On This Day — 14 October

2025

A coup d'état successfully overthrows Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina.

2025 Malagasy coup d'état

2023

Australians vote to reject a constitutional amendment that would have established an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum

2021

About 10,000 American employees of John Deere go on strike.

John Deere

2017

An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber detonated a massive truck bomb at the Zobe junction in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, killing 587 people, injuring 316 others, and leaving more than 500 missing.

Al-Shabaab (militant group)

2015

A suicide bomb attack in Tonsa, Pakistan kills at least seven people and injures 13 others.

2015 Tonsa bombing

2014

A snowstorm and avalanche in the Nepalese Himalayas triggered by the remnants of Cyclone Hudhud kills 43 people.

2014 Nepal snowstorm disaster

2014

The Serbia vs. Albania UEFA qualifying match is canceled after 42 minutes due to several incidents on and off the pitch. Albania is eventually awarded a win.

Serbia v Albania (UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying)

2012

Felix Baumgartner successfully jumps to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere.

Felix Baumgartner

2004

MK Airlines Flight 1602 crashes during takeoff from Halifax Stanfield International Airport, killing all seven people on board.

MK Airlines Flight 1602

2004

Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 crashes in Jefferson City, Missouri. The two pilots (the aircraft's only occupants) are killed.

Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701

2003

The Steve Bartman Incident takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

Steve Bartman incident

1998

Eric Rudolph is charged with six bombings, including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia.

Eric Rudolph

1994

Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the establishment of the Oslo Accords and the framing of future Palestinian self government.

Yasser Arafat

1991

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Aung San Suu Kyi

1982

U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a war on drugs.

Ronald Reagan

1981

Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.

Hosni Mubarak

1980

The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party ended, having anointed North Korean President Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il as his successor.

6th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea

1979

The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights draws approximately 100,000 people.

National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

1975

An RAF Avro Vulcan bomber explodes and crashes over Żabbar, Malta after an aborted landing, killing five crew members and one person on the ground.

Royal Air Force

1973

In the Thammasat student uprising, over 100,000 people protest in Thailand against the military government. Seventy-seven are killed and 857 are injured by soldiers.

1973 Thai popular uprising

1968

Apollo program: The first live television broadcast by American astronauts in orbit is performed by the Apollo 7 crew.

Apollo program

1968

The 6.5 Mw  Meckering earthquake shakes the southwest portion of Western Australia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing $2.2 million in damage and leaving 20–28 people injured.

1968 Meckering earthquake

1968

Jim Hines becomes the first man ever to break the so-called "ten-second barrier" in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 9.95 seconds.

Jim Hines

1966

The city of Montreal begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid transit system.

Montreal

1966

The Dutch Cals cabinet fell after Norbert Schmelzer, the leader of the government party, filed a successful motion against the budget, in what later became known as the Night of Schmelzer.

Cals cabinet

1964

Martin Luther King Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.

Martin Luther King Jr.

1964

The Soviet Presidium and the Communist Party Central Committee each vote to accept Nikita Khrushchev's "voluntary" request to retire from his offices.

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union

1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis begins when an American reconnaissance aircraft takes photographs of Soviet ballistic missiles being installed in Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1957

The 23rd Canadian Parliament becomes the only one to be personally opened by the Queen of Canada.

23rd Canadian Parliament

1957

At least 81 people are killed in the most devastating flood in the history of the Spanish city of Valencia.

1957 Valencia flood

1956

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, leader of India's Untouchable caste, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 of his followers (see Neo-Buddhism).

B. R. Ambedkar

1949

The Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders in the United States convicts eleven defendants of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the federal government.

Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders

1947

Flying the Bell X-1 over Muroc Army Air Field in California, Captain Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in level flight, reaching Mach 1.05.

Bell X-1

1943

World War II: Prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp covertly assassinate most of the on-duty SS officers and then stage a mass breakout.

Sobibor extermination camp

1943

World War II: The United States Eighth Air Force loses 60 of 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses during the Second Raid on Schweinfurt.

Eighth Air Force

1943

World War II: The Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state of Japan, is inaugurated with José P. Laurel as its president.

Second Philippine Republic

1942

World War II: The German submarine U-69 (1940) sinks the Canadian passenger ferry SS Caribou approximately 20 nautical miles southwest of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.

German submarine U-69 (1940)

1940

World War II: The Balham underground station disaster kills sixty-six people during the London Blitz.

Balham station

1939

World War II: The German submarine U-47 sinks the British battleship HMS Royal Oak within her harbour at Scapa Flow, Scotland.

World War II

1933

Germany withdraws from the League of Nations and World Disarmament Conference.

League of Nations

1930

The former and first President of Finland, K. J. Ståhlberg, and his wife, Ester Ståhlberg, are kidnapped from their home by members of the far-right Lapua Movement.

President of Finland

1923

After the Irish Civil War the 1923 Irish hunger strikes were undertaken by thousands of Irish republican prisoners protesting the continuation of their internment without trial.

Irish Civil War

1920

Finland and Soviet Russia sign the Treaty of Tartu, exchanging some territories.

Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia)

1915

World War I: Bulgaria joins the Central Powers.

World War I

1913

Senghenydd colliery disaster, the United Kingdom's worst coal mining accident, claims the lives of 439 miners.

Senghenydd colliery disaster

1912

Former president Theodore Roosevelt is shot and mildly wounded by John Flammang Schrank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the fresh wound in his chest, and the bullet still within it, Roosevelt delivers his scheduled speech.

Theodore Roosevelt

1910

English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his aircraft on Executive Avenue near the White House in Washington, D.C.

Claude Grahame-White

1908

The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the 1908 World Series; this would be their last until winning the 2016 World Series.

Chicago Cubs

1898

The steam ship SS Mohegan sinks near the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, killing 106.

SS Mohegan

1888

Louis Le Prince films the first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene.

Louis Le Prince

1884

George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.

George Eastman

1863

American Civil War: Confederate troops under the command of A. P. Hill fail to drive the Union Army completely out of Virginia.

American Civil War

1843

Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell is arrested by the British on charges of criminal conspiracy.

Daniel O'Connell

1809

The Treaty of Schönbrunn is signed, ending the War of the Fifth Coalition, the final successful war in Napoleon Bonaparte's military career.

Treaty of Schönbrunn

1808

The Republic of Ragusa is annexed by France.

Republic of Ragusa

1806

War of the Fourth Coalition: Napoleon decisively defeats Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt.

War of the Fourth Coalition

1805

War of the Third Coalition: A French corps defeats an Austrian attempt to escape encirclement at Ulm.

War of the Third Coalition

1791

The revolutionary group the United Irishmen is formed in Belfast, Ireland leading to the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Society of United Irishmen

1774

American Revolution: The First Continental Congress denounces the British Parliament's Intolerable Acts and demands British concessions.

American Revolution

1773

The first recorded ministry of education, the Commission of National Education, is formed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Commission of National Education

1758

Seven Years' War: Frederick the Great suffers a rare defeat at the Battle of Hochkirch.

Seven Years' War

1656

The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends.

Massachusetts General Court

1586

Mary, Queen of Scots, goes on trial for conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Mary, Queen of Scots

1322

Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence.

Robert the Bruce

1066

The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings.

Norman Conquest