Take  a look at these important events in the month of October, that changed world history.

 

October 1

 1787 – Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn.

1791 – First session of the French Legislative Assembly.

1795 – Belgium is conquered by France.

1800 – Spain cedes Louisiana to France via the Treaty of San Ildefonso.

1811 – The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives in New Orleans.

1814 – Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to redraw Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoléon the previous spring.

1827 – Russo-Persian War: The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Armenia.

1829 – South African College is founded in Cape Town, South Africa; it will later separate into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools.

1832 – Texian political delegates convened at San Felipe de Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Mexican Texas.

October 2

 1780 – John André, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War, is hanged as a spy by American forces.

1789 – George Washington sends proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.

1814 – Battle of Rancagua: Spanish Royalists troops under Mariano Osorio defeats rebel Chilean forces of Bernardo O'Higgins and José Miguel Carrera.

1835 – The Texas Revolution begins with the Battle of Gonzales: Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas, but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.

October 3

 1683 – The Qing dynasty naval commander Shi Lang reaches Taiwan (under the Kingdom of Tungning) to receive the formal surrender of Zheng Keshuang and Liu Guoxuan after the Battle of Penghu.

1712 – The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor.

1739 – The Treaty of Niš is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the end of the Russian–Turkish War, 1736–39.

1778 – Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.

1789 – George Washington makes the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America.

1835 – The Staedtler company is founded in Nuremberg, Germany.

October 4

1693 – Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.

1725 – Foundation of Rosario in Argentina.

1777 – Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.

1779 – The Fort Wilson Riot takes place.

1795 – Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence with a "Whiff of Grapeshot", using cannon to suppress armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the French Legislature (National Convention).

1824 – Mexico adopts a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.

1830 – Creation of the Kingdom of Belgium after separation from the Netherlands. 

October 5

 1665 – The University of Kiel is founded.

1789 – French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI of France about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris.

1793 – French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France.

1813 – Battle of the Thames in Canada; Americans defeat British and kill Shawnee leader Tecumseh.

October 6

1683 – German immigrant families found Germantown in the colony of Pennsylvania, marking the first major immigration of German people to America.

1723 – Benjamin Franklin arrives in Philadelphia at the age of 17.

1762 – Seven Years' War: conclusion of the Battle of Manila between Britain and Spain, which resulted in the British occupation of Manila for the rest of the war.

1777 – American Revolutionary War: General Sir Henry Clinton leads British forces in the capture of Continental Army Hudson River defenses in the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery.

1789 – French Revolution: Louis XVI returns to Paris from Versailles after being confronted by the Parisian women on 5 October

October 7

 1691 – The English royal charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued.

1763 – King George III of the United Kingdom issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1776 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain: American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1800 – French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d'août.

1826 – The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

1828 – Morea expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese under General Maison.

1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.

October 8

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.

1829 – Rail transport: Stephenson's The Rocket wins The Rainhill Trials. 

October 9

1701 – The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later renamed Yale University) is chartered in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

1708 – Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya.

1740 – Dutch colonists and various slave groups begin massacring ethnic Chinese in Batavia, eventually killing 10,000 and leading to a two-year-long war throughout Java.

1760 – Seven Years' War: Russian forces occupy Berlin.

1767 – Surveying for the Mason–Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.

1771 – The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks near the coast of Finland.

1799 – Sinking of HMS Lutine with the loss of 240 men and a cargo worth £1,200,000.

1804 – Hobart, capital of Tasmania, is founded.

1806 – Prussia declares war on France.

1812 – War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces captured two British ships: HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia.

1820 – Guayaquil declares independence from Spain.

1824 – Slavery is abolished in Costa Rica.

1831 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of state of independent Greece is assassinated.

1834 – Opening of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first public railway on the island of Ireland. 

October 10

1760 – In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname – descended from escaped slaves – gain territorial autonomy.

1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean. 

October 11

 1727 – George II and Caroline of Ansbach are crowned King and Queen of Great Britain.

1776 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Valcour Island – On Lake Champlain, a fleet of American boats is defeated by the Royal Navy, but delays the British advance until 1777.

1793 - Yellow fever breaks out in Philadelphia

1797 – Battle of Camperdown: Naval battle between Royal Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. The outcome of the battle was a decisive British victory.

1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder's Stand.

1811 – Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry (service between New York City, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey).

1833 – A big demonstration at the gates of the legislature of Buenos Aires forces the ousting of governor Juan Ramón Balcarce and his replacement with Juan José Viamonte.

October 12

1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips.

1748 – British and Spanish naval forces engage at the Battle of Havana during the War of Jenkins's Ear.

1773 – America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds' in Virginia.

1792 – First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York City.

1793 – The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid on the campus of the University of North Carolina.

1799 – Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse was the first woman to jump from a balloon with a parachute, from an altitude of 900 meters.

1810 – First Oktoberfest: The Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

1822 – Pedro I of Brazil is proclaimed the emperor of the Empire of Brazil.

1823 – Charles Macintosh of Scotland sells the first raincoat. 

October 13

1710 – Port Royal, the capital of French Acadia, falls in a siege by British forces.

1773 – The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier.

1775 – The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).

1792 – In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

1812 – War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights – As part of the Niagara campaign in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock. 

October 14

1656 – Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The marriage of church-and-state in Puritanism makes them regard the Quakers as spiritually apostate and politically subversive.

1758 – Seven Years' War: Austria defeats Prussia at the Battle of Hochkirch.

1773 – The first recorded Ministry of Education, the Commission of National Education, is formed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

1773 – Just before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, several of the British East India Company's tea ships are set ablaze at the old seaport of Annapolis, Maryland.

1805 – Battle of Elchingen, France defeats Austria.

1806 – Battle of Jena–Auerstedt France defeats Prussia.

1808 – The Republic of Ragusa is annexed by France.

1812 – Work on London's Regent's Canal starts. 

October 15

1764 – Edward Gibbon observes a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspires him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

1783 – The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon (tethered) makes the first human ascent, piloted by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.

1793 – Queen Marie-Antoinette of France is tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.

1815 – Napoleon I of France begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.

October 16

1780 – Royalton, Vermont and Tunbridge, Vermont are the last major raids of the American Revolutionary War.

1781 – George Washington captures Yorktown, Virginia after the Siege of Yorktown.

1793 – Marie Antoinette, widow of Louis XVI, is guillotined at the height of the French Revolution.

1793 – The Battle of Wattignies ends in a French victory.

1813 – The Sixth Coalition attacks Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Leipzig.

1834 – Much of the ancient structure of the Palace of Westminster in London burns to the ground. 

October 17

 1662 – Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France for 40,000 pounds.

1771 – Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, age 15.

1777 – American Revolutionary War: British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.

1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.

1800 – Britain takes control of the Dutch colony of Curaçao.

1806 – Former leader of the Haitian Revolution, Emperor Jacques I of Haiti is assassinated after an oppressive rule.

1814 – Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.

October 18

1648 – Boston Shoemakers form first American labor organization.

1748 – Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.

1775 – African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) prompts the Continental Congress to establish the Continental Navy.

1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah is lifted.

1797 – Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria 

October 19

1781 – At Yorktown, Virginia, representatives of British commander Lord Cornwallis handed over Cornwallis' sword and formally surrendered to George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau.

1789 – Chief Justice John Jay is sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.

1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Ulm. 30,000 prisoners are captured and 10,000 casualties inflicted on the losers.

1812 – Napoleon Bonaparte retreats from Moscow.

1813 – The Battle of Leipzig concludes, giving Napoleon Bonaparte one of his worst defeats.

1822 – In Parnaíba; Simplício Dias da Silva, João Cândido de Deus e Silva and Domingos Dias declare the independent state of Piauí. 

October 20

1720 – Caribbean pirate Calico Jack is captured by the Royal Navy.

1740 – Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony refuse to honor the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.

1781 – Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy.

1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.

1805 – General Mack's army surrender to Napoleon I at Ulm after a few skirmishes.

1818 – The Convention of 1818 was signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.

1827 – Battle of Navarino: a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is defeated by British, French, and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece. 

October 21

1774 – First display of the word "Liberty" on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.

1797 – In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.

1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve, signaling almost the end of French maritime power and leaves Britain's navy unchallenged until the 20th century.

1816 – The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by Rev Hutchings, the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.

1824 – Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement. 

October 22

1707 – Scilly naval disaster: four British Royal Navy ships run aground near the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and thousands of sailors drown.

1730 – Construction of the Ladoga Canal is completed.

1746 – The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter.

1777 – American Revolutionary War: American defenders of Fort Mercer on the Delaware River repulse repeated Hessian attacks in the Battle of Red Bank.

1784 – Russia founds a colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska.

1790 – Warriors of the Miami tribe under Chief Little Turtle defeat United States troops under General Josiah Harmar at the site of present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the Northwest Indian War.

1797 – André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump from one thousand meters (3,200 feet) above Paris.

1836 – Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas. 

October 23

1694 – British/American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phips, fail to seize Quebec from the French.

1707 – The first Parliament of Great Britain meets.

1739 – War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.

1812 – Claude François de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he is now the commandant of Paris.

October 24

1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is completely divided among Austria, Prussia, and Russia.

1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow.

October 25

1747 – British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeats the French at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre.

1760 – George III becomes King of Great Britain.

1812 – War of 1812: The American frigate, USS United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur, captures the British frigate HMS Macedonian.

1822 – Greek War of Independence: The First Siege of Missolonghi begins.

1828 – St Katharine Docks open in London. 

October 26

1689 – General Piccolomini of Austria burns down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera. He died of cholera himself soon after.

1774 – The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia.

1775 -- King George III speaks before both houses of the British Parliament to discuss growing concern about the rebellion in America, which he viewed as a traitorous action against himself and Great Britain.

1776 – Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.

1811 – The Argentine government declares the freedom of expression for the press by decree.

1813 – War of 1812: A combined force of British regulars, Canadian militia, and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of the Chateauguay.

1825 – The Erie Canal opens: Passage from Albany, New York to Lake Erie. 

October 27

1682 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.

1775 – King George III read a “Proclamation of Rebellion” and gave his plan to send more troops and navy to pacify America in his speech from the throne to Parliament.

1795 – The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid (The Pinckney Treaty), which establishes the boundaries between Spanish colonies and the U.S.

1806 – The French Army entered Berlin, following the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt.

1810 – The United States annexed the former Spanish colony of West Florida.

1827 – Bellini's third opera, Il pirata, is premiered at Teatro alla Scala di Milano

1838 – Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated. 

October 28

1664 – The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, later to be known as the Royal Marines, is established.

1707 – The 1707 Hōei earthquake causes more than 5,000 deaths in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, Japan

1775 – American Revolutionary War: A British proclamation forbids residents from leaving Boston.

1776 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains: British Army forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.

1834 – The Battle of Pinjarra is fought in the Swan River Colony in present-day Pinjarra, Western Australia. Between 14 and 40 Aborigines are killed by British colonists.

1835 – The United Tribes of New Zealand is established with the signature of the Declaration of Independence. 

October 29

1675 – Leibniz makes the first use of the long "s" (∫) as a symbol of the integral in calculus.

1787 – Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague.

1792 – Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood by Lt. William E. Broughton who spotted the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette River. 

October 30

1806 – Believing he is facing a much larger force, Prussian Lieutenant General Friedrich von Romberg, commanding 5,300 men, surrendered the city of Stettin to 800 French soldiers commanded by General Lassalle.

1817 – The independent government of Venezuela is established by Simón Bolívar.

1831 – In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave rebellion in United States history. 

October 31

1776 - King George III speaks for the first time before the British Parliament since the American Colonies declared their independence.

1776 - General George Washington withdraws his forces to New Jersey before British General Howe could attack again with newly arrived reinforcements.  

1822 – Emperor Agustín de Iturbide attempts to dissolve the Congress of the Mexican Empire.