Today is October 12 2015

National Gumbo Day: More
From Wikipedia: 'Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder (dried and ground sassafras leaves), or roux, the French base made of flour and fat. The dish likely derived its name from either the Bantu word for okra (ki ngombo) or the Choctaw word for filé (kombo).

• Columbus Day in the USA: More
  Not all states celebrate this day.
• Indigenous Peoples' Day / Native American Day: More
  Started as a counter-Columbus Day.
• Thanksgiving Day in Canada: More
  On the second Monday in October.
• Freethought Day: More
  The day was chosen as it commemorates the anniversary of the effective end of the Salem witch trials in 1692.
• National Farmer’s Day: More
  Since the 1800's as Old Farmers Day.
• National Online Bank Day: More
  On the second Monday in October.
• National Kick Butt Day: More
  Second Monday in October. A day to motivate yourself with a swift kick. This is not the anti-smoking day Kick Butts day.

• Health
  • World Arthritis Day: More
    In the European Union and others.
  • Bone and Joint Action Week: More
    October 12-20 in the U.S..
  • World Bone and Joint Week: More
    October 12-20.
• Other
  • Health and Sports Day in Japan: More
    Second Monday in October.
  • UN Spanish Language Day: More
    Since 2010. One of the official languages of the U.N.: Arabic (Literary Arabic), Chinese (Standard Chinese, Simplified Chinese characters), English (British spelling), French, Russian, Spanish..

• In 1492, Columbus reaches the New World.
  From Wikipedia: 'Christopher Columbus, between 31 October 1450 and 30 October 1451 in Genoa – died on 20 May 1506 in Valladolid) was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World.
  
  Western imperialism and economic competition were emerging among European kingdoms through the establishment of trade routes and colonies. Columbus proposed to reach the East Indies by sailing westward, and this eventually received the support of the Spanish Crown, which saw a chance to enter the spice trade with Asia through a new westward route. During his first voyage in 1492, he reached the New World instead of arriving at Japan as he had intended, landing on an island in the Bahamas archipelago that he named "San Salvador". Over the course of three more voyages, he visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming all of it for the Crown of Castile.
  
  Columbus was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, having been preceded by the Vikinger expedition led by Leif Erikson in the 11th century, but his voyages led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for several centuries. These voyages had, therefore, an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world. He spearheaded the transatlantic slave trade and has been accused by several historians of initiating the genocide of the Hispaniola natives. Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily in the light of spreading the Christian religion.
  
  Columbus never admitted that he had reached a continent previously unknown to Europeans, rather than the East Indies for which he had set course. He called the inhabitants of the lands that he visited indios (Spanish for "Indians"). His strained relationship with the Spanish crown and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and dismissal as governor of the settlements on the island of Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1609, What became the Children's rhyme, 'Three Blind Mice', is published in London.
  From Wikipedia: '"Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3753.
  
  Published by Frederick Warne and Co., an illustrated children's book by John W. Ivimey entitled The Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice, fleshes the mice out into mischievous characters who seek adventure, eventually being taken in by a farmer whose wife chases them from the house and into a bramble bush, which blinds them. Soon after, their tails are removed by "the butcher's wife" when the complete version incorporates the original verse. The story ends with them using a tonic to grow new tails and recover their eyesight, learning a trade (making wood chips, according to the accompanying illustration), buying a house and living happily ever after. Published perhaps in 1900, the book is now in the public domain.
  
  A version of this rhyme, together with music, was published in Deuteromelia or The Seconde part of Musicks melodie (1609). The editor of the book, and possible author of the rhyme, was Thomas Ravenscroft, who in 1609 was still a teenager.
  
  Attempts to read historical significance into the words have led to the speculation that this musical round was written earlier and refers to Queen Mary I of England blinding and executing three Protestant bishops, but problematically the Oxford Martyrs, Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer, were burned at the stake, not blinded; although if the rhyme was made by crypto-Catholics, the mice's "blindness" could refer to their Protestantism.
  
  The rhyme only entered children's literature in 1842 when it was published in a collection by James Orchard Halliwell'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1692, The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips. From Wikipedia: 'The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of 20 people, most of them women'. There were a previous 12 in Mass and Conn. in the 1700's.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of them women, and all but one by hanging. Five others (including two infant children) died in prison.
  
  Twelve other women had previously been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut during the 17th century. Despite being generally known as the Salem Witch Trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in several towns: Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town.
  
  The episode is one of the Colonial America's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. It has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process. It was not unique, but a Colonial American example of the much broader phenomenon of witch trials in the early modern period, which took place also in England and France. Many historians consider the lasting effects of the trials to have been highly influential in subsequent United States history. According to historian George Lincoln Burr, "the Salem witchcraft was the rock on which the theocracy shattered."
  
  At the 300th anniversary events in 1992 to commemorate the victims of the trials, a park was dedicated in Salem and a memorial in Danvers. In November 2001, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act exonerating all of those convicted and listing them by name, including some persons left out of earlier actions. In January 2016, the University of Virginia announced its Gallows Hill Project team had determined the execution site in Salem, where the nineteen "witches" had been hanged. The city owns the site and is planning a memorial to the victims'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1773, Eastern State Hospital, in Williamsburg, Virginia was the first psychiatric institution to be founded in the United States. It was America's first 'insane asylum' for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds'.
  From Wikipedia: 'Eastern State Hospital, built in 1773 in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, was the first public facility in the present-day United States constructed solely for the care and treatment of the mentally ill. The hospital's patients were moved in the 20th century to a new facility outside Williamsburg. The original building had burned but was reconstructed in 1985. Today it operates as a museum about the treatment of mental illness'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
• In 1810, At the first Oktoberfest, Bavarian royalty invite citizens of Munich to celebrate the royal wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Louis to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
  From Wikipedia: 'Oktoberfest (German pronunciation: ) is the world's largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling funfair). Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first weekend in October, with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often called the Wiesn, after the colloquial name for the fairgrounds (Theresienwiese). The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modelled after the original Munich event.
  
  During the event, large quantities of Oktoberfest Beer are consumed: during the 16-day festival in 2013, for example, 7.7 million litres were served. Visitors also enjoy numerous attractions, such as amusement rides, sidestalls and games. There is also a wide variety of traditional foods including Hendl (roast chicken), Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (grilled ham hock), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstl (sausages) along with Brezen (pretzels), Knödel (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Rotkohl/Blaukraut (red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a spicy cheese-butter spread) and Weißwurst (a white sausage).
  
  The Munich Oktoberfest originally took place in the 16-day period leading up to the first Sunday in October. In 1994, this longstanding schedule was modified in response to German reunification. As such, if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or the 2nd, then the festival would run until October 3 (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival now runs for 17 days when the first Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1. In 2010, the festival lasted until the first Monday in October (October 4), to mark the event's bicentennial.
  
  Kronprinz Ludwig (1786-1868), later King Ludwig I (reign: 1825-1848), married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the royal event. The fields were named Theresienwiese ("Theresa's Meadow") in honour of the Crown Princess, and have kept that name ever since, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the "Wiesn". Horse races, in the tradition of the 15th-century Scharlachrennen (Scarlet Race at Karlstor), were held on October 17 to honor the newlyweds. It is widely understood that Andreas Michael Dall'Armi, a Major in the National Guard, proposed the idea. However, the origins of the horse races, and Oktoberfest itself, may have stemmed from proposals offered by Franz Baumgartner, a coachman and Sergeant in the National Guard. The precise origins of the festival and horse races remain a matter of controversy, however, the decision to repeat the horse races, spectacle, and celebrations in 1811 launched what is now the annual Oktoberfest tradition'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1823, Charles Macintosh Scottish chemist and inventor of waterproof fabrics (based on naphtha,) sells his first raincoat.
  From Wikipedia: 'Charles Macintosh FRS (29 December 1766 – 25 July 1843) was a Scottish chemist and inventor of waterproof fabrics. The Mackintosh raincoat (the variant spelling is now standard) is named for him.
  
  Macintosh was born in Glasgow, the son of George Macintosh and Mary Moore, and was first employed as a clerk. He devoted all his spare time to science, particularly chemistry, and before he was twenty resigned his clerkship to take up the manufacture of chemicals. In this he was highly successful, inventing various new processes. His experiments with one of the by-products of tar, naphtha, led to his invention of waterproof fabrics, the essence of his patent being the cementing of two thicknesses of cloth together with natural (India) rubber, the rubber being made soluble by the action of the naphtha. For his various chemical discoveries he was, in 1823, elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1828, he became a partner with James Beaumont Neilson in a firm to exploit the latter's patent for the hot blast blowing of blast furnaces, which saved considerably on their fuel consumption. Macintosh married, in 1790, Mary Fisher, daughter of Alexander Fisher a merchant of Glasgow. They had one son, George Macintosh (1791-1848) Charles Macintosh died in 1843 at Dunchattan, Scotland, and was buried in the churchyard of Glasgow Cathedral. He is buried with his parents in the ground of his great grandfather, John Anderson of Douhill, Lord Provost of Glasgow. His name is added to the impressive 17th century monument which stands against the eastern boundary wall. A secondary memorial also exists (in polished red granite, dating from the late 19th century) slightly to the north, where Charles is again mentioned on the grave of his son George'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the 'Executive Mansion' to the White Hous.
  From Wikipedia: The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in "The White House announced that...".
  
  'The building was originally referred to variously as the "President's Palace", "Presidential Mansion", or "President's House". The earliest evidence of the public calling it the "White House" was recorded in 1811. A myth emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure after the Burning of Washington, white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered, giving the building its namesake hue. The name "Executive Mansion" was used in official contexts until President Theodore Roosevelt established the formal name by having "White House–Washington" engraved on the stationery in 1901. The current letterhead wording and arrangement "The White House" with the word "Washington" centered beneath goes back to the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  
  Although it was not completed until some years after the presidency of George Washington, it is also speculated that the name of the traditional residence of the President of the United States may have derived from Martha Washington's home, White House Plantation in Virginia, where the nation's first President had courted the First Lady in the mid-18th century'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1928, An 'iron lung' respirator (Negative pressure ventilator) is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston. It was the first clinical use of the Drinker respirator.
  From Wikipedia: 'In 1670, English scientist John Mayow came up with the idea of external negative pressure ventilation. Mayow built a model consisting of bellows and a bladder to pull in and expel air. The first negative pressure ventilator was described by Scottish physician John Dalziel in 1832. Successful use of similar devices was described a few years later. Early prototypes included a hand-operated bellows-driven "Spirophore" designed by Dr. Woillez of Paris (1876), and an airtight wooden box designed specifically for the treatment of polio by Dr. Stueart of South Africa (1918). Stueart's box was sealed at the waist and shoulders with clay and powered by a motor-driven bellows. The first of these devices to be widely used however was developed by Drinker and Shaw in 1928. The iron lung, often referred to in the early days as the "Drinker respirator", was invented by Philip Drinker (1894–1972) and Louis Agassiz Shaw, Jr., professors of industrial hygiene at the Harvard School of Public Health. The machine was powered by an electric motor with air pumps from two vacuum cleaners. The air pumps changed the pressure inside a rectangular, airtight metal box, pulling air in and out of the lungs.
  
  The first clinical use of the Drinker respirator on a human was on October 12, 1928, at the Boston Children's Hospital. The subject was an eight-year-old girl who was nearly dead as a result of respiratory failure due to polio. Her dramatic recovery, within less than a minute of being placed in the chamber, helped popularize the new device'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1931, Five-time Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller is chosen as Tarzan in films.
  From Wikipedia: 'Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an Hungarian-born American competition swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. Weissmuller was one of the world's fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He won fifty-two U.S. National Championships, set more than fifty world records (spread over both freestyle and backstroke), and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After retiring from competitions, he became the sixth actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man, Tarzan, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films.
  
  His acting career began when he signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and played the role of Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). The movie was a huge success and Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. The author of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio's depiction of a Tarzan who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series filmed on location in Central American jungles and starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character'.
  - At FamousDaily: More
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1937, The radio show 'Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons' debuted. It ran October 12, 1937 to April 19, 1955.
  From Wikipedia: 'Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was one of radio's longest running shows, airing October 12, 1937 to April 19, 1955, continuing well into the television era. It was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, who based it upon Robert W. Chambers' 1906 novel The Tracer of Lost Persons. The sponsors included Whitehall Pharmacal (as in Anacin, Kolynos Toothpaste, BiSoDol antacid mints, Hill's cold tablets and Heet liniment), Dentyne, Aerowax, RCA Victor and Chesterfield cigarettes. It aired on the NBC Blue network until 1947, when it switched to CBS'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1945, Conscientious objector Private First Class Desmond T. Doss, wins the Medal of Honor. More
  From Wikipedia: 'Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three so honored (the others are Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr.). He was a corporal (private first class at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.
  
  Citation: He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machine gun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying all 75 casualties one-by-one to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within eight yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of one arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More
• In 1979, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (sometimes referred to as HG2G, HHGTTG or H2G2) is a comedy science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, including stage shows, novels, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 computer game, and 2005 feature film. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has become an international multi-media phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005.
  
  The broad narrative follows the misadventures of the last surviving man, Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the planet Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Dent is rescued from Earth's destruction by Ford Prefect, a human-like alien writer for the eccentric, electronic travel guide The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by hitchhiking onto a passing spacecraft. Following his rescue, Dent explores the galaxy with Prefect and encounters Trillian, another human that had been taken from Earth prior to its destruction by the President of the Galaxy, the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox, and the depressed Marvin, the Paranoid Android. Certain narrative details were changed between the various adaptations'.
  - At Wikipedia: More
  - On YouTube: More

Tomorrow's food holiday will be: 'National Gumbo Day'. From Wikipedia: 'Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder (dried and ground sassafras leaves), or roux, the French base made of flour and fat. The dish likely derived its name from either the Bantu word for okra (ki ngombo) or the Choctaw word for filé (kombo).
[The Hankster says] It's OK, but not one of my favorites.

Day an counter day:
- 'Tomorrow is of course 'Columbus Day'. Not all states celebrate this day.

- 'Indigenous Peoples' Day / Native American Day'. Started as a counter-Columbus Day.


One of the extreme north Texas counties is having a a holiday. Tomorrow is 'Thanksgiving Day in Canada'. On the second Monday in October.

'Freethought Day'. This day was chosen as it commemorates the anniversary of the effective end of the Salem witch trials in 1692.

Tomorrow is 'National Farmer’s Day'. Since the 1800's as Old Farmers Day.
[The Hankster says] No, I don't think this was another counter day. I guess the young farmers just wanted to be included.

Sit down to your virtual checkbook Tomorrow is 'National Online Bank Day'. On the second Monday in October.
[The Hankster says] If your checkbook doesn't balance, you can blame it on the PC as you always do for typos and such.

Tomorrow is a day to motivate yourself with a swift kick in the gluteus maximus. Tomorrow is 'National Kick Butt Day'. Second Monday in October. This is not the anti-smoking day, Kick Butts Day.
[The Hankster says] Who are they trying to kid. You can hardly reach the offending, er, ah, mass, with a significant blow anyway. Pretty safe isn't it? I'm not sure why irritating an area of the body that is half way down the frame from the part that really needs attention, is chosen. Motivation starts with the grey cells.


Awareness / Observance Days on: October 12
o Health
- 'World Arthritis Day'. In the European Union and others.

- 'Bone and Joint Action Week'. October 12-20 in the U.S.

- 'World Bone and Joint Week'. October 12-20.

o Other
- 'Health and Sports Day in Japan'. Second Monday in October.

- 'UN Spanish Language Day'. Since 2010. One of the official languages of the U.N.: Arabic (Literary Arabic), Chinese (Standard Chinese, Simplified Chinese characters), English (British spelling), French, Russian, Spanish.


Historical events in the past on: October 12

In 1492, Columbus reaches the New World.

In 1609, What became the Children's rhyme, 'Three Blind Mice', is published in London.

In 1692, The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips. From Wikipedia: 'The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of 20 people, most of them women'. There were a previous 12 in Mass and Conn. in the 1700's.

In 1773, Eastern State Hospital was the first psychiatric institution to be founded in the United States. It was America's first 'insane asylum' for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds'.

In 1792, The first celebration of Columbus Day in the US.

In 1810, The first Oktoberfest: Bavarian royalty invites citizens of Munich celebrate the royal wedding.

In 1823, Charles Macintosh of Scotland sells the first raincoat.

In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the 'Executive Mansion' to the White Hous.

In 1928, An 'iron lung' respirator (Negative pressure ventilator) is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston.

In 1931, Five-time Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller is chosen as Tarzan in films.

In 1937, The radio show 'Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons' debuted. It ran October 12, 1937 to April 19, 1955.

In 1945, Conscientious objector wins Medal of Honor.

In 1945, Conscientious objector Private First Class Desmond T. Doss, wins the Medal of Honor.

In 1979, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published.

In 1999, The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born.

No. 1 song

• Yesterday - The Beatle: More
  'Hang on Sloopy' has been displaced by 'Yesterday', which will hold the no. 1 spot until October 23 1965, when 'A Lover's Concerto - The toys', takes over.

Top movie

• The Agony and the Ecstasy More
  Having displaced 'Mickey One', it will be there until the weekend box office of Oct 17 1965 when, 'The Cincinnati Ki', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: October 12 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: October 12 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 12th October More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 12th October More
• On-This-day.com history 12th October More
• On-This-day.com music history 12th October More
• Wikipedia.com: History October 12 More

Monthly holiday / awareness days in October

Adopt a Dog Month
Adopt a Shelter Dog Month
American Cheese Month
American Magazine Month
American Pharmacists Month
Antidepressant Death Awareness Month
Bat Appreciation Month
Caffeine Addiction Recovery Month
Campaign for Healthier Babies Month
Car Care Month
Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month
Celiac Disease Awareness Month
Celiac Sprue Awareness Month
Child Health Month
Children's Magazine Month
Christmas Seal Campaign Church Library Month
Church Safety and Security Month
Class Reunion Month
Clergy Appreciation Month
Computer Learning Month
Consumer Information Month
Cookbook Month
Co-op Awareness Month
Country Music Month
Crime Prevention Month
Cut Out Dissection Month
Dollhouse and Miniatures Month
Dyslexia Awareness Month
Eat Better, Eat Together Month
Eat Country Ham Month
Emotional Intelligence Awareness Month
Emotional Wellness Month
Employee Ownership Month
Energy Awareness Month
Energy Management is a Family Affair - Improve Your Home Month
Eye Injury Prevention Month
Fair Trade Month
Family Health Month
Feral Hog Month
or Hog Out Month
Financial Planning Month
Fire Prevention Month
Gay and Lesbian History Month
German-American Heritage Month
Global Diversity Awareness Month
Go Hog Wild-Eat Country Ham Month
Halloween Safety Month
Head Start Awareness Month
Health Literacy Month
Healthy Lung Month
Home Eye Safety Month
Hunger Awareness Month
International Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) International Starman Month
International Strategic Planning Month
Long-Term Care Planning Month
Lupus Awareness Month
Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month
Mental Illness Awareness Month
Month
of Freethought National AIDS Awareness Month
National Animal Safety and Protection Month
National Apple Month
National Applejack Month
National Audiology Awareness Month
National Bake and Decorate Month
National Book Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month
National Caramel Month
National Chili Month
National Chiropractic Health Month
National Cookie Month
National Crime Prevention Month
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
National Dental Hygiene Month
National Depression Education and Awareness Month
National Dessert Month
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
National Down Syndrome Awareness Month
National Ergonomics Month
National Family Sexuality Education Month
- Let's Talk National Farm to School Month
National Gain the Inside Advantage Month
National Go on a Field Trip Month
National Kitchen and Bath Month
National Liver Awareness Month
National Medical Librarians Month
National Orthodontic Health Month
National Pasta Month
National Pet Wellness Month
National Physical Therapy Month
National Pickled Peppers Month
National Pit Bull Awareness Month
National Pizza Month
National Popcorn Month
National Popcorn Poppin' Month
National Pork Month
National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
National Pretzel Month
National Protect Your Hearing Month
National Reading Group Month
National Roller Skating Month
National RSV Awareness Month
National Sarcastic Awareness Month
National Seafood Month
National Service Dog Month
National Spina Bifida Awareness Month
National Spinning and Weaving Month
National Stamp Collecting Month
National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month
National Window Covering Safety Month
National Work and Family Month
Organize Your Medical Information Month
Patient-Centered Care Awareness Month
Pear and Pineapple Month
Persimmons Month
Photographer Appreciation Month
Polish-American Heritage Month
Positive Attitude Month
Quality Month
Raptor Month
Rett Syndrome Awareness Month
Rhizomes Month
Right Brainers Rule Month
Sausage Month
Self-Promotion Month
Sexuality Education Month
SIDS, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
Spina Bifida Prevention Month
Spinach Lovers Month
Spinal Health Month
Squirrel Awareness Month
Stress Awareness Month
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Month
Tackling Hunger Month
Talk about Prescriptions Month
UNICEF Month
Vegetarian Awareness Month
Vegetarian Month
Wishbones for Pets Month
Workplace Politics Awareness Month
World Animal Month
World Blindness Awareness Month
World Menopause Month
Youth Against Tobacco Month

October is:

October origin (from Wikipedia): October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Greek meaning 'eight') after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. "
October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.

October at Wikipedia: More

If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago, or your 45 RPM record player was broke, you might watch one of these shows on TV.
From this Wikipedia article: More

Best selling books of 1965 More

• Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
• NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
• Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
• NASA TV: (video feed) More
  NASA TV schedule: More
• Public Domain eBook Links

  Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

• Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
  Home page: More
  RSS: More

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.

US Government Holidays

• 2015 Postal Holidays More
• 2015 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

• List of holidays by country More
• Holidays and Observances around the World More