October 14Birthdays & History

On this day: October 14 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1066The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.Europe
2. 1322Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence.Europe
3. 1586Mary, Queen of Scots, goes on trial for conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth I of England.Europe
4. 1656The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends.North America
5. 1758Seven Years' War: Frederick the Great suffers a rare defeat at the Battle of Hochkirch.Europe
6. 1773The first recorded ministry of education, the Commission of National Education, is formed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.Europe
7. 1774American Revolution: The First Continental Congress denounces the British Parliament's Intolerable Acts and demands British concessions.North AmericaEurope
8. 1791The revolutionary group the United Irishmen is formed in Belfast, Ireland leading to the Irish Rebellion of 1798.Europe
9. 1805War of the Third Coalition: A French corps defeats an Austrian attempt to escape encirclement at Ulm.Europe
10. 1806War of the Fourth Coalition: Napoleon decisively defeats Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt.Europe
11. 1808The Republic of Ragusa is annexed by France.Europe
12. 1809The Treaty of Schönbrunn is signed, ending the War of the Fifth Coalition, the final successful war in Napoleon Bonaparte's military career.Europe
13. 1843Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell is arrested by the British on charges of criminal conspiracy.Europe
14. 1863American Civil War: Confederate troops under the command of A. P. Hill fail to drive the Union Army completely out of Virginia.North America
15. 1884George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.North America
16. 1888Louis Le Prince films the first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene.Europe
17. 1898The steam ship SS Mohegan sinks near the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, killing 106.Europe
18. 1908The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the 1908 World Series; this would be their last until winning the 2016 World Series.North America
19. 1910English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his aircraft on Executive Avenue near the White House in Washington, D.C.EuropeNorth America
20. 1912Former president Theodore Roosevelt is shot and mildly wounded by John Flammang Schrank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the fresh wound in his chest, and the bullet still within it, Roosevelt delivers his scheduled speech.North America
21. 1913Senghenydd colliery disaster, the United Kingdom's worst coal mining accident, claims the lives of 439 miners.Europe
22. 1915World War I: Bulgaria joins the Central Powers.Europe
23. 1920Finland and Soviet Russia sign the Treaty of Tartu, exchanging some territories.Europe
24. 1923After the Irish Civil War the 1923 Irish hunger strikes were undertaken by thousands of Irish republican prisoners protesting the continuation of their internment without trial.Europe
25. 1930The former and first President of Finland, K. J. Ståhlberg, and his wife, Ester Ståhlberg, are kidnapped from their home by members of the far-right Lapua Movement.Europe
26. 1933Germany withdraws from the League of Nations and World Disarmament Conference.Europe
27. 1939World War II: The German submarine U-47 sinks the British battleship HMS Royal Oak within her harbour at Scapa Flow, Scotland.Europe
28. 1940World War II: The Balham underground station disaster kills sixty-six people during the London Blitz.Europe
29. 1942World War II: The German submarine U-69 (1940) sinks the Canadian passenger ferry SS Caribou approximately 20 nautical miles southwest of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.EuropeNorth America
30. 1943World War II: The United States Eighth Air Force loses 60 of 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses during the Second Raid on Schweinfurt.North America
31. 1943World War II: The Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state of Japan, is inaugurated with José P. Laurel as its president.AsiaAsia
32. 1943World War II: Prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp covertly assassinate most of the on-duty SS officers and then stage a mass breakout.Europe
33. 1947Flying the Bell X-1 over Muroc Army Air Field in California, Captain Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in level flight, reaching Mach 1.05.North America
34. 1949The Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders in the United States convicts eleven defendants of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the federal government.North America
35. 1952Korean War: The Battle of Triangle Hill is the biggest and bloodiest battle of 1952.Asia
36. 1956Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, leader of India's Untouchable caste, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 of his followers (see Neo-Buddhism).Asia
37. 1957The 23rd Canadian Parliament becomes the only one to be personally opened by the Queen of Canada.North America
38. 1957At least 81 people are killed in the most devastating flood in the history of the Spanish city of Valencia.Europe
39. 1962The Cuban Missile Crisis begins when an American reconnaissance aircraft takes photographs of Soviet ballistic missiles being installed in Cuba.Latin AmericaNorth AmericaEurope
40. 1964The Soviet Presidium and the Communist Party Central Committee each vote to accept Nikita Khrushchev's "voluntary" request to retire from his offices.Europe
41. 1964Martin Luther King Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.Europe
42. 1966The Dutch Cals cabinet fell after Norbert Schmelzer, the leader of the government party, filed a successful motion against the budget, in what later became known as the Night of Schmelzer.Europe
43. 1966The city of Montreal begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid transit system.North America
44. 1968Jim Hines becomes the first man ever to break the so-called "ten-second barrier" in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 9.95 seconds.North America
45. 1968Apollo program: The first live television broadcast by American astronauts in orbit is performed by the Apollo 7 crew.North America
46. 1968The 6.5 Mw Meckering earthquake shakes the southwest portion of Western Australia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing $2.2 million in damage and leaving 20–28 people injured.Oceania
47. 1973In the Thammasat student uprising, over 100,000 people protest in Thailand against the military government. Seventy-seven are killed and 857 are injured by soldiers.Asia
48. 1975An RAF Avro Vulcan bomber explodes and crashes over Żabbar, Malta after an aborted landing, killing five crew members and one person on the ground.Europe
49. 1979The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights draws approximately 100,000 people.North America
50. 1980The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party ended, having anointed North Korean President Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il as his successor.North AmericaAsia
51. 1981Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.Middle East
52. 1982U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a war on drugs.North America
53. 1991Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.Asia
54. 1994Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the establishment of the Oslo Accords and the framing of future Palestinian self government.EuropeMiddle East
55. 1998Eric Rudolph is charged with six bombings, including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia.North America
56. 2003The Steve Bartman Incident takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.North America
57. 2004Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 crashes in Jefferson City, Missouri. The two pilots (the aircraft's only occupants) are killed.North America
58. 2004MK Airlines Flight 1602 crashes during takeoff from Halifax Stanfield International Airport, killing all seven people on board.North America
59. 2012Felix Baumgartner successfully jumps to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere.North America
60. 2014A snowstorm and avalanche in the Nepalese Himalayas triggered by the remnants of Cyclone Hudhud kills 43 people.Asia
61. 2014The Serbia vs. Albania UEFA qualifying match is canceled after 42 minutes due to several incidents on and off the pitch. Albania is eventually awarded a win.Europe
62. 2015A suicide bomb attack in Tonsa, Pakistan kills at least seven people and injures 13 others.Asia
63. 2017An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber detonated a massive truck bomb at the Zobe junction in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, killing 587 people, injuring 316 others, and leaving more than 500 missing.Africa
64. 2021About 10,000 American employees of John Deere go on strike.North America
65. 2023Australians vote to reject a constitutional amendment that would have established an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.Oceania
66. 2025A coup d'état successfully overthrows Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina.Africa

Source: Wikipedia "October 14" / CC BY-SA 4.0