What Happened in October?

Guglielmo Marconi's company launched the first commercial transatlantic wireless service making long-distance communication faster and more accessible and breaking the monopoly of the undersea cable companies. The service connected Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and Clifden, Ireland and transmitted messages as "Marconigrams" using Morse code. Expand +

Henry Ford introduces the Model T automobile to the market, revolutionizing the automotive industry. More

The dual Kingdome of Austria - Hungary announces the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provinces in the Balkan region of Europe formerly under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Intended as a catalyst for domestic policy, it proved to be a fateful move. More

Theodore Roosevelt is shot at a hotel in Milwaukee as he was about to start a campaign speech for a third term. The bullet penetrated Roosevelt’s heavy overcoat and ripped through the right side of his chest. Inside the breast pocket were two items that absorbed the impact and undoubtedly saved Roosevelt’s life.  Expand +

The First Balkan War breaks out as Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece declare war on the Ottoman Empire, following Montenegro which had declared war on the Ottoman Empire on October 12, 1912. More

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov issues a statement announcing Bulgaria's entrance into the First World War on the side of the Central Powers. More

The War Revenue Act of 1917 is enacted to fund the US participation in World War I. It dramatically increased federal income tax rates and significantly expanded the number of Americans paying income tax by lowering tax exemptions and increasing tax rates.  Expand +

Mata Hari is executed by the French on charges of spying for Germany during World War I. She was a dancer and courtesan whose name has become a synonym for the seductive female spy. She performed all over Europe telling the story that she was born in a sacred Indian temple and taught ancient dances by a priestess who gave her the name Mata Hari. Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, née Zelle was actually born in the Netherlands. The nature and extent of her espionage activities remain uncertain, and her guilt widely contested. More

The October Revolution in Russia begins as the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, seizes power in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) where the Bolsheviks launched a nearly bloodless coup against the Provisional Government and eventually formed a new government with Lenin at its head.

Brazil declares war on the German Empire. Brazil had pursued a policy of neutrality in the initial years of the war . In the course of the war, public opinion was on the side of the Allies. Only a few intellectuals declared their solidarity with the German Empire along with the majority of the descendants of German immigrants. On April of 1917 the Brazilian freighter Paraná was sank by Germany followed by three other Brazilian ships being torpedoed. More

German Chancellor Max von Baden, sends a telegraph message to President Woodrow Wilson requesting an armistice between Germany and the Allied powers in World War I. a few days later, Wilson responded to Baden’s armistice request (and a subsequent German communiqué on October 12) with a note that quickly deflated German expectations.

Minnesota's Moose Lake and Cloquet Fires. Originally started miles away a couple of days earlier by a spark from a passing train during an extreme dry season. Over 1000 people lost their lives, thirty-eight communities were destroyed, 250,000 acres were burned, causing and economic loss of $73 million (over a billion in today's economy). More

The Cech Republic Independence Day. Commemorates the Independence declaration by the Czechoslovak National Council.

The Armistice of Mudros is signed on the British battleship HMS Agamemnon in the port of Mudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos. The armistice, between the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain, representing the Allied powers, brought an end to the Turkish Army’s participation in the war. More

President Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke that left him incapacitated until the end of his presidential term in 1921. His wife and his physician controlled Wilson, and no significant decisions were made. Meanwhile, his policies alienated German- and Irish-American Democrats and the Republicans won a landslide in the 1920 election. M ore

Congress passed the Volstead Act providing for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified nine months earlier. Known as the Prohibition Amendment, it prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” in the United States. More

Scientific American reports that radio will soon be used to transmit music to the home. More

King Alexander of Greece, dies from sepsis after developing infections from being bitten by a pet monkey about three weeks before. He had been walking through the grounds of the Tatoi estate.  Expand +

In the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne, U.S. Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger, a decorated World War I veteran, selects the "Unknown Soldier" to be interred in the planned Tomb at Arlington National Cemetery, by laying a spray of white roses upon one of four caskets. The following day, the Unknown Soldier’s casket departed from the port of Le Havre on board the USS Olympia.  Expand +

Benito Mussolini becomes Prime Minister of Italy on October 31, 1922, as King Victor Emmanuel III appoints him following the "March on Rome" by his Black-shirt paramilitary forces.  Expand +