October 10
1845
The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Md.
1886
The tuxedo dinner jacket made its debut at a ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.
1911
Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionaries overthrew the Manchu dynasty in China.
1935
George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess debuted on Broadway.
1943
Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
1970
Fiji gained its independence from Great Britain.
1973
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion.
1985
Actor and director Orson Welles died in Hollywood at age 70.
2001
California representative Nancy Pelosi became minority whip.
2002
The US Congress gave President Bush authorization to use military force against Iraq.
Birthdays
James Clavell
1924–1994, (Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle), screenwriter, director, producer, novelist born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Jean-Antoine Watteau
painter (1684)
Henry Cavendish
physicist and chemist (1731)
Benjamin West
painter (1738)
Giuseppe Verdi
composer of opera (1813)
Robert Gould Shaw
soldier, Civil War figure (1837)
Helen Hayes
actress (1900)
Alberto Giacometti
sculptor (1901)
R. K. Narayan
novelist (1906)
Thelonious Monk
jazz pianist (1917)
Harold Pinter
dramatist (1930)
Ben Vereen
actor, dancer (1946)
Amanda Burton
actor (1956)
Tanya Tucker
country singer (1958)
Brett Favre
football player (1969)
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
auto racer (1974)
Mya
singer, actor (1979)