October 17
Gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000 to signal the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s. – 1931.
Olympic Gold Medal winner Tommie Smith and Bronze Medal winner John Carlos are forced to return their awards because they raised their fists in a black-power salute during the medal ceremony at the Summer Olympics. – 1968.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) prohibits any nation that had supported Israel in its Yom Kippur War from buying any of the oil it sells. The ensuing energy crisis marked the end of the era of cheap gasoline, which went from 38¢ per gallon to 84¢ per gallon in the U.S. by March 1974, and caused the share value of the New York Stock Exchange to drop by $97 billion. In turn, it ushered in a bad recession in the United States. – 1973.
October 18
The U.S. formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than 2¢ an acre. The Alaska purchase comprised 586,412 square miles, about twice the size of Texas. – 1867.
Only one year after Spain granted Puerto Rico self-rule, American troops raise the U.S. flag over the Caribbean nation to formalize U.S. authority over the island’s one million inhabitants. – 1898.
October 19
Hopelessly trapped in Yorktown, Va., British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, to effectively bring an end to the American Revolution. – 1781.
One month after Napoleon Bonaparte’s massive invading force enters a burning and deserted Moscow, the starving French army is forced to begin a hasty retreat out of Russia. Napoleon’s army of 500,000 suffers a loss of more than 400,000 men during the disastrous invasion. – 1812.
October 20
The notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in Washington, D.C., when a congressional committee begins investigating communist influence in one of the world’s richest and most glamorous communities: Hollywood. – 1947.
After 15 years of construction, the Sydney Opera House is dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II. The $80 million structure, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon was built on Bennelong Point, in Sydney, Australia. Famous for its geometric roof shells, the structure contains several large auditoriums and presents an average of 3,000 events a year to an estimated two million individuals. -1973.
Moammar Gadhafi, the longest-serving leader in Africa and the Arab world, is captured and killed by rebel forces near his hometown of Sirte. The eccentric 69-year-old dictator, who came to power in a 1969 coup, led a government that was accused of numerous human rights violations against its own people and was linked to terrorist attacks, including the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. – 2011.
October 21
Approximately 100,000 demonstrators, including radicals, liberals, black nationalists, hippies, professors, women’s groups, and war veterans, rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and march on the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. – 1967.
October 22
In a televised speech of extraordinary gravity, U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces that U.S. spy planes have discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. These missile sites, under construction, but nearing completion, housed medium-range missiles capable of striking a number of major cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C.. – 1962.
The first parachute jump of note is made by André-Jacques Garnerin from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet above Paris. – 1797.
October 23
A suicide bomber drives a truck filled with 2,000 pounds of explosives into a U.S. Marine Corps barracks at the Beirut International Airport. The explosion kills 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers. A few minutes after that bomb went off, a second bomber drives into the basement of the nearby French paratroopers’ barracks and kills 58 more military members. President Ronald Reagan pulled troops out of Lebanon. – 1983.
Postal workers Joseph Cursseen and Thomas Morris die after inhaling anthrax at the Brentwood mail sorting center in Washington, D.C.. Other postal workers are made ill. Letters containing the deadly spores had been addressed to U.S. Senate offices and media outlets. – 2001.