This Day in History — President Kennedy Announces Blockade of Cuba

October 22

1797
Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute jump from a balloon.

1836
Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

1954
West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

1962
President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.

1973
Spanish cellist, conductor, and composer Pablo Casals died in Puerto Rico, at age 96.

1979
Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi, the deposed Shah of Iran, was allowed in the United States for medical treatment. This action led to the Iran hostage crisis.

Birthdays

Franz Liszt
1811–86, Hungarian composer and pianist.

Collis Potter Huntington
railroad builder (1821)

Sarah Bernhardt
actress (1844)

John Reed
journalist and radical (1887)

Doris Lessing
novelist (1919)

Bobby Seale
black activist (1936)

Christopher Lloyd
actor (1938)

Annette Funicello
actress (1942)

Catherine Deneuve
actor (1943)

Jeff Goldblum
actor (1952)

Amanda Coetzer
tennis player (1971)

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