On This Day in History — October 14

Highlights of October 14

• 2021 — Approximately 10,000 John Deere employees went on strike in one of the largest private-sector strikes in the United States. Read more
• 2014 — A snowstorm and series of avalanches occurred on and around the Himalayan peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, resulting in the deaths of at least 43 people. Read more
• 2012 — Felix Baumgartner jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere to become the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power. Read more
• 2011 — Michael Woodford was dismissed as the CEO of the optics manufacturer Olympus after uncovering internal financial misconduct, escalating the corporate scandal into one of the largest in Japanese business history. Read more
• 1980 — The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party concluded, having anointed North Korean president Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il as his successor. Read more
• 1979 — At least 75,000 people attended the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, D.C., to demand equal civil rights for LGBT people. Read more
• 1964 — Members of the Politburo voted to remove Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and replace him with Leonid Brezhnev. Read more
• 1957 — After three days of heavy rain, the Turia overflowed and flooded the city of Valencia, Spain, causing at least 81 deaths. Read more
• 1956 — The Queen Elizabeth Way, North America's first intercity divided highway, opens. Read more
• 1956 — B. R. Ambedkar, a leader of India's "Untouchable" caste, publicly converted to Buddhism and became the leader of the Dalit Buddhist movement. Read more
• 1953 — Israeli military commander Ariel Sharon and his Unit 101 special forces attacked the village of Qibya on the West Bank, destroying 45 buildings, killing 42 villagers, and wounding 15 others. Read more
• 1949 — The first of the Smith Act trials concluded in New York City, with eleven leaders of the Communist Party of the United States found guilty of violating the Smith Act. Read more
• 1947 — American test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier, reaching Mach 1.06 on board the Bell X-1, an experimental rocket-powered aircraft. Read more
• 1943 — World War II: During the second raid on Schweinfurt, the U.S. 8th Air Force suffered so many losses that it lost air supremacy over Germany for several months. Read more
• 1943 — The Holocaust: Prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp revolted, killing 11 SS officers and staging a mass escape. Read more
• 1943 — The Second Philippine Republic, a Japanese puppet state, was established with Jose P. Laurel as its first president. Read more
• 1940 — Second World War: During the Blitz, a semi-armour-piercing fragmentation bomb fell on the road above Balham station in London, which was being used as an air raid shelter, killing at least 64 people. Read more
• 1939 — Second World War: The German submarine U-47 torpedoed and sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak while the latter was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland. Read more
• 1926 — The first book featuring English author A. A. Milne's fictional bear Winnie-the-Pooh was published. Read more
• 1913 — The worst mining accident in the United Kingdom's history took place when an explosion resulted in 440 deaths at the Universal Colliery in Senghenydd, Wales. Read more
• 1888 — French inventor Louis Le Prince filmed Roundhay Garden Scene (pictured), the earliest surviving motion picture, in Leeds, England. Read more
• 1863 — American Civil War: In the Battle of Bristoe Station, the Union II Corps surprised and repelled the Confederate attack on the Union rearguard, resulting in a Union victory. Read more
• 1805 — War of the Third Coalition: French forces under Marshal Michel Ney defeated Austrian forces in Elchingen, present-day Germany. Read more
• 1758 — Third Silesian War: At the Battle of Hochkirch, an Austrian army under Leopold Joseph von Daun surprised the Prussians commanded by Frederick the Great, overwhelming them and forcing a general retreat. Read more
• 1548 — Forces of the Burmese Toungoo dynasty led by King Tabinshwehti (depicted) departed Martaban to begin an invasion of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Read more
• 1066 — Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror's forces defeated the English army near Hastings and killed Harold Godwinson (event pictured), the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England. Read more

Events

• 2025 — A coup d'état successfully overthrows Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina. Read more
• 2023 — Australians vote to reject a constitutional amendment that would have established an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Read more
• 2021 — About 10,000 American employees of John Deere go on strike. Read more
• 2017 — An 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. Read more
• 2015 — A suicide bomb attack in Tonsa, Pakistan kills at least seven people and injures 13 others. Read more
• 2014 — A snowstorm and avalanche in the Nepalese Himalayas triggered by the remnants of Cyclone Hudhud kills 43 people. Read more
• 2014 — The 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. Read more
• 2012 — Felix Baumgartner successfully jumps to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere. Read more
• 2004 — MK Airlines Flight 1602 crashes during takeoff from Halifax Stanfield International Airport, killing all seven people on board. Read more
• 2004 — Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 crashes in Jefferson City, Missouri. The two pilots (the aircraft's only occupants) are killed. Read more
• 2003 — The Steve Bartman Incident takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Read more
• 1998 — Eric Rudolph is charged with six bombings, including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia. Read more
• 1994 — Yasser 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. Read more
• 1991 — Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Read more
• 1982 — U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a war on drugs. Read more
• 1981 — Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat. Read more
• 1980 — The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party ended, having anointed North Korean President Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il as his successor. Read more
• 1979 — The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights draws approximately 100,000 people. Read more
• 1975 — An RAF Avro Vulcan bomber explodes and crashes over Żabbar, Malta after an aborted landing, killing five crew members and one person on the ground. Read more
• 1973 — In 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. Read more
• 1968 — Apollo program: The first live television broadcast by American astronauts in orbit is performed by the Apollo 7 crew. Read more
• 1968 — The 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. Read more
• 1968 — Jim 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. Read more
• 1966 — The city of Montreal begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid transit system. Read more
• 1966 — The 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. Read more
• 1964 — Martin Luther King Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. Read more
• 1964 — The Soviet Presidium and the Communist Party Central Committee each vote to accept Nikita Khrushchev's "voluntary" request to retire from his offices. Read more
• 1962 — The Cuban Missile Crisis begins when an American reconnaissance aircraft takes photographs of Soviet ballistic missiles being installed in Cuba. Read more
• 1957 — The 23rd Canadian Parliament becomes the only one to be personally opened by the Queen of Canada. Read more
• 1957 — At least 81 people are killed in the most devastating flood in the history of the Spanish city of Valencia. Read more
• 1956 — Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, leader of India's Untouchable caste, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 of his followers (see Neo-Buddhism). Read more
• 1952 — Korean War: The Battle of Triangle Hill is the biggest and bloodiest battle of 1952. Read more
• 1949 — The 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. Read more
• 1947 — Flying 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. Read more
• 1943 — World War II: Prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp covertly assassinate most of the on-duty SS officers and then stage a mass breakout. Read more
• 1943 — World War II: The United States Eighth Air Force loses 60 of 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses during the Second Raid on Schweinfurt. Read more
• 1943 — World War II: The Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state of Japan, is inaugurated with José P. Laurel as its president. Read more
• 1942 — World War II: The German submarine U-69 sinks the Canadian passenger ferry SS Caribou approximately 20 nautical miles southwest of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Read more
• 1940 — World War II: The Balham underground station disaster kills sixty-six people during the London Blitz. Read more
• 1939 — World War II: The German submarine U-47 sinks the British battleship HMS Royal Oak within her harbour at Scapa Flow, Scotland. Read more
• 1933 — Germany withdraws from the League of Nations and World Disarmament Conference. Read more
• 1930 — The 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. Read more
• 1924 — The Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is created as an autonomous republic within the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Read more
• 1923 — After 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. Read more
• 1920 — Finland and Soviet Russia sign the Treaty of Tartu, exchanging some territories. Read more
• 1915 — World War I: Bulgaria joins the Central Powers. Read more
• 1913 — Senghenydd colliery disaster, the United Kingdom's worst coal mining accident, claims the lives of 439 miners. Read more
• 1912 — Former 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. Read more
• 1910 — English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his aircraft on Executive Avenue near the White House in Washington, D.C. Read more
• 1908 — The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the 1908 World Series; this would be their last until winning the 2016 World Series. Read more
• 1898 — The steam ship SS Mohegan sinks near the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, killing 106. Read more
• 1888 — Louis Le Prince films the first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene. Read more
• 1884 — George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film. Read more
• 1863 — American Civil War: Confederate troops under the command of A. P. Hill fail to drive the Union Army completely out of Virginia. Read more
• 1843 — Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell is arrested by the British on charges of criminal conspiracy. Read more
• 1809 — The Treaty of Schönbrunn is signed, ending the War of the Fifth Coalition, the final successful war in Napoleon Bonaparte's military career. Read more
• 1808 — The Republic of Ragusa is annexed by France. Read more
• 1806 — War of the Fourth Coalition: Napoleon decisively defeats Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. Read more
• 1805 — War of the Third Coalition: A French corps defeats an Austrian attempt to escape encirclement at Ulm. Read more
• 1791 — The revolutionary group the United Irishmen is formed in Belfast, Ireland leading to the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Read more

Born on October 14

• 2003 — Tate Sandell, American college football player Read more
• 2001 — Rowan Blanchard, American actress Read more
• 1999 — Quinn Hughes, American ice hockey player Read more
• 1998 — Ariela Barer, American actress Read more
• 1994 — Joe Burgess, English rugby league player Read more
• 1994 — Jaelen Feeney, Australian rugby league player Read more
• 1994 — Jared Goff, American football player Read more
• 1993 — Ashton Agar, Australian cricketer Read more
• 1993 — Charlie Kirk, American media personality and political activist (died 2025) Read more
• 1992 — Ahmed Musa, Nigerian footballer Read more
• 1990 — Jordan Clark, English cricketer Read more
• 1989 — Arca, Venezuelan musician Read more
• 1988 — Glenn Maxwell, Australian cricketer Read more
• 1988 — Max Thieriot, American actor Read more
• 1987 — Jay Pharoah, American actor and comedian Read more
• 1986 — Tom Craddock, English footballer Read more
• 1986 — Wesley Matthews, American basketball player Read more
• 1986 — Skyler Shaye, American actress Read more
• 1985 — Alexandre Sarnes Negrão, Brazilian racing driver Read more
• 1985 — Alanna Nihell, Irish boxer Read more
• 1985 — Ivan Pernar, Croatian Member of Parliament Read more
• 1984 — LaRon Landry, American football player Read more
• 1984 — Alex Scott, English footballer Read more
• 1983 — Betty Heidler, German hammer thrower Read more
• 1983 — Lin Dan, Chinese badminton player Read more
• 1982 — Ryan Hall, American runner Read more
• 1982 — Carlos Mármol, Dominican baseball player Read more
• 1982 — Matt Roth, American football player Read more
• 1981 — Gautam Gambhir, Indian cricketer Read more
• 1980 — Paúl Ambrosi, Ecuadorian footballer Read more
• 1980 — Amjad Khan, Danish-English cricketer Read more
• 1980 — Scott Kooistra, American football player Read more
• 1980 — Niels Lodberg, Danish footballer Read more
• 1980 — Terrence McGee, American football player Read more
• 1980 — Ben Whishaw, English actor Read more
• 1979 — Stacy Keibler, American wrestler and actress Read more
• 1979 — Liina-Grete Lilender, Estonian figure skater and coach Read more
• 1978 — Justin Lee Brannan, American guitarist and songwriter, and politician Read more
• 1978 — Paul Hunter, English snooker player (died 2006) Read more
• 1978 — Jana Macurová, Czech tennis player Read more

Died on October 14

• 2025 — D'Angelo, American musician (born 1974) Read more
• 2024 — Thomas J. Donohue, American business executive (born 1938) Read more
• 2024 — Tina Kaidanow, American diplomat and government official (born 1965) Read more
• 2024 — Janet Nelson, British historian (born 1942) Read more
• 2024 — Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic (born 1933) Read more
• 2022 — Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor, comedian and writer (born 1950) Read more
• 2021 — Lee Wan-koo, South Korean politician, 39th Prime Minister of South Korea Read more
• 2019 — Harold Bloom, American literary critic (born 1930) Read more
• 2019 — Sulli, South Korean actress, singer, and model (born 1994) Read more
• 2016 — Helen Kelly, New Zealand trade union leader (born 1964) Read more
• 2015 — Nurlan Balgimbayev, Kazakh politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (born 1947) Read more
• 2015 — Mathieu Kérékou, Beninese soldier and politician, President of Benin (born 1933) Read more
• 2015 — Margaret Keyes, American historian and academic (born 1918) Read more
• 2015 — Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani, Indian admiral (born 1930) Read more
• 2014 — A. H. Halsey, English sociologist and academic (born 1923) Read more
• 2014 — Leonard Liggio, American author and academic (born 1933) Read more
• 2014 — Elizabeth Peña, American actress (born 1959) Read more
• 2013 — Wally Bell, American baseball player and umpire (born 1965) Read more
• 2013 — Max Cahner, German-Catalan historian and politician (born 1936) Read more
• 2013 — Kōichi Iijima, Japanese author and poet (born 1930) Read more
• 2013 — Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (born 1954) Read more
• 2013 — Frank Moore, American painter and poet (born 1946) Read more
• 2013 — Käty van der Mije-Nicolau, Romanian-Dutch chess player (born 1940) Read more
• 2012 — John Clive, English actor and author (born 1933) Read more
• 2012 — Max Fatchen, Australian journalist and author (born 1920) Read more
• 2012 — James R. Grover Jr., American lawyer and politician (born 1919) Read more
• 2012 — Larry Sloan, American publisher, co-founded Price Stern Sloan (born 1922) Read more
• 2012 — Arlen Specter, American lieutenant and politician (born 1930) Read more
• 2012 — Dody Weston Thompson, American photographer (born 1923) Read more
• 2012 — Gart Westerhout, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (born 1927) Read more
• 2011 — Reg Alcock, Canadian businessman and politician (born 1948) Read more
• 2011 — Ashawna Hailey, American computer scientist and philanthropist (born 1949) Read more
• 2010 — Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (born 1952) Read more
• 2010 — Benoit Mandelbrot, Polish-American mathematician and economist (born 1924) Read more
• 2009 — Martyn Sanderson, New Zealand actor and screenwriter (born 1938) Read more
• 2009 — Collin Wilcox, American actress (born 1935) Read more
• 2009 — Lou Albano, American professional wrestler (born 1933) Read more
• 2008 — Robert Furman, American engineer and intelligence officer (born 1915) Read more
• 2008 — Kazys Petkevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (born 1926) Read more
• 2006 — Freddy Fender, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1937) Read more

Holidays & observances

Christian feast day: Angadrisma; Christian feast day: Fortunatus of Todi; Christian feast day: Joseph Schereschewsky (Episcopal Church (USA)); Christian feast day: Pope Callixtus I; Christian feast day: Blessed Roman Lysko; Christian feast day: October 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); Christian feast day: Intercession of the Theotokos; Day of the Cathedral of the Living Pillar (Georgian Orthodox Church); Mother's Day (Belarus); National Education Day (Poland), formerly Teachers' Day; Nyerere Day (Tanzania); Second Revolution Day (Yemen); World Standards Day (International)

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