- Indian Air Force celebrates its birthday
314 – Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses his European territories.
1075 – Dmitar Zvonimir is crowned King of Croatia.
1200 – Isabella of Angoulême is crowned Queen consort of England.
1322 – Mladen II Šubić of Bribir, defeated in the battle of Bliska, is arrested by the Parliament.
1480 – Great stand on the Ugra river, a standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia, which results in the retreat of the Tataro-Mongols and the eventual disintegration of the Horde.
1573 – End of the Spanish siege of Alkmaar, the first Dutch victory in Eighty Years’ War.
1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1600 – San Marino adopts its written constitution.
1806 – Napoleonic Wars: Forces of the British Empire lay siege to the port of Boulogne in France by using Congreve rockets, invented by Sir William Congreve.
1813 – The Treaty of Ried is signed between Bavaria and Austria.
1821 – The government of general José de San Martín establishes the Peruvian Navy.
1856 – The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Perryville: Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky.
1879 – War of the Pacific: The Chilean Navy defeats the Peruvian Navy in the Battle of Angamos, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau is killed in the encounter.
1895 – Eulmi incident: Queen Min of Joseon, the last empress of Korea, is assassinated and her corpse burnt by Japanese infiltrators inside Gyeongbok Palace.
1912 – First Balkan War begins: Montenegro declares war against the Ottoman Empire.
1918 – World War I: In action near Pittem, Belgium, USMC 2nd Lieutenant aviator Ralph Talbot of Weymouth, Massachusetts becomes the first-ever USMC aviator to earn the Medal of Honor.
1918 – World War I: In the Argonne Forest in France, United States Corporal Alvin C. York kills 28 German soldiers and captures 132, for which he is awarded the Medal of Honor.
1932 – The Indian Air Force is established.
1939 – World War II: Germany annexes western Poland.
1941 – World War II: During the preliminaries of the Battle of Rostov, German forces reach the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Crucifix Hill occurs just outside Aachen; Capt. Bobbie Brown receives a Medal of Honor for his heroics in this battle.
1967 – Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia.
1970 – Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon’s October 7 peace proposal as “a manoeuvre to deceive world opinion”.
1973 – Yom Kippur War: Gabi Amir’s armored brigade unsuccessfully attacks Egyptian-occupied positions on the Israeli side of the Suez Canal, in hope of driving them away; more than 150 Israeli tanks are destroyed.
1973 – Greek military junta of 1967–74: Junta strongman George Papadopoulos appoints Spyros Markezinis as Prime Minister of Greece with the task to lead Greece to parliamentary rule.
1990 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount.
1991 – Croatia and Slovenia vote to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia.
2001 – A twin engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy, killing 118 people.
2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security.
