Today
1787
Today in History
Thomas Stone dies
Thomas Stone died on October 5, 1787. Thomas Stone was an American Founding Father, planter, politician, and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland. As one of Maryland's delegates, Thomas helped tie Maryland to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and to the new republican order that followed.
View the related personDaily moments from the American past
Browse the archive by month to see the people, decisions, and documents tied to each date.
Archive month
October
31 entries
October 1, 1741
Thomas Fitzsimons is born
Thomas Fitzsimons was born on October 1, 1741. Thomas Fitzsimons was an Irish-born American Founding Father, merchant, banker, and politician. As one of Pennsylvania's delegates at Philadelphia, Thomas helped move Pennsylvania into the ratification struggle that created the new federal government in 1787 and 1788.
View the related personOctober 2, 1803
Samuel Adams dies
Samuel Adams died on October 2, 1803. Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father. Samuel Adams helped build the Committees of Correspondence and the machinery of organized resistance in Massachusetts.
View the related personOctober 3, 1967
Woody Guthrie dies
Woody Guthrie died on October 3, 1967. Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered one of the most significant figures in American folk music. Guthrie's songs, especially "This Land Is Your Land," became part of the American folk canon and the language of working-class protest.
View the related personOctober 4, 1822
Rutherford B. Hayes is born
Rutherford B. Hayes was born on October 4, 1822. Hayes entered office through the disputed election of 1876 and the Electoral Commission settlement that followed.
View the related personOctober 5, 1787
Thomas Stone dies
Thomas Stone died on October 5, 1787. Thomas Stone was an American Founding Father, planter, politician, and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate for Maryland. As one of Maryland's delegates, Thomas helped tie Maryland to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and to the new republican order that followed.
View the related personOctober 6, 1780
Battle of Kings Mountain
On October 6, 1780, patriot militia defeated a Loyalist force at Kings Mountain on the North Carolina-South Carolina frontier. The victory disrupted British hopes of consolidating backcountry support in the South. It became a major turning point that encouraged the American recovery in the southern campaign.
October 7, 1777
American victory at Saratoga
On October 7, 1777, American forces won the decisive second battle of Saratoga at Bemis Heights. Horatio Gates's army, with crucial fighting by men under Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan, forced John Burgoyne into an impossible position. The victory convinced France that the American cause could succeed and brought the alliance the Revolution needed.
View the related eventOctober 8, 1793
John Hancock dies
John Hancock died on October 8, 1793. John Hancock was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. As one of Massachusetts's delegates, John Hancock helped tie Massachusetts to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and to the new republican order that followed.
View the related personOctober 9, 1824
Jonathan Dayton dies
Jonathan Dayton died on October 9, 1824. Jonathan Dayton was an American Founding Father and politician from New Jersey. As one of New Jersey's delegates at Philadelphia, Jonathan helped move New Jersey into the ratification struggle that created the new federal government in 1787 and 1788.
View the related personOctober 10, 1797
Carter Braxton dies
Carter Braxton died on October 10, 1797. Carter Braxton was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Declaration of Independence, merchant, and Virginia planter. As one of Virginia's delegates, Carter helped tie Virginia to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and to the new republican order that followed.
View the related personOctober 11, 1809
Meriwether Lewis dies
Meriwether Lewis died on October 11, 1809. Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark. Lewis helped lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific, gathering maps, scientific observations, and diplomatic contacts along the way.
View the related personOctober 12, 1870
Robert E. Lee dies
On October 12, 1870, Robert E. Lee died. Lee had commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and became the Confederacy's most prominent general during the Civil War. His military record remained central to later memory battles over the Confederacy and the meaning of Union victory.
View the related personOctober 13, 1925
Margaret Thatcher is born
Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925. Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. Thatcher's partnership with Ronald Reagan linked British and American conservatism during the late Cold War.
View the related personOctober 14, 1890
Dwight D. Eisenhower is born
Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created the interstate highway system.
View the related personOctober 15, 1883
Supreme Court decides the Civil Rights Cases
On October 15, 1883, the Supreme Court struck down key parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in the Civil Rights Cases. The justices held that the Fourteenth Amendment limited state action but did not let Congress ban private discrimination in public accommodations. The ruling weakened Reconstruction's promise and narrowed federal protection of civil rights for generations.
October 16, 1760
Jonathan Dayton is born
Jonathan Dayton was born on October 16, 1760. Jonathan Dayton was an American Founding Father and politician from New Jersey. As one of New Jersey's delegates at Philadelphia, Jonathan helped move New Jersey into the ratification struggle that created the new federal government in 1787 and 1788.
View the related personOctober 17, 1752
Jacob Broom is born
Jacob Broom was born on October 17, 1752. Jacob Broom was an American Founding Father, businessman, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. As one of Delaware's delegates at Philadelphia, Jacob helped move Delaware into the ratification struggle that created the new federal government in 1787 and 1788.
View the related personOctober 18, 2021
Colin Powell dies
Colin Powell died on October 18, 2021. Colin Luther Powell was an American Army general, diplomat, and statesman who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005 and was the highest-ranking Black American in the federal executive branch in American history until the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008. Powell's leadership in the 1991 Gulf War and his later articulation of the Powell Doctrine shaped how Americans thought about force, coalition warfare, and limited objectives.
View the related personOctober 19, 1790
Lyman Hall dies
Lyman Hall died on October 19, 1790. Lyman Hall was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. As one of Georgia's delegates, Lyman helped tie Georgia to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and to the new republican order that followed.
View the related personOctober 20, 1964
Herbert Hoover dies
Herbert Hoover died on October 20, 1964. Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. Hoover created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932, an institution later expanded during the New Deal.
View the related personOctober 21, 1797
USS Constitution is launched
On October 21, 1797, the frigate USS Constitution was launched in Boston. Built under the Naval Act of 1794, the ship represented the young republic's commitment to defend its commerce and sovereignty at sea. Constitution later became one of the most celebrated symbols of American naval power.
October 22, 1836
Sam Houston is inaugurated as president of the Republic of Texas
On October 22, 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first elected president of the Republic of Texas. The new republic still faced war danger, diplomatic uncertainty, and the problem of long-term political stability. Houston's government helped move Texas from battlefield revolution toward organized state power.
October 23, 1799
William Paca dies
William Paca died on October 23, 1799. William Paca was a Founding Father of the United States who was a signatory to the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence. As one of Maryland's delegates, William helped tie Maryland to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and to the new republican order that followed.
View the related personOctober 24, 1749
Jared Ingersoll is born
Jared Ingersoll was born on October 24, 1749. Jared Ingersoll Jr. As one of Pennsylvania's delegates at Philadelphia, Jared helped move Pennsylvania into the ratification struggle that created the new federal government in 1787 and 1788.
View the related personOctober 25, 1891
Father Charles Coughlin is born
Father Charles Coughlin was born on October 25, 1891. Charles Edward Coughlin, commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based near Detroit. Coughlin's public record became attached to specific institutions, arguments, and events that extended beyond a single moment.
View the related personOctober 26, 1902
Elizabeth Cady Stanton dies
Elizabeth Cady Stanton died on October 26, 1902, after decades of leadership in the women's rights movement. In 1848 she helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention and drafted its Declaration of Sentiments. That declaration became one of the movement's foundational texts and shaped later campaigns for woman suffrage that culminated in the Nineteenth Amendment.
View the related personOctober 27, 1858
Theodore Roosevelt is born
Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., also known as Teddy or T. Roosevelt used the presidency to fight the Northern Securities trust, build the Panama Canal, and expand the federal government's role in conservation.
View the related personOctober 28, 1636
Harvard College is established
On October 28, 1636, the Massachusetts Bay Colony voted to establish the school that became Harvard College. Colonial leaders created it to train ministers and civic elites for Puritan New England. Harvard became the most influential college in British North America and educated many figures who later shaped revolutionary and early national politics.
View the related eventOctober 29, 1863
Battle of Wauhatchie
On October 29, 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought the Battle of Wauhatchie near Chattanooga. The night action helped secure the Union supply line known as the Cracker Line and relieved pressure on the besieged Army of the Cumberland. Holding Chattanooga gave the Union a strategic base for the campaigns that would later penetrate the Deep South.
October 30, 1735
John Adams is born
John Adams was born on October 30, 1735. John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. The backlash to the Alien and Sedition Acts made Adams's presidency central to the American argument over free speech, federal power, and states' rights.
View the related personOctober 31, 1822
Jared Ingersoll dies
Jared Ingersoll died on October 31, 1822. Jared Ingersoll Jr. As one of Pennsylvania's delegates at Philadelphia, Jared helped move Pennsylvania into the ratification struggle that created the new federal government in 1787 and 1788.
View the related person