OCTOBER 1, 1916: Canadians on the Somme begin a series of costly attacks on the Regina Trench as part of the Battle of Ancre Heights.
OCTOBER 2, 1952: The Canadian destroyer Iroquois, in a dual with North Korean shore batteries, is hit by artillery fire. Three sailors die, 10 more are wounded.
OCTOBER 3, 1914: The largest convoy ever to sail from Canada departs with more than 30,000 men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
OCTOBER 4, 1993: At least five American soldiers are killed after two Blackhawk helicopters are shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia. One U.S. soldier is believed to have been taken hostage.
OCTOBER 5, 1984: Astronaut Marc Garneau—on board the space shuttle Challenger—becomes the first Canadian in space.
OCTOBER 6, 1981: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a military review ceremony. Security forces shoot and kill two of the attackers. Sadat was the first Arab leader to recognize the state of Israel since its creation in 1948.
OCTOBER 7, 1999: Adrienne Clarkson begins her term as Governor General.
OCTOBER 8, 2001: The federal government sends the navy as Canada’s immediate contribution to the war on terror. Within days, Canadian warships are en route to the Arabian Sea as part of Operation Apollo.
OCTOBER 9, 1957: The former frigate HMCS La Hulloise is re-commissioned as an ocean escort.
OCTOBER 10, 1980: An official report pegs the death toll at up to 20,000 following two big earthquakes in Algeria.
OCTOBER 11-12, 1899: The South African War between Great Britain and the Boers of Transvaal and Orange Free State begins.
OCTOBER 13, 2010: Thirty-three trapped miners are rescued from a mine in Chile after spending more than seven weeks underground.
OCTOBER 14, 1942: The Canadian ferry Caribou is torpedoed in the Cabot Strait, 136 die.
OCTOBER 15, 1964: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev steps down. He had held the positions of party leader and prime minister since the late 1950s.
OCTOBER 16, 1970: Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act in response to a deepening crisis in Quebec.
OCTOBER 17, 1970: Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte is murdered by members of the FLQ.
OCTOBER 18, 1940: The destroyer HMCS Skeena rescues six from the torpedoed SS Bruse.
OCTOBER 19, 1987: Panicked stockholders sell off millions of shares causing world stock markets to collapse.
OCTOBER 20, 1967: Oakland, Calif., is the site of the biggest anti-Vietnam war demonstration to date.
OCTOBER 21, 1910: The cruiser HMCS Niobe arrives in Halifax.
OCTOBER 22, 1940: While escorting an outbound convoy from the United Kingdom, the Canadian destroyer Margaree collides with the freighter Port Fairy. The escort’s bow is sheared off and she sinks by the stern. 142 perish.
OCTOBER 23, 1983: The death toll is expected to be in the hundreds following two separate bombing attacks on military barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Most of the dead are American marines. Also killed are several French service personnel.
OCTOBER 24, 2003: The Concorde jet makes its last commercial passenger flight, landing at Heathrow Airport.
OCTOBER 25, 1973: The second United Nations Emergency Force is established.
OCTOBER 26, 1917: The Canadian Corps attacks Passchendaele Ridge. Fighting into November through deep mud and around water-filled craters the Canadians succeed, but there are 15,654 Canadian casualties.
OCTOBER 27, 1915: His Majesty the King visits the Canadian Corps. His visit precedes four months of cold, nasty weather.
OCTOBER 28, 1962: Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev ends an international standoff by agreeing to dismantle and remove all Russian missiles based in Cuba. Khrushchev’s announcement is made in a public communiqué to United States President John F. Kennedy.
OCTOBER 29, 1899: The first contingent of volunteers troops departs Quebec for the “splendid little war” in South Africa.
OCTOBER 30, 1918: The west coast patrol vessel HMCS Galiano is wrecked in bad weather and lost with all hands while transiting Barkley Sound.
OCTOBER 31, 1984: The prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, is assassinated in New Delhi.
For ‘ON THIS DATE’ November Events, come back to legionmagazine.com on November 1st, 2011
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