In 312, In a battle that marked the beginning of the Christian era in Europe, Constantine's army, wearing the cross, defeated the forces of Maxentius at Mulvian Bridge in Rome. Roman emperor Constantine, 32, acted on a vision he had seen of the cross, inscribed with the words, "In this sign conquer." No analysis of the mushrooms served that evening was performed.
In 1492, Columbus discovers Cuba, believing, at first, it was China or Japan.
In 1636, Harvard University, the oldest in the country, named for John Harvard, was founded in Cambridge, Mass.
In 1793, Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin, which was granted the following March.
In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated by confetti (the first ticker tape parade) in the New York Harbor by President Cleveland in the presence of its sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.
In 1904, a new investigation method, fingerprinting, was first used by the St. Louis Police Department.
In 1927, Pan Am Airways launches the first international flight - Key West to Havana.
In 1929, the first child is born on an aircraft, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Evans over Miami, Florida.
In 1948, Mount Palomar Observatory's 200-inch telescope is finished.
In 1965, the Gateway to the West Arch (630' (190m) high) was completed in St Louis, Missouri.
In 1976, John D. Ehrlichman, former top aide to President Nixon, entered a federal prison camp in Safford, AZ, to begin serving a sentence for Watergate-related convictions.
Alf: 1757
TV Actor, Alien Life Form, Alf star; Space Alien from Melmac; ALF=Alien Life Form
Georges Jacques Danton: c. 1759
Revolutionary, French, French revolutionary leader.
Eliphalet Remington: 1793
Manufacturer, with his dad manufactured the famous Remington Rifles.
Horace Smith: 1808
Inventor, Manufacturer, Smith and Wesson revolvers with Daniel Baird Wesson
Clyde Pangborn: 1894
Aviator, 1st to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo to Washington with Hugh Herndon Jr. in 1931
Evelyn Arthur Waugh: 1903
Author, Satirist, Novelist, English, Brideshead Revisited, Scoop
Dr. Jonas Edward Salk: 1914
Scientist, Medical researcher developed polio vaccine, founded his institute for Biological studies
in La Jolla, CA.
William Henry Gates III: 1955
Multi-Billionaire, Businessperson, Executive, Microsoft co-founder; best known for purchasing and redeveloping an operating system that crashes more computers than any other. Donates more than he should to gun control causes.
Born 28 October
Captain James Cook: c. 1728
Explorer, Navigator, English, Sea Captain, South Pacific; discovered the Sandwich Islands aka Hawaii.
Thought for Today: "Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."
Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, 1962.
