683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down.
802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Conspirators place Nikephoros, the minister of finance, on the Byzantine throne.
1517 – Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
1864 – Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.
1922 – Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy
1941 – After 14 years of work, Mount Rushmore is completed.
1961 – In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Vladimir Lenin's Tomb.
1968 – Vietnam War October surprise: Citing progress with the Paris peace talks, US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1.
1984 – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh security guards. Riots break out in New Delhi and other cities and nearly 10,000 Sikhs are killed.
1999 – Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.
2000 – Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crashes on takeoff in Taipei killing 83 people.
2011 – The global population of humans reaches seven billion. This day is now recognized by the United Nations as Seven Billion Day.
2014 – Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crashes in the Mojave Desert during a test flight,