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Today in History: October 14

1066
Battle of Hastings: William, Duke of Normandy and his Norman army defeat the English forces of Harold II who is killed in the battle

1651
Laws are passed in Massachusetts forbidding the poor to adopt excessive styles of dress.

1884
Transparent paper-strip photographic film is patented by George Eastman.

1912
Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is shot and wounded in assassination attempt in Milwaukee. He was saved by the papers in his breast pocket and, though wounded, insisted on finishing his speech.

1930
Singer Ethel Merman stuns the audience when she holds a high C for sixteen bars while singing "I Got Rhythm" during her Broadway debut in Gershwin's Girl Crazy.

1943
600 Jewish prisoners mount an uprising at the Nazi concentration camp in Sobibor, Poland, 300 successfully escape

1944
German Field Marshal Rommel, suspected of complicity in the July 20th plot against Hitler, is visited at home by two of Hitler's staff and given the choice of public trial or suicide by poison. He chooses suicide and it is announced that he died of wounds.

1962
Cuban Missile Crisis begins; USAF U-2 reconnaissance pilot photographs Cubans installing Soviet-made missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

1964
Rev. Martin Luther King is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating a policy of non-violence.

1968
Jim Hines, USA, breaks the "ten-second barrier" in the 100-meter sprint at the Olympics in Mexico City; his time was 9.95.

1968
US Defense Department announces 24,000 soldiers and Marines will be sent back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty.

1969
The British 50-pence coin enters the UK's currency, the first step toward covering to a decimal system, which was planned for 1971.

1998
Eric Robert Rudolph charged with the 1996 bombing during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia; It was one of several bombing incidents Rudolph carried out to protest legalized abortion in the US.

2012
Felix Baumgartner breaks the world record for highest manned balloon flight, highest parachute jump, and greatest free-fall velocity, parachuting from an altitude of approximately 24 miles (39km).

2017
Spanish government says it will impose direct rule on Catalonia after the region voted for independence in a referendum

2020
French president Emmanuel Macron announces a public health emergency and a curfew of 9 pm for nine cities due to surge in COVID-19 cases

2021
Record price for a Banksy artwork paid of 18.5 million pounds ($25.4 million) for "Love is in the Bin", that was famously shredded on purchase in 2018

Today in History: Born on October 14

1890
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th U.S. President (1953-1961).

1926
Son Thomas, blues guitarist and singer.

1927
Sir Roger Moore, actor; played James Bond in 7 films (1973-85) and starred as Simon Templar in The Saint TV series (1962-69).

1939
Ralph Lauren, noted fashion designer.

JOTD

A guy says to his wife: "Thanks to that new scale you bought, I always know how much I poop!"
Wife: "So you step on the scale before you poop, go to the toilet, step on the scale again and the difference is the weight of your poop?”

He: “Oh, yeah, I guess you could also do it that way...”