12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for October 29, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1787 – Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” premieres in Prague.
- 1923 – The Republic of Turkey is proclaimed with Ankara as its capital; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk becomes president.
- 1929 – “Black Tuesday”: the U.S. stock market crashes in the worst single-day plunge of the era.
- 1956 – Suez Crisis begins as Israel invades Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
- 1964 – The “Star of India” sapphire is stolen in the AMNH jewel heist led by “Murph the Surf.”
- 1969 – The first ARPANET message (“lo”) is sent from UCLA to Stanford—birth of the internet.
- 1994 – A gunman fires at the White House; bystanders and Secret Service subdue the shooter.
- 1998 – NASA launches STS-95; John Glenn returns to space at age 77 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.
- 2004 – EU leaders sign the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in Rome.
- 2012 – Hurricane Sandy makes U.S. landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing catastrophic damage.
- 2015 – China announces the end of its one-child policy, allowing two children per family.
- 2018 – Lion Air Flight 610 crashes into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1947 – Richard Dreyfuss, Academy Award–winning actor (“The Goodbye Girl,” “Jaws”) (78)
- 1957 – Dan Castellaneta, voice actor/comedian (Homer Simpson on “The Simpsons”) (68)
- 1970 – Edwin van der Sar, Dutch football (soccer) great and longtime Ajax/Manchester United goalkeeper (55)
- 1971 – Winona Ryder, actor (“Stranger Things,” “Little Women”) (54)
- 1972 – Gabrielle Union, actor/producer (“Bring It On,” “Being Mary Jane”) (53)
- 1980 – Ben Foster, actor (“Hell or High Water,” “3:10 to Yuma”) (45)
- 1981 – Amanda Beard, Olympic gold medalist swimmer (44)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1618 – Sir Walter Raleigh, English explorer, courtier, and writer (66)
- 1911 – Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper publisher and namesake of the Pulitzer Prizes (64)
- 1950 – Gustaf V, King of Sweden (92)
- 1957 – Louis B. Mayer, MGM co-founder and Hollywood studio mogul (73)
- 1981 – Georges Brassens, influential French singer-songwriter and poet (60)
- 1997 – Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan (67)
- 2004 – Vaughn Meader, comedian and JFK impressionist (“The First Family”) (68)
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