History Today

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 13th. Today the U.S. navy is one of the largest navies in the world, with nearly 340,000 active duty troops and some 500 ships. And it all got started back on this day in 1775, when the Continental Congress authorized the creation of the first American naval force during the American Revolution.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 12th. With climate change set to be a major issue in next month’s presidential election, we look back to this day in 1997 when former Vice President Al Gore, along with the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, won the Nobel Peace Prize for for their efforts to increase public knowledge about man-made climate change.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 11th. Just over a week after the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live returned to begin live broadcasts again, we look back to this day in 1975, when the sketch comedy show made its television debut. Originally starring comedians Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, it would go on to become the longest-running, highest-rated show on late-night television.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 10th. American vice presidents usually seem to fly under the radar. But that wasn’t the case back on this day in 1973, when Richard Nixon’s Vice President Spiro Agnew who was forced to resign from office in disgrace. That same day, he pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the D.A. dropping charges of political corruption.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 9th. It was one of the most ambitious engineering projects in American history: On this day in 1936, the Hoover Dam began sending electricity to Los Angeles garnered by harnessing the power of the Colorado River. At the time it was completed, the towering concrete and steel plug was the tallest dam in the world. Surprising fact? The electricity generated by the Hoover Dam was only a secondary benefit.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 8th. In the midst of a devastating wildfire season, we look back to one of the most damaging fires in U.S. history, which broke out on this day in 1871 in Wisconsin. The Peshtigo fire went on to kill 1,200 people and destroy 2 billion trees. The town was particularly vulnerable as nearly all of its buildings were made of wood and the roads surrounding the town were covered with sawdust.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 7th. With Broadway closed for business indefinitely thanks to the pandemic, we look back to this day in 1982 and the debut of one of the most successful shows in Broadway history--the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. The hit show, about a tribe of cats called the Jellicles, ran for nearly 18 years and 7,500 performances.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 9th. It was one of the most ambitious engineering projects in American history: On this day in 1936, the Hoover Dam began sending electricity to Los Angeles garnered by harnessing the power of the Colorado River. At the time it was completed, the towering concrete and steel plug was the tallest dam in the world. Surprising fact? The electricity generated by the Hoover Dam was only a secondary benefit.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 6th. Is there other life in the universe? The quest to find out took a step forward on this day in 1995, when the planet 51 Pegasus b was discovered. This was the first time a planet had been found orbiting a normal star outside of our own solar system. 51 Peg b, as it’s known, orbits the star 51 Peg in just four days.

Hello, and welcome to This Day in History. Here’s what happened on October 5th. Long before he created one of the world’s most iconic auto brands, Enzo Ferrari was a mechanic. And on this day in 1919, he added race car driver to his resume by entering his first ever race, coming in fourth, nearly thirty years before bringing the first Ferraris to market. Ferrari was a good race car driver, but not a great one: He won just 13 of the 47 races he entered.