| 1813 |
Composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole, Italy. |
| 1845 |
The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Md. |
| 1886 |
The tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. |
| 1911 |
Revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China’s Manchu dynasty. |
| 1935 |
George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess,” featuring an all-black cast, opened on Broadway. |
| 1943 |
Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China. |
| 1964 |
The 18th Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo. |
| 1966 |
The Beach Boys released the single “Good Vibrations.” |
| 1970 |
Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule. |
| 1979 |
Hockey Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers. |
| 1985 |
U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. |
| 2002 |
The House voted 296-133 to give President George W. Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq. (The Senate followed suit the next day.) |
| 2005 |
Angela Merkel became Germany’s first female chancellor and its first leader from the former Communist east. |
| 2008 |
Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to marry. |
| 1941 |
Peter Coyote, Actor, turns 71 |
| 1946 |
John Prine, Rock, country singer, turns 66 |
| 1946 |
Ben Vereen, Actor, dancer, turns 66 |
| 1950 |
Nora Roberts, Author, turns 62 |
| 1958 |
Tanya Tucker, Country singer, turns 54 |
| 1959 |
Julia Sweeney, Actress, comedian (“Saturday Night Live”), turns 53 |
| 1959 |
Bradley Whitford, Actor (“The West Wing”), turns 53 |
| 1965 |
Rebecca Pidgeon, Actress, turns 47 |
| 1969 |
Brett Favre, Football player, turns 43 |
| 1973 |
Mario Lopez, Actor, turns 39 |
| 1979 |
Mya, R&B singer, turns 33 |
| 1982 |
Dan Stevens, Actor (“Downtown Abbey”), turns 30 |
| 1984 |
Troy Tulowitzki, Baseball player, turns 28 |
| 1989 |
Aimee Teegarden, Actress (“Friday Night Lights”), turns 23 |
| 36 |
Jean-Antoine Watteau 10/10/1684 – 7/18/1721
French painter |
| 78 |
Henry Cavendish 10/10/1731 – 2/24/1810
American chemist |
| 82 |
Benjamin West 10/10/1738 – 3/11/1820
American painter |
| 71 |
Benjamin Wright 10/10/1770 – 8/24/1842
American engineer; directed construction of Erie Canal |
| 87 |
Giuseppe Verdi 10/10/1813 – 1/27/1901
Italian operatic composer |
| 73 |
Queen Isabella II 10/10/1830 – 4/9/1904
Spanish queen (1833-68) |
| 64 |
Maurice Prendergast 10/10/1859 – 2/1/1924
American-born Canadian painter |
| 92 |
Helen Hayes 10/10/1900 – 3/17/1993
American actress |
| 64 |
Alberto Giacometti 10/10/1901 – 1/11/1966
Swiss sculptor |
| 86 |
Frederick Douglass Patterson 10/10/1901 – 4/26/1988
American educator; president of Tuskegee Institute (1935-53) and founder of United Negro College Fund |
Thelonious Monk 10/10/1917 – 2/17/1982 American jazz pianist and composer.
