1582
Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian calendar.
October 4th of this year was followed directly by October 15th.

1822
Nineteenth President of the US, Rutherford B. Hayes born in Delaware, Ohio.

1861
Artist Frederick Remington born in Canton, New York.

1880
Writer Damon Runyon born in Manhattan, Kansas.

1895

Silent movie star Buster Keaton born in Piqua, Kansas.

1914
Writer and editor Brendan Gill born in Hartford, Connecticut. Worked at the New Yorker for more than 60 years.

1927
Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mount Rushmore.

1931

Chester Gould's comic strip Dick Tracy debuted in the Detroit Daily Mirror.

1957
The Soviet Union launched its earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik I.
The first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

1970
Clutching $4.50, singer Janis Joplin was found dead of a heroin overdose in the Hollywood Landmark Motor Hotel.

1974
Poet Anne Sexton puts on her mother's old fur coat, removes all her rings, pours herself a glass of vodka, locks herself in her garage, and starts the engine of her car, committing suicide.

1986
CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather is attacked by two thugs yelling “What's The Frequency Kenneth?”

Today from Chamber's Book of Days