10/22/1940
Assigned as the sole escort for a small convoy of five ships outbound from the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Margaree is stationed ahead of the convoy. In reduced visibility, the destroyer’s speed is cut back. As the remainder of the convoy catches up, Margaree’s turn to port causes a collision with the freighter Port Fairy, leaving Margaree with its bow sheared off. As the ship sinks by the stern, 142 perish. The large loss of life, along with the loss of two destroyers to collisions within four months, is a severe blow to the Royal Canadian Navy.

10/23/1942
In North Africa, British General Bernard Montgomery’s Eight Army attacks at El Alamein.

10/23/1983
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.

10/24/2003
The Concorde jet makes its last commercial passenger flight, landing at Heathrow Airport.

10/25/1973
The second United Nations Emergency Force is established.

10/25-26/1813
Smaller British forces led by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Michel de Salaberry defeat American troops at Chateauguay near Ormstown, Que.

10/26/1917
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.

10/26-30/1983
Following a multinational invasion of Grenada, Canada’s military helps evacuate Canadian nationals using Hercules and 707 aircraft.

10/27/1915
His Majesty the King visits the Canadian Corps. His visit precedes four months of cold, nasty weather.

10/27/1918
Canadian fighter pilot William Barker is involved in air combat with a much superior enemy force. During the dogfights, he is seriously wounded, but manages to shoot down a number of enemy aircraft before crash landing near Allied lines. He is awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions..

10/28/1962
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.