Oct 23- 1915: Women’s Suffrage March on Fifth Avenue in New York City draws more than 25,000 marchers. 1941: Walt Disney’s “Dumbo” is released in American theaters. 1977: Paleontologist Dr. Elso Barghoorn reports finding plant fossils in rocks from South Africa dating back 3.4 billion years, pushing back the oldest discovered fossils by one billion years. His discovery remains among the oldest life forms ever discovered. 1981: The Treasury Department announces that the US national debt had reached $1 trillion. (The news was doubtless not met with great enthusiasm or celebration).

Oct 24-1861: The first transcontinental telegraph line is completed in Salt Lake City, UT, allowing nationwide communication by telegram and making the 19-month-old Pony Express obsolete. It closed two days later! 1901: School teacher Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, accompanied by her cat on her 63rd birthday. Her hopes for fame and riches did not materialize however, and she died penniless in 1921; her funeral was paid for by public donations. 1931: Infamous gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for income tax evasion. 2008: World stock markets collapse on “Bloody Friday,” ushering in the “Great Recession” in the US.

Oct 25- 1854: The charge of the light brigade, immortalized by poet Alfred Tennyson, takes place at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. 1944: Japan undertakes the first planned kamikaze (“divine wind”) attack, sinking the USS St. Lo carrier, killing over 100 American sailors. 1971: The United Nations expels Taiwan and admits the Peoples Republic of China into membership. 1978: Actress Jamie Lee Curtis makes her film debut as the movie “Halloween” opens in US theaters.

Oct 26- 1776: Benjamin Franklin sets sail for France, asked to negotiate a formal alliance in support of the colonists’ revolution against Great Britain. While France had been quietly supporting the rebellion, they feared backing a losing effort and becoming a target of British anger. But the patient Ambassador Franklin remained active and involved with French officials, finally winning a treaty of alliance February 6, 1778. 1863: An international conference opens in Geneva, Switzerland, seeking ways to improve medical conditions on the world’s battlefields. It would lead to establishment of the Red Cross. 1881: The Gunfight at the OK Corral takes place in Tombstone, AZ as lawmen Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday shoot and kill three suspected horse thieves, known as “cowboys.” 1977: The last natural case of smallpox is identified in Somalia, and the date is celebrated as the eradication of the disease and the success of vaccinations. 1984: “The Terminator,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger debuts in American theaters. (And his memorable “I’ll be back” line proved to be prescient as he appeared in the film’s five sequels!).

Oct 27- 1904: The first section of the New York subway system opens from lower Manhattan to Broadway Harlem. The fare? 5¢. 1938: DuPont de Nemours, Inc. announces that its newly invented synthetic polyamide fiber would be called “nylon.” (Much catchier than “synthetic polyamide fiber.) 1964: Songwriter Salvatore “Sonny” Bono marries backup singer Cherilyn Sarkisian, better known as “Cher,” in Tijuana, Mexico. 1982: China announces that its population had reached one billion people. 2019: Tiger Woods wins his 82nd PGA tournament, tying the career record for victories held by Sam Snead.

Oct 28- 1492: Christopher Columbus sights the island of modern-day Cuba, claiming it for Spain and naming it “Juana.” 1831: Michael Faraday, widely regarded as the “Father of Electricity,” demonstrates his newly invented dynamo. 1886: The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in NY Harbor with President Grover Cleveland in attendance. The milestone is further celebrated by the city’s first ticker-tape parade. 1919: The Volstead Act is adopted by Congress, overriding the veto of President Woodrow Wilson, paving the way for implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment and prohibition on January 1, 1920. 2022: Football quarterback Tom Brady and fashion model Gisele Bündchen announce their divorce after 13 years of marriage.

Oct 29- 1929: The US stock market crashes on “Black Tuesday,” historically marking the beginning of the worldwide Great Depression. 1960: Boxer Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammed Ali) wins his first professional fight, outpointing Tunney Hunsaker in six rounds in Louisville, KY. 2015: The People’s Republic of China announces the end of their “one-child” policy that had been in place for 35 years.