Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow. It is estimated that of the 612,000 combatants who entered Russia only 112,000 returned to the frontier; 100,000 are thought to have been killed in action, 200,000 died from other causes, 50,000 were left sick in hospitals, 50,000 deserted, and 100,000 were been taken as prisoners of war. Russian casualties have been estimated at 200,000 killed. More
The Battle of the Thames is fought on October 5, 1813 in present-day Ontario, Canada during the War of 1812. It was a decisive victory for the American forces under Major General William Henry Harrison defeating the British regulars and Native American warriors, led by Major General Henry Procter and Shawnee Chief Tecumseh.
The loss was a major setback for the British, with hundreds of troops captured. The British lines, were already weakened by a lack of supplies and low morale after the naval loss at Lake Erie. Chief Tecumseh died in the battle leading to the disintegration of his Native American confederacy. The battle is also known as the Battle of Moraviantown.
The three- day Battle of Leipzig fought at Leipzig, Saxony from from October 16 to October 19, 1813 begins. The Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was decisively defeated by the Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia.
It was the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, involving over 550,000 soldiers. Napoleon, was forced to return to France as the Coalition forces continue their advance and invade France early the following year. Napoleon was forced to abdicate, as the treaty of Fontainebleau is signed on April 11, 1814. Napoleon arrived on Elba on May 4, 1814 to start his exile3 and remained there for about nine months before escaping in February 1815 to return to France for the "Hundred Days".
Mexico officially becomes a republic as the Plan of Iguala is accepted, ending Spanish rule and establishing Mexican independence.
The Erie Canal opens providing overland water transportation between the Hudson River on the east and Lake Erie at the western end. Popularly known as “Clinton’s Folly,” the eight-year construction project was the vision of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. More
The first commercial freight train, the "Granite Railway", begins operation in the United States on October 7, 1826 in Quincy, Massachusetts. The train had horse-drawn wagons on wooden rails to haul granite from quarries for the Bunker Hill Monument.
The Naval Battle of Navarino takes place, during which combined British, French, and Russian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire's fleet during the Greek War of Independence. The decisive battle effectively ended Ottoman naval power, leading to the independence of Greece and the rise of European nationalism.
The Texas Revolution begins with the Battle of Gonzales, a confrontation between Texian settlers and Mexican soldiers.
Sir James Young Simpson discovers the anesthetic properties of chloroform, revolutionizing surgery and pain management.
The Donner Party, a group of American pioneers led by captain, George Donner traveling from the Midwest to California became stranded around October 31, 1846 in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) by a severe early winter storm and were totally snowbound by early November. They had taken a perilous "shortcut" known now as the Hastings Cutoff.
Reportedly, the extreme conditions led to cannibalism among those who survived when food ran out. It was the worst disaster of the overland migration to California. Donner Lake and Donner Pass in California, are named for the group. Forty of the 87 who began the trek died from starvation-related causes. The survivors were not rescued until the spring of 1847. More
The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead, England, destroys a large portion of both towns. More
The Charge of the Light Brigade takes place during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in the loss of the Light Brigade, one of Britain’s most spectacular military disasters. It was memorialized by Alfred Lord Tennyson’s popular poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, written just a few weeks after the battle. More
The Second Opium War between Britain and France against China begins with the Battle of Canton.
John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group of his supporters start their march toward the town of Harpers Ferry. In the early hours of October 17, they capture local residents and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown was captured two days later and quickly placed on trial and charged with treason against the state of Virginia, murder, and slave insurrection. Brown was sentenced to death for his crimes and hanged on December 2, 1859. More
The Royal Charter storm, also known as the Great storm of 1859, hits the coast line of England and Whales on October 26, 1859, sinking over 130 ships and severely damaging another 90, along the coast, resulting in the loss of around 800 lives.
During the Second Opium War, The British High Commissioner to China, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, orders the complete destruction of the Old Summer Palace in retaliation for the imprisonment and torture of several Anglo-French delegation members by the Qing government, with several of them being killed.
The French and British troops had captured the palace days earlier and had looted and destroyed the imperial collections. The destruction of the Peking’s Summer Palace has been considered criminal and barbaric by many Chinese and remains a a very sensitive issue in China today. More
The Second Opium War ends with the signing of the Convention of Peking. The Beijing Convention consists of three individual treaties signed by China, with Great Britain (October 24), France (October 25), and Russia (November 14). More
The first transcontinental telegraph system is completed by Western Union, making it possible to transmit messages rapidly from coast to coast. This technological advance, pioneered by inventor Samuel F. B. Morse, heralded the end of the Pony Express. More
The Pony Express, the horseback mail service that had provided the fastest means of communication between the eastern and western United States officially closes, after only one and one-half years of service, two days after the first Transcontinental Telegraph line is inaugurated.
The nearly 2,000-mile route, using a continuous relay of the best riders and horses, from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, averaged ten days, while winter deliveries required twelve to sixteen days, approximately half the time needed by stagecoach. More
President Abraham Lincoln encourages Americans to recognize the last Thursday of November as “a day of Thanksgiving. More
