History of 11 October
1929 – JCPenney opened a store in Milford, DE, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 states.
1932 – In New York, the first telecast of a political campaign was aired.
1936 – The radio show, “Professor Quiz”, aired for the first time.
1939 – U.S. President Roosevelt was presented with a letter from Albert Einstein that urged him to develop the U.S. atomic program rapidly.
1942 – The Battle of Cape Esperance, during World War II, began in the Solomons.
1958 – Pioneer 1, a lunar probe, was launched by the U.S. The probe did not reach its destination and fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere.
1968 – Apollo 7 was launched by the U.S. The first manned Apollo mission was the first in which live television broadcasts were received from orbit. Wally Schirra, Don Fulton Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham were the astronauts aboard.
1971 – Hugh Downs left the “Today” show and “Concentration”. He later became the host of ABC’s “20/20”.
1975 – “Saturday Night Live” was broadcast for the first time. George Carlin was the guest host.
1975 – Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham were married in Fayetteville, AR.
1983 – The last hand-cranked telephones in the U.S. went out of service. The 440 telephone customers of Bryant Pond, ME, were switched to direct-dial service.
1984 – Construction began on the Kamric/Cinergy Futursonics Studio in Houston, TX.
1984 – American Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first female astronaut to spacewalk. She was aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
1984 – Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) made his debut in the National Hockey League (NHL) against the Boston Bruins. He scored a goal on his first shot on his first NHL shift.
1994 – U.S. troops in Haiti took control of the National Palace.
1994 – Iraqi troops began moving away from the Kuwaiti border.
1994 – The Colorado Supreme Court declared that the anti-gay rights measure in the state was unconstitutional.
2000 – NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission.
2001 – The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.
2002 – A bomb attack in a shopping mall in Finland kills seven.
2013 – A migrant boat sinks in the Channel of Sicily, with at least 34 people drowning.
2018 – Soyuz MS-10, launching an intended crew for the ISS, suffers an in-flight abort. The crew lands safely.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1982 – Cameron Knowles, New Zealand footballer
- 1982 – Jeff Larish, American baseball player
- 1982 – Terrell Suggs, American football player
- 1982 – Mauricio Victorino, Uruguayan footballer
- 1984 – Sergio Hellings, Dutch footballer
- 1984 – Martha MacIsaac, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1984 – Zeb Taia, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
- 1984 – Jane Zhang, Chinese singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Nesta Carter, Jamaican sprinter
- 1985 – Yang Cheng, Chinese footballer
- 1985 – Álvaro Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
- 1985 – Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress
- 1986 – Ikioi Shōta, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1987 – Tony Beltran, American soccer player
- 1987 – Mike Conley, Jr., American basketball player
- 1987 – Nathan Coulter-Nile, Australian cricketer
- 1988 – Omar Gonzalez, American soccer player
- 1988 – Ricochet, American wrestler
- 1989 – Michelle Wie, American golfer
- 1990 – Joo, South Korean singer, and actress
- 1990 – Sebastian Rode, German footballer
- 1991 – Patrick Leyland, American baseball player
- 1992 – Riffi Mandanda, Congolese footballer
- 1992 – Ligi Sao, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1993 – Hardik Pandya, Indian cricketer
- 1992 – Christian Davis, English cricketer
- 1992 – Cardi B, American rapper
- 1994 – Clésio Baúque, Mozambican footballer
- 1994 – T.J. Watt, American football player
- 1995 – Nicolás Jarry, a Chilean tennis player
- 1997 – Jeando Fuchs, French footballer