331 BC -Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela
1553 – With her coronation, Mary I became the first queen to rule England in her own right; she was later nicknamed “Bloody Mary” because of her persecution of Protestants in a vain attempt to restore Roman Catholicism in the country.
1688 – Prince Willem III of Orange accepts invitation of take up the British crown
1814 – Opening of the Congress of Vienna, which redrew Europe’s political map after the defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte
1867 – Karl Marx’ “Das Kapital” published
1908 – Henry Ford introduces the Model T car (costs $825)
1936 – Francisco Franco became head of the new Nationalist regime of Spain at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
1949 – In Beijing, with most of the Chinese mainland held by the communist People’s Liberation Army, its dynamic leader, Mao Zedong, proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on this day in 1949.
1960 – Nigeria gained its independence from Britain but remained a member of the Commonwealth
1988 – Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, effectively head of state of the Soviet Union
1994 – The Republic of Palau officially became a sovereign state.
1998 – Vladimir Putin became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
2005 – Bombing kills 23 people in Bali.
2017 – Amid a deepening constitutional crisis, Catalonia holds an independence referendum on seceding from Spain
2017 – Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is released from Nevada’s Lovelock Prison after less than 9 years of detention of his 33 year sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping
2017 – From his hotel room in Las Vegas, 64-year-old gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds before taking his own life; it surpassed the Orlando shooting (2016) as the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Film & TV:
1968 – Cult zombie film “Night of the Living Dead” directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones and Judith O’Dea premieres in Pittsburgh
Music:
1982 – Marvin Gaye releases his last studio album “Midnight Love” featuring single “Sexual Healing”
Sport:
1950 – Connie Mack’s last game as Philadelphia Athletics manager (1901-50); longest serving manager in MLB history; beat Washington Senators, 5-3 at Shribe Park
1975 – “The Thrilla in Manila”; Muhammad Ali stops Joe Frazier in 14 rounds in Quezon City, the Philippines to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight title 1977 Brazilian soccer great Pelé plays his final game for the New York Cosmos in an exhibition against Santos in front of 75,000 at Giants Stadium; 1,281 goals in 1,363 games
