On This Day
Discover the events and people that shaped this day in history.
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1415
611 years agoHenry V’s exhausted English army defeated a larger French force near Azincourt in northern France. Mud, a narrow battlefield and massed longbowmen helped turn 25 October 1415 into one of the best-known battles of the Hundred Years’ War.
George III acceded to the British throne after the death of his grandfather George II. The 22-year-old monarch began a reign that would span nearly six decades and include the American Revolution, wars with France and major changes in British political life.
During the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, British light cavalry charged Russian guns after confused orders were misunderstood. The attack became famous for the courage of the horsemen, the heavy losses and the command failure behind it.
A powerful Japanese surface force surprised the much smaller U.S. escort-carrier group “Taffy 3” off Samar. Destroyers, destroyer escorts and carrier aircraft fought desperately until the Japanese force withdrew, making the action one of the dramatic episodes of Leyte Gulf.
At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. ambassador Adlai Stevenson challenged Soviet ambassador Valerian Zorin in the Security Council and presented aerial photographs as evidence of Soviet missile sites in Cuba. The confrontation became a defining public moment of the crisis.
The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 by 76 votes to 35, with 17 abstentions. It restored the People’s Republic of China’s rights at the United Nations, recognized its representatives as China’s lawful representatives and removed Chiang Kai-shek’s representatives.
U.S. and Caribbean forces landed on Grenada after a violent political crisis and the killing of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. American Rangers parachuted near Point Salines as the multinational intervention began, encountering stronger resistance and coordination problems than planners expected.
1825201 years ago
Austrian composer and conductor known as the “Waltz King,” creator of The Blue Danube, Die Fledermaus and hundreds of works that helped define the sound of nineteenth-century Vienna.
1838188 years ago
French composer best known for Carmen, whose vivid melodies and dramatic realism became central to the operatic repertory after his early death at the age of 36.
1881145 years ago
Spanish painter, sculptor and printmaker whose experiments with form helped create Cubism and transformed modern art. His career ranged from the Blue and Rose periods to Guernica and decades of restless reinvention.
197155 years ago
Dominican pitcher and three-time Cy Young Award winner whose combination of velocity, changeup and command made him one of baseball’s dominant pitchers around the turn of the twenty-first century. He entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jump to an event by selecting a point on the timeline.
Henry V wins the Battle of Agincourt
George III becomes king of Great Britain
The Charge of the Light Brigade takes place at Balaklava
The Battle off Samar erupts during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Adlai Stevenson confronts Valerian Zorin at the United Nations
UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 2758 on China’s representation
Operation Urgent Fury begins in Grenada
Johann Strauss II
Georges Bizet
Pablo Picasso
Pedro Martínez
