who writes genre novels under the pen name Nora Roberts, and futuristic police procedurals as J. D. Robb. She founded the Nora Roberts Foundation to promote literacy and the arts, assist children in need, engage in humanitarian efforts, and fund an academic scholarship program
1952 – Dame Dela Smith born, British educator and authority on special needs education; she was Headteacher at the special education school Beaumont Hill Technology College (1992-2010), for students ages 5 to 19, with a wide range of special education needs
1953 – Fiona Rae born in Hong Kong, British artist, part of the visual arts group, Young British Artists, who first exhibited together in 1988; elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2002
“She Pricked Her Finger Cutting the Clouds” — by Fiona Rae
1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, after he was refused service in a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Dover, Delaware
1958 – Julia Anne Sweeney born, American comedian, actress, and writer; Saturday Night Live cast member (1990-1994); alumni of The Groundlings improvisational troupe’s Sunday Company (1988-1989); co-star of the Hulu comedy web TV series, Shrill (2019-2021); noted for writing monologues, including God Said Ha!, In the Family Way, and Letting Go of God. She is on the Boards of the Secular Coalition for America, Freedom from Religion Foundation, and the Center for Inquiry
1959 – Pan American World Airways announces the first global air service
1962 – The BBC bans “The Monster Mash” song by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett
1965 – The Red Baron makes his first appearance in the Peanuts comic
1966 – The Beach Boys release their single “Good Vibrations”
1969 – Dilsa Demirbag-Sten born, Kurdish-Swedish author and journalist; she is Secretary General of Berättarministeriet, a foundation to enhance education for children and young people she co-founded together with Robert Weil and Sven Hagströmer in 2011. Demirbag-Sten is a member of the Swedish Press Council, and a frequent contributor to Swedish newspapers. In 2018, she was awarded the St. Erik medal for her contributions. Her books include Stamtavlor (Pedigress) and Fosterland
1971 – Sold, dismantled, moved to the United States, and rebuilt, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona
1973 – U.S Republican Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax
1984 – U.S. Congress passes the 2nd Boland Amendment, outlaws solicitation of 3rd-party countries to support the Contras, also bars use of funds available to CIA, defense, or intelligence agencies for “supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization or individual”
1987 – Tom McClean sets a 54 day,18 hour record rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean
1988 – U2 releases their album Rattle and Hum
1994 – Iraq announces its withdrawal from the Kuwaiti border. No pullback is observed
1995 – Gary Kasparov wins the World Chess Championship against Viswanathan Anand
2005 – Angela Merkel becomes Germany’s first female chancellor
2009 – Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich, Switzerland to open their borders
2017 – New Yorker magazine publishes allegations by 3 women that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein had raped them, and statements of 10 more women that Weinstein sexually assaulted or harassed them. Weinstein’s wife Georgina Chapman announced she is leaving him, calling his reported actions “unforgivable.” This followed after an October 5th report published in the New York Times, detailing allegations of decades of sexual harassment by Weinstein, including statements from actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd, and the October 8th firing of Weinstein by the board of his company
2019 – After a making a perfect 30-yard field goal and winning a year's worth of free food, a California teenager instantly donated the prize to her rival high school's football coach, recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. John Langilotti is the football coach at Bonita High School in La Verne, while Tiffany Gomez was a junior at Glendora High School, and a member of the Glendora girls’ soccer team. When the schools met for their annual football game, Gomez participated in a field goal contest during halftime. She won free food for a year from a local Chick-fil-A, but since her grandmother had cancer, she knew how hard it can hit a family, and chose to give Langilotti her prize. "For a young lady like her to come out and want to provide this generosity for a family in need just brought tears to my eyes and I was ever so grateful," Coach Langilotti said
Everybody have a Free-to-Be Friday
