Dessalines Day in Haiti (Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born September 20, 1758 in Guinea, the date and place of his assassination was October 17, 1806 in Port-au-Prince, Republic of Haiti. Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the founder of an independent Haitian state and was Haiti's first ruler and national hero)
In 2017 Qualcomm announces the first 5G mobile connection, which has a connection speed of 1 Gbit/s.
In 2016 a team at Australia's University of New South Wales create a new quantum bit that remains in a stable superposition for 10 times longer than previously achieved.
2001 – Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi becomes the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a terrorist attack.
1980 – As part of the Holy See–United Kingdom relations a British monarch makes the first state visit to the Vatican
1956 – Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer play a famous chess game called The Game of the Century. Fischer beat Byrne and wins a Brilliancy prize.
1956 – The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, in Cumbria, England.
1941 – World War II: a German submarine attacks an American ship for the first time in the war.
1933 – Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany and moves to the United States.
1912 – Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro in the First Balkan War.
1907 – Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland.
1888 – Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).
1860 – First The Open Championship (referred to in North America as the British Open).
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.
1558 – Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded.
Births
1984 – Luke Rockhold, American mixed martial artist. A two-time world champion, Rockhold also won the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship.
1984 – Randall Munroe, American author and illustrator. Randall Patrick Munroe (born October 17, 1984) is an American cartoonist, author, engineer, scientific theorist, and the creator of the webcomic xkcd.
1983 – Mitch Talbot, American baseball player. Talbot (born October 17, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.
1977 – Alimi Ballard, American actor and producer. Ballard recently starred in the ABC legal thriller, The Catch.
1977 – Bryan Bertino, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Bryan Michael Bertino (born October 17, 1977) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. best known as the writer/director of The Strangers (2008), as well as writing its 2018 sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night, with Ben Ketai.
1977 – Ryan McGinley, American photographer. In 2003, at the age of 25, he was one of the youngest artists to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
1975 – Francis Bouillon, American-Canadian ice hockey player. Francis Joseph Bouillon (born October 17, 1975) is an American-Canadian former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators.
1974 – John Rocker, American baseball player. John Loy Rocker (born October 17, 1974) is a retired American Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays as well as the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
1972 – Eminem, American rapper, producer, and actor. Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (/ˌɛmɪˈnɛm/; sometimes stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and record executive.
1972 – Joe McEwing, American baseball player, coach, and manager. Joseph Earl McEwing (born October 19, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player who spent most of his career with the New York Mets, where he played from 2000 through 2004.
1971 – Chris Kirkpatrick, American singer-songwriter and dancer. Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (born October 17, 1971) is an American singer, dancer, actor, and voice actor who is known for his work as a founding member of the pop group NSYNC, in which he sang countertenor.
1970 – Blues Saraceno, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Saraceno's high profile as a gifted guitar virtuoso and musician opened the doors to an early career as a first-call guitar sideman and session musician.
1970 – John Mabry, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster. He had 898 career hits in 3409 at-bats (for a batting average of .263), with 96 home runs and 446 RBI.
1969 – Wyclef Jean, Haitian-American rapper, producer, and actor. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees.
1966 – Danny Ferry, American basketball player and manager. He most recently served as interim general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.
1966 – Tommy Kendall, American race car driver and sportscaster. He is best known for his IMSA GT Championship and SCCA Trans-Am Series career.
1962 – Glenn Braggs, American baseball player. Glenn Erick Braggs (born October 17, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball outfielder and designated hitter.
1962 – Mike Judge, American animator, director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
1961 – David Means, American short story writer. They are frequently set in the Midwest or the Rust Belt, or along the Hudson River in New York.
1960 – Philippe Sands, American lawyer and academic. Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values. (2008)
1960 – Rob Marshall, American director, producer, and choreographer. A five-time Tony Award nominee, he also won a Primetime Emmy Award for his choreography in the television film Annie (1999).
1959 – Richard Roeper, American journalist and critic. He co-hosted the television series At the Movies with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, as Gene Siskel's successor.
1959 – Ron Drummond, American author and scholar. Drummond (b. 1959 in Seattle, Washington) is a writer, editor, and independent scholar.
1958 – Alan Jackson, American singer-songwriter. Jackson has recorded 16 studio albums, three greatest hits albums, two Christmas albums, and two gospel albums.
1958 – Howard Alden, American guitarist. Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California.
1957 – Lawrence Bender, American actor and producer. Throughout his career, Bender-produced films have received 36 Academy Award nominations, resulting in eight wins.
1957 – Steve McMichael, American football player, wrestler, and sportscaster. Stephen Douglas "Mongo" McMichael (born October 17, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), a former commentator and professional wrestler for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and former head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL).
1957 – Vincent Van Patten, American tennis player and actor. Vincent Van Patten (born October 17, 1957) is an American actor, former professional tennis player, and the commentator for the World Poker Tour.
1956 – Fran Cosmo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Francis Cosmo Migliaccio (born October 17, 1956), known as Fran Cosmo, is an American musician best known as a former lead singer of the band Boston and Orion the Hunter.
1956 – Mae Jemison, American physician, academic, and astronaut. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.
1956 – Pat McCrory, American businessman and politician, 74th Governor of North Carolina. Previously, he was the 53rd Mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009 and served on the United States Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2002 to 2006.
1956 – Stephen Palumbi, American academic and author. Palumbi (born: October 17, 1956, in Baltimore, MD) is the present Jane and Marshall Steel Jr.
1954 – Carlos Buhler, American mountaineer. Buhler's specialty is high-standard mountaineering characterized by small teams, no oxygen, minimal gear and equipment, and relatively low amounts of funding; yielding first ascents of difficult routes in challenging conditions, such as the Himalayan winter season.
1953 – Joseph Bowie, American trombonist and bandleader. The brother of trumpeter Lester Bowie, Joseph is known for leading the jazz-punk group Defunkt and for membership in the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.
1951 – Shari Ulrich, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and violinist. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays violin, mandolin, guitar, piano, and dulcimer.
1950 – Howard Rollins, American actor (d. 1996), was an American stage, film and television actor. Howard Rollins was best known for his role as Andrew Young in 1978's King, George Haley in the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the 1981 film Ragtime, Captain Davenport in the 1984 film A Soldier's Story, and as Virgil Tibbs on the TV crime drama In the Heat of the Night.
1948 – George Wendt, American actor and comedian. He has also appeared in films such as Fletch, Gung Ho, Dreamscape, House, Forever Young, Hostage for a Day, Man of the House and Lakeboat.
1948 – Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress, was a Canadian-American actress, director, and activist whose career spanned over five decades. Her accolades include three Canadian Screen Awards and one Daytime Emmy Award.
1948 – Robert Jordan, American soldier and author (d. 2007), was an American author of epic fantasy. He is best known for the Wheel of Time series, which was finished by Brandon Sanderson upon Jordan's death, which comprises 14 books and a prequel novel.
1947 – Gene Green, American lawyer and politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
1947 – Michael McKean, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director. Michael John McKean (born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, and musician, known for a variety of roles played since the 1970s.
1946 – Bob Seagren, American pole vaulter. Robert Seagren (born October 17, 1946) is a retired American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion.
1946 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (d. 2012), was a drummer for the band The Doobie Brothers.
1946 – Ronni Chasen, American publicist (d. 2010), was an American publicist, who once represented such actors as Michael Douglas, as well as musicians such as Hans Zimmer and Mark Isham, among others. Chasen directed the Academy Award campaigns for more than 100 films during her career, including Driving Miss Daisy in 1989 and The Hurt Locker in 2009.
1942 – Gary Puckett, American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist, was an American pop rock group active in the late 1960s. Their biggest hits were "Woman, Woman"; "Over You"; "Young Girl"; and "Lady Willpower." It was formed by Gary Puckett, Gary 'Mutha' Withem, Dwight Bement, Kerry Chater and Paul Wheatbread, who eventually named it The Union Gap.
1941 – Earl Thomas Conley, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist, was an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1980 and 2003, he recorded ten studio albums, including seven for RCA Records.
1941 – Jim Seals, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and violinist. Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene "Jim" Seals (born October 17, 1941) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1940).
1940 – Stephen Kovacevich, American pianist and conductor, was known as Stephen Bishop and then Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, is an American classical pianist and conductor.
1938 – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle rider and stuntman (d. 2007), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps.
1936 – Hiroo Kanamori, Japanese-American seismologist and academic. Hiroo Kanamori (金森 博雄, Kanamori Hiroo, born October 17, 1936) is a Japanese seismologist who has made fundamental contributions to understanding the physics of earthquakes and the tectonic processes that cause them.
1935 – Michael Eavis, English farmer, founded the Glastonbury Festival. Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis CBE (born 17 October 1935) is an English dairy farmer and the co-creator of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at his farm in Pilton, Somerset.
1934 – Rico Rodriguez, American trombonist (d. 2015). Rico Rodriguez is the name of:
1933 – William Anders, Hong Kong-American general and astronaut. William Alison Anders (born October 17, 1933) is a retired United States Air Force major general, former electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman.
1930 – Jimmy Breslin, American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York Daily News Sunday edition.
1926 – Beverly Garland, American actress (d. 2008). Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action or science-fiction movies.
1926 – Julie Adams, American actress, was an American actress, primarily known for her numerous television guest roles. She starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Bend of the River (1952) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
1924 – Don Coryell, American football player and coach (d. 2010), was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986.
1923 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004), was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Noted in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions.
1923 – Charles McClendon, American football player and coach (d. 2001). He served at the head coach at Louisiana State University from 1962 to 1979.
1922 – Pierre Juneau, Canadian broadcaster and politician, co-founded the Montreal World Film Festival (d. 2012), was a Canadian film and broadcast executive, a one-time member of the Canadian Cabinet, the first chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and subsequently president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is credited with the creation, promotion, and championing of Canadian content requirements for radio and television.
1921 – Priscilla Buckley, American journalist and author (d. 2012), was an American journalist and author who was the longtime managing editor of National Review.
1921 – Tom Poston, American actor and comedian (d. 2007), was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950.
1920 – Montgomery Clift, American actor (d. 1966). A four time Academy Award nominee, The New York Times said he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men".
1918 – Ralph Wilson, American businessman, founded the Buffalo Bills (d. 2014), was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL).
1918 – Rita Hayworth, American actress, singer and dancer (d. 1987), was an American actress and dancer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years.
1917 – Adele Stimmel Chase, American painter and sculptor (d. 2000), was an American artist who worked in ceramics, metal sculpture and painting.
1917 – Norman Leyden, American composer and conductor (d. 2014), was an American conductor, composer, arranger, and clarinetist. He worked in film and television and is perhaps best known as the conductor of the Oregon Symphony Pops orchestra.
1917 – Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian-American author and playwright (d. 1991), was an Australian (later American) novelist and playwright
1915 – Arthur Miller, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2005), was an American playwright, essayist, and a controversial figure in the twentieth-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953) and A View from the Bridge (1955, revised 1956).
1914 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator (d. 1996), was an American comic book writer. His most famous creation was Superman, which he created in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster.
1912 – Theodore Marier, American composer and educator, founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (d. 2001), was a church musician, educator, arranger and scholar of Gregorian Chant. He founded St.
1910 – Ester Wier, American author (d. 2000), was an American writer.
1909 – Cozy Cole, American drummer (d. 1981), was an American jazz drummer who had hits with the songs "Topsy I" and "Topsy II". "Topsy II" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at No. 1 on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
1908 – Red Rolfe, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1969), was an American third baseman, manager and front-office executive in Major League Baseball. A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Rolfe also was an Ivy Leaguer: a graduate, then long-time athletic director of Dartmouth College, and (from 1943–46) baseball and basketball coach at Yale University.
1906 – Paul Derringer, American baseball player (d. 1987), was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three National League teams from 1931 to 1945, primarily the Cincinnati Reds.
1903 – Nathanael West, American author and screenwriter (d. 1940). He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust (1939), set respectively in the newspaper and Hollywood film industries.
1902 – Irene Ryan, American actress (d. 1973), was an American actress who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway.
1900 – Jean Arthur, American actress (d. 1991), was an American actress and a film star of the 1930s and 1940s.
1886 – Spring Byington, American actress (d. 1971). Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride.
1865 – James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1950), was an American politician and lawyer. Garfield was a son of President James A.
1859 – Childe Hassam, American painter and illustrator (d. 1935), was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums.
1845 – John J. Gardner, American politician (d. 1921), was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1893 to 1913, and was Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
1811 – Albertus van Raalte, Dutch-American pastor and educator (d. 1876), was a 19th-century Dutch Reformed clergyman. Van Raalte was first ordained in the Secession Church in 1836, before moving to the United States, and was eventually ordained in the Reformed Church in America.
1711 – Jupiter Hammon, American poet (d. 1806), was the first by an African American in North America. He published both poetry and prose after that.
503 – Lý Nam Đế, first emperor of Vietnam (d. 548), was a Vietnamese monarch and the founder of Vạn Xuân. ruling between 544-8 and the founder of the Early Lý Dynasty.
Deaths
2015 – Tom Smith, American businessman and politician (b. 1947)
2014 – Berndt von Staden, German diplomat, German Ambassador to the United States (b. 1919)
2014 – Edwards Barham, American farmer and politician (b. 1937)
2014 – Tom Shaw, American bishop (b. 1945)
2013 – Lou Scheimer, American animator, producer, and voice actor, co-founded the Filmation Company (b. 1928)
2013 – Mother Antonia, American-Mexican nun and activist (b. 1926)
2013 – Rene Simpson, Canadian-American tennis player (b. 1966)
2012 – Henry Friedlander, German-American historian and author (b. 1930)
2012 – Stanford R. Ovshinsky, American scientist and businessman, co-founded Energy Conversion Devices (b. 1922)
2009 – Norma Fox Mazer, American author and educator (b. 1931)
2009 – Vic Mizzy, American composer (b. 1916)
2008 – Ben Weider, Canadian businessman, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (b. 1923)
2008 – Levi Stubbs, American singer (b. 1936)
2007 – Joey Bishop, American actor and talk show host (b. 1918)
2007 – Suzy Covey, American scholar and academic (b. 1939)
2007 – Teresa Brewer, American singer (b. 1931)
2006 – Christopher Glenn, American journalist (b. 1938)
2001 – Jay Livingston, American singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
2000 – Leo Nomellini, Italian-American football player and wrestler (b. 1924)
1999 – Nicholas Metropolis, Greek-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1915)
1997 – Larry Jennings, American magician and author (b. 1933)
1993 – Criss Oliva, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1963)
1991 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer and actor (b. 1919)
1979 – S. J. Perelman, American humorist and screenwriter (b. 1904)
1970 – Quincy Wright, American political scientist and academic (b. 1890)
1970 – Vola Vale, American actress (b. 1897)
1966 – Sidney Hatch, American runner and soldier (b. 1883)
1965 – Bart King, American cricketer (b. 1873)
1958 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (b. 1896)
1948 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (b. 1869)
1910 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (b. 1819)
Remind me of this day
