• 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina.
• 1468 - Liège is sacked by Charles I of Burgundy's troops.
• 1493 - Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.
• 1783 - John Austin, a highwayman, is the last to be publicly hanged at London's Tyburn gallows.
• 1783 - The American Continental Army is disbanded.
• 1793 - French playwright, journalist and feminist Olympe de Gouges is guillotined.
• 1812 - Napoleonic armies defeated at Vyazma
• 1817 - The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec.
• 1838 - The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
• 1848 - A greatly revised constitution, drafted by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke, severely limiting the powers of the Dutch monarchy, and strengthening the powers of the parliament and the ministers, is proclaimed. This constitution is still in effect today.
• 1856 - A British fleet bombs Canton.
• 1883 - American Old West: Self-described "Black Bart the poet" gets away with his last stagecoach robbery, but leaves an incriminating clue that eventually leads to his capture.
• 1903 - With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent from Colombia. US President Theodore Roosevelt had wanted the United States to build the Panama Canal, but wasn't willing to pay what Colombia asked.
• 1905 - Csar Nicholas II of Russia signs a document of amnesty for the political prisoners.
• 1911 - Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T.
• 1913 - The USA introduces an income tax.
• 1918 - Austria-Hungary enters into an armistice with the World War I Allies, and the Habsburg-ruled empire dissolves.
• 1918 - Poland declares its independence from Russia.
• 1930 - Getúlio Dornelles Vargas became Head of the Provisional Government in Brazil after a bloodless coup on October 24.
• 1935 - George II of Greece regains his throne through a popular plebiscite.
• 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein ends - German forces under Erwin Rommel are forced to retreat during the night.
• 1942 - The Koli Point action begins during the Guadalcanal Campaign and ends on November 12.
• 1942 - The city of Kisarazu in founded in Chiba, Japan.
• 1943 - World War II: 500 aircraft of the U.S. 8th Air Force devastate Wilhelmshafen harbor in Germany.
• 1944 - World War II: Two supreme commanders of the Slovak National Uprising, Generals Ján Golian and Rudolf Viest are captured, tortured and later executed by German forces.
• 1957 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit: a dog named Laika.
• 1964 - Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
• 1967 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dak To begins.
• 1969 - Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon addresses the nation on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to support his policies.
• 1973 - Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury, on March 29, 1974, becoming the first space probe to reach that planet.
• 1978 - Dominica gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1979 - Greensboro massacre: Five members of the Communist Workers Party are shot dead and seven are wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a "Death to the Klan" rally.
• 1982 - The Salang tunnel fire in Afghanistan kills up to 2,000+ people.
• 1986 - Iran-Contra Affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
• 1986 - The Federated States of Micronesia become independent from the United States of America.
• 1988 - Sri Lankan Tamil mercenaries try to overthrow the Maldivian government. At President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's request, the Indian military suppresses the coup attempt within 24 hours.

Births