Today:
1683 – The first German immigrant families to establish a permanent settlement in North America arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Concord. They later founded Germantown, Pennsylvania.
1781 – American and French forces began major siege operations against British defenses at Yorktown, Virginia. The campaign would end with the surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis later that month.
1889 – Thomas Edison demonstrated his experimental motion-picture technology at his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, an important step in the development of motion pictures.
1927 – The Jazz Singer premiered in New York City. Starring Al Jolson, the film’s synchronized dialogue and music helped usher in the era of “talking pictures.”
1945 – Billy Sianis, owner of Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern, was reportedly asked to remove his pet goat from Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field, giving rise to the legendary “Curse of the Billy Goat” associated with the Chicago Cubs.
1949 – American-born Iva Toguri D’Aquino, one of the women associated with the wartime nickname “Tokyo Rose,” was sentenced to prison for treason following her broadcasts from Japan during World War II. She was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977.
1973 – Egypt and Syria launched coordinated attacks against Israel on Yom Kippur, beginning the Yom Kippur War.
1979 – Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House, where he met with President Jimmy Carter during his first papal visit to the United States.
1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated during a military parade in Cairo by members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Sadat had shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
1995 – Astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the discovery of 51 Pegasi b, the first confirmed planet found orbiting a Sun-like star outside our solar system. Their discovery helped launch the modern era of exoplanet research.