Book Review: The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. Miller

 

Over the years, Derek B. Miller has become one of my favorite authors. It started years ago, when my mom encouraged me to read Norwegian By Night, which was his first book. It was a great book. We both began to follow him, and have read pretty much almost all of his books. Frankly, it surprised me when I went back to find that I had reviewed only two of his books prior to this review. Those were Norwegian by Night and Radio Life.

In some respects, this book actually reminded me a little bit of one of the most favorite works by another of my favorite authors. I am of course referring to Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Not in terms of writing style or how the novel worked itself out, because they are entirely different in that regard. Rather, both novels revisited chapters during World War II which calls into question some decisions by the Allies, which could be considered outright war crimes. In Slaughterhouse-Five, of course, Vonnegut writes about his time as a Prisoner-of-War in Dresden when that city got firebombed, producing what Vonnegut argued was the single worst overnight massacre in European history. In this book, Miller actually describes two events which the Allies were responsible for, and which could be interpreted as war crimes. The first was the destruction by bombing of one of Western Civilization's most important building, the Montecassino. The second was the criminal conduct of the Goumiers, or the Moroccan troops fighting for France, who committed atrocities which came to be known in Italian as the Marocchinate (translated to Moroccan Deeds). 

Otherwise, that is the only real similarity that this book has with any Vonnegut books. I never meant to suggest that it was similar in any other way. This book clearly delves into actual history, yet it does so with a modern feel. For example, the main character seems to flip from identifying as a boy or a girl fairly quickly and easily, creating characters in his/her own head. And this book, while about World War II, does not portray Americans or the United States as particularly heroic. In fact, some aspects of this book feel like a warning for Americans in particular, about excessive nationalism and division, fascism and the realities or war.

Before I go any farther, however, let me give the usual warnings to stop reading if you intend to read this book, because there will be spoilers ahead.

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning. 

As mentioned earlier, this book is not something which can be easily or quickly described. There are a lot of twists and turns here. Also, there are no clear cut villains or heroes. It takes place in World War II, but we seem to meet some decent Germans and Italians, despite them being part of the Axis powers. And we see members of the Allied armies conducting themselves in frankly despicable ways, even committing war crimes. 

So not an easy book that can be summarized quickly.

Still, here is my review, which again, does include spoilers.

It begins with a boy being roughed up by locals and left in a ditch on the side of the road near the town of Cassino, Italy. This boy, Massimo, is helped by a mysterious older man named Pietro Houdini. Houdini and the boy go to the massive Montecassino abbey, which is perched atop a mountain and looks and seems more like a castle than a religious building. There, they find respite and wind up spending quite a bit of time together. In fact, they begin to love each other as family. Massimo almost views Pietro as a mixture of a father figure and a wise guide through life. 

While staying at the abbey, they hear about how the Nazis, who are being driven out of Italy, have "offered" to transport the abbey's priceless works of arts and manuscripts and other documents and valuables to the Vatican. Pietro and the monks smell a rat and do not trust the Germans, although they also do not have much of a choice. They ultimately agree. So Pietro goes to work categorizing the art work in order to steal it away from the Nazis before they can really obtain it. He lets Massimo in on this plan, and the two work in collusion to achieve this end. 

One of the major projects for Pietro is to disguise three masterpieces by Venetian Renaissance artist Tiziano. These are of ancient Greek mythology themes: Venus and Adonis, Perseus and Andromeda., and Diana and Actaeon. Pietro decides that the best way to "hide" these paintings would be in plain site, by painting over them and making them appear worthless to the casual observer. On and off throughout the book, Pietro is busy working on these watercolor paintings, which can be easily washed off, yet would help keep these paintings hidden from the Nazis.

They both want to help the war effort against the fascists. To that end, they try to find guns, but Massimo makes a mistake and goes to the village in search of guns. There they encounter two Nazi officers at a cafe, and this will ultimately end with Pietro and the woman helping them killing these two Nazis. Soon, however, Massimo is taken into custody by the Nazis, where she faces the real threat of torture. Before this can happen, however, Pietro storms in and rescues her by yelling and demanding his release. When they are driving away, Massimo finds out why the Nazis gave way to Pietro's demands, as Pietro reveals that his actual last name is Mussolini, and he is indeed related to Il Duce. They have a heated discussion, but then are both seriously injured in a car crash. 

It takes time, but they both recover. Massimo recovers quite quickly, although Pietro will never really be the same. He injured his leg severely and will walk with a limp for the rest of his days. Pietro seems dispirited, and this has a dire effect on Massimo, as well. They are downtrodden, until a couple, Dino and Lucia, and their donkey Ferrari, show up at the abbey. Their presence gives new life to Pietro, which in turn energizes Massimo. 

When the fascists suddenly show up rather unexpectedly, Pietro hides Dino, who is a defector from the Italian army, although he is forced to kill two fascists anyway. Meanwhile, Lucia is tasked with disguising Massimo as a girl, until she finds in this process that physically, Massimo is in fact a female. Lucia names her Eva, and that becomes her name for much of the rest of this novel. 

Not long after that, they discover that Montecassino is going to be bombed by the Allies, who believe (wrongly) that the Germans are using this massive, fortress-like structure perched atop a mountain - and thus blocking the way north  - for defense purposes. The Americans make good on this promise, and level this historical building with three consecutive days of bombing. We learn that the Allies dropped more bombs on Montecassino than on any other building during all of World War II. The building is destroyed, as is the village nearby and much of the woods, to boot.

Before this happens, Pietro has assembled a group to escape Montecassino. Pietro and Eva (formerly Massimo) travel with Ferrari, the donkey, through the snowy mountain passes. Dino and Lucia are with them, as is a nurse, Ada, an injured yet very talkative and friendly German named Harald who challenges the stereotypes of Germans held by more than one in the group, Tobias (one of the monks), and finally, Bella, the woman who helped Pietro kill the Nazis in the cafe. They end up in a tiny village named Villa Santa Lucia. They find an abandoned home that was formerly occupied by Jews who have disappeared (were taken away). The group cleans the house up and attempts to live. The villagers soon accept them, and the group manages to live here for many months, through the rough winter and into the spring.

For a little while, they begin to feel almost like the war is far away. But this does not last. At one point, they find Allied soldiers arrive at the village. At first they are greeted by friendly villagers. But these are the feared Goumiers, or the Moroccan troops fighting for France. While in Italy, they committed atrocities which came to be known in Italian as the Marocchinate (translated to Moroccan Deeds). They do not spare the tiny village of Villa Santa Lucia. Dino and Lucia seem to survive but are brutalized. Harald and Tobias are killed. Ada guns the Moroccan soldiers down, although she takes her own life shortly afterward. Pietro, meanwhile, tries to save Eva, but he gets shot a couple of times, and it appears to be fatal. Suddenly, Eva has to escape the village entirely on her own. Before she departs, however, Pietro gives her his treasures, which include the three Tiziano masterpieces, some other historical artifacts, and plenty enough money to last a long time (through the war, as it turns out). Also, Eva has plenty of food and supplies, as donkeys from the Allied armies had roamed free and unsupervised through the mountains near the tiny village, feeding the group.

In the end, Eva makes her way to Naples. She is stunned that this city, which she and Pietro had spoken and dreamed about going to for all of those long months, could now be reached in as little as a couple of days. So she heads to the coast instead in order for it to take a little less time. Along the way, she has some adventures, including saving a young girl from some sick imprisonment by a solitary nutcase, and boarding a car with other young people before leaving when she senses something wrong (it appears that the girls are selling themselves, and the boys may be some sort of pimps). 

When she finally makes it to Naples, se finds it disappointing, not welcoming or friendly or beautiful. Pietro had told her to first find Castel Nuovo, which is right by the sea, then follow an avenue uptown to the apartment of Professor Ambrosio, a former friend of Pietro. She finds the place and then reveals herself to the man, including the treasures - literal and otherwise - which Pietro has given her. There is not quite the same closeness that she felt with Pietro, yet she stays there for the duration of the war, as it is a safe and stable place to wait it out. 

Shortly after she arrives at the apartment, she unpacks all of the stuff she has been traveling with. That includes food and gold coins, historical artifacts and, of course, the paintings. She finally get the chance to see them for the first time.

The first painting was for Massimo and done in Renaissance style. It revealed Pietro and the boy looking out on a view of the Chiostro del Bramante from the statues of St. benedict on one side and his sister, Schiolastica, on the other side. 

The second painting was done in Impressionist style and was for Eva. It showed a pretty girl on a mule traversing mountain passes toward a man in the distance, similar to Eva's traveling with Pietro to escape the inevitable bombing of Montecassino. 

The final one was a sort of version of the Last Supper done in pointillism, a style of painting using small dots to create a larger picture that grows more coherent and complete when seen at a distance. It showed the group from the days of peace and bliss at Villa Santa Lucia.

Eva is touched. Eventually, we find out that she keeps the paintings and, years later, has a professional photographer create life-sized copies of the paintings by Pietro, before she turns in the Tiziano masterpieces. They still mean a lot to her.

Finally by the very end of the novel, twenty years have passed. The abbey has been rebuilt, and she attends the ceremonies. She notes that Montecassino has been rebuilt almost eerily accurately, although it now feels shockingly clean and unfamiliar and impersonal to her. We learn that the artwork and gold has been returned to the abbey. She also visits other local sites from her stay in the region during the war, including the town of Cassino itself, as well as Monumento all Castro dei Volsci with a monument there called the Mamma Ciociara, commemorating the victims of  the Marocchinate . Finally, she pays a visit to Villa Santa Lucia, wanting some closure on who died. She does not find the names of Dino or Lucia. And Pietro also is not listed.

She reveals that she has been married with children, but is now divorced. Unlike what Pietro had predicted, she had not sailed West to the Americas, but stayed put in Italy. 

One thing that she also says: she never did see Pietro Houdini again. While she at some point seemed to have a strong feeling that he was still alive, and while his name also was not listed among the dead from the tragic episode in the little village, she nevertheless heard from him or saw him on any level. And yet, she realized that, through his stories and his influence, she herself had become "the curse of Pietro Houdini."

Interesting.

All in all, this is an excellent book. Well-researched and well-written. Another great and enjoyable book from Derek B. Miller, whom I have become a fan of. Have yet to read a bad book from his, and this one was quite exceptional in certain ways. It made an admittedly unfamiliar chapter of World War II (at least for me) come alive, but stripped of any heroic narratives. 

Highly recommended.

Today Would Have Been the Late Great President Jimmy Carter's 102nd Birthday

 

Today marks what would have been the 102nd birthday of Jimmy Carter. Carter was, of course, the 39th President of the United States, and was widely regarded as having had the most accomplished and successful post-presidency of anyone, and by far. He headed the Carter Center, which tried to improve the lives of people around the world by fighting diseases in impoverished regions, overseeing fair elections across the world, and building houses for Habitat Humanity. President Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, and he became a member of The Elders.

Also, he wrote close to two dozen books, and became the first former American president to publish a work of fiction.

For me, he was truly an American hero. At a time when the reputation of Americans, and the United States more generally, felt like it was in significant decline - possibly even plummeting - Carter was a welcome change. he earned the respect and even love of many people the world over, leading by example rather than flash or empty words.

So today, I am honoring him once again on what would have been his 101st birthday.

To honor him a bit more, it felt like this video from the New York Times seemed timely and appropriate. It features some small snippets of interviews with Carter himself.

Take a look:

The Last Word: Jimmy Carter

October 1st: This Day in History

  

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history 

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

• 331 BCE - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.

• 366 - St Damasus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

704 - Aengibald gives away bishop Willibrord estate in Waalre

911 - During a siege in Constantinople, the Theotokos appeared at the church in Blachernae holding her veil over the praying faithful, among them St. Andrew of Constantinople.

959 - Edgar the Peaceable becomes king of all England.

965 - John XIII Crescentii elected to succeed Pope Leo VIII

1189 - Gerard de Ridefort, grandmaster of the Knights Templar since 1184, is killed in the Siege of Acre.

1273 - Earl Rudolf van Habsburg becomes Roman Catholics-German king

1529 - -3] Meeting between Maarten Luther & Huldrych Zwingli

1569 - Duke of Norfolk arrested

1574 - -2] Storm breaks Leiden dike; drowns 20,000 Spanish soldiers

1606 - Spanish troops under Spinola occupies fort Rhine birch

• 1632 - Battle at Castelnaudary: Duke Henri de Montmorency's rebel army loses

• 1653 - Russian parliament accepts annexation of Ukraine

1657 - Treaty of Raalte: Willem II no longer viceroy of Overijssel

1661 - Yachting begins in England; King Charles II beats his brother James

1670 - -4] Battle at Simbirsk a/d Wolga: Russian army beats Boers

1688 - Prince Willem III accept invitation of English crown to occupy

• 1705 - Parliament declares Hungary independently/French Rákóczi becomes king

Macedonian King and Conqueror of Persia Alexander the GreatMacedonian King and Conqueror of Persia Alexander the Great 

• 1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie flees to France

• 1768 - English troops under general Gauge lands in Boston

1787 - Russians under Suvorov defeat the Turks at Kinburn.

1791 - 1st session of new French legislative assembly

• 1795 - France annexes Southern Netherlands

• 1795 - Belgium was conquered by France.

• 1800 - Spain cedes Louisiana to France in a secret treaty

1801 - England & France signs Preliminary of London

French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte

• 1814 - Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to redraw the Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoléon the previous spring.

• 1827 - The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Armenia.

• 1829 - South African College is founded in Cape Town, South Africa; later to separate into the University of Cape Town and the South African College Schools.

• 1830 - General Trade Journal newspaper begins publishing in Amsterdam

British Botanist Charles Darwin

• 1833 - Charles Darwin reaches Rio Tercero Argentina

1837 - "Racer's" Hurricane (Gulf of Mexico)

• 1837 - Treaty with Winnebago Indians

Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1838 - Civil Code enforced (- Jan 1, 1992)

• 1843 - News of the World began publication in London.

1847 - Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet

1847 - German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds Siemens AG & Halske.

• 1851 - 1st Hawaiian stamps issued

1854 - The watch company founded in 1850 in Roxbury by Aaron Lufkin Dennison relocates to Waltham, Massachusetts, to become the Waltham Watch Company, a pioneer in the American System of Watch Manufacturing.

1863 - 5 Russian warships welcomed in NYC

1863 - Dutch Breda-Tilburg railway opens

1864 - Cyclone strikes Calcutta: 70,000 killed

• 1864 - John S Staples is paid $500 as a substitute for President Lincoln

1866 - Dutch Eindhoven-Venlo railway opens

• 1867 - Karl Marx' "Das Kapital," published

1868 - 1st edition of Maasbode published

1869 - 1st postcards are issued (Vienna, Austria)

1871 - General Dutch Werkliedenverbond (ANWV), forms in Utrecht

Communist Philosopher Karl MarxCommunist Philosopher Karl Marx 1874 - Rotterdam opens drink water pipes

1879 - Cincinnati Enquirer publishes 1st report on baseball reserve clause

1880 - John Philip Sousa becomes new director of US Marine Corps Band

1885 - Special delivery mail service begins in US

1886 - US mint at Carson City, Nevada closes

1887 - Balochistan conquered by the British Empire.

1888 - National Geographic magazine publishes for 1st time

1889 - Soccer team HFC Haarlem forms

1889 - Washington voters adopt state constitution in referendum

1890 - Congress creates Weather Bureau

• 1890 - Yosemite National Park forms

1891 - In the U.S. state of California, Stanford University opens its doors.

1892 - University of Chicago opens

1893 - 3rd worst hurricane in US history kills 1,800 (Mississippi)

1894 - Civic organization, Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben founded in Omaha, Nebraska

Composer John Philip SousaComposer John Philip Sousa 

•  1894 - First meeting of The Owl Club of Cape Town.

• 1895 - Romanians in Costantinople massacred

1896 - Sherlock Holmes adventure "Veiled Lodger" takes place (BG)

1898 - Dutch railway Alkmaar-Receiver opens

1898 - Henry Huntington buys LA Railway

1898 - Jews are expelled from Kiev Russia

1898 - Czar Nikolay II expels Jews from major Russian cities.

• 1898 - The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.

1903 - 1st baseball World Series, Pittsburgh Pirates vs Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox)

• 1904 - JB van Heutsz becomes gov-general of Netherland Indies

• 1904 - Netherlands & Portugal lay down bounderies splitting Timor

1905 - František Pavlík is killed in a demonstration in Prague, inspiring Leoš Janáček to the piano composition 1. X. 1905.

1906 - Hugh Jennings resigns as Balt manager to take over at Detroit in 1907

1907 - Plaza Hotel (5th Av & 59th Str, NY) opens

1908 - 1st Dutch electric railway in use (Rotterdam-The Hague)

Ford Motor Company Founder Henry FordFord Motor Company Founder Henry Ford 1908 - Henry Ford introduces Model T car (costs $825)

1908 - Jack Chesbro's final Yankee victory, beats Walter Johnson 2-1

1910 - Berkshire Cattle Fair held in Pittsfield Mass (1st state fair)

1910 - Explosion at LA Times kills 21

1910 - Regina Rugby Club's 1st game, losing to Moose Jaw Tigers, 16-6

1911 - United Dutch Diamond workers get 8-hr day

1912 - Yanks lose game #100 en route to a 50-102 season

• 1918 - World War I: Arab forces under T. E. Lawrence (a/k/a "Lawrence of Arabia") capture Damascus.

1919 - World Series begins as a best of 9 affair, White Sox intentionally throw this series to satisfy gamblers (Black Sox Scandal)

1920 - Dutch law provides for an 8 hour working day

1920 - Sir Percy Cox landed in Basra to assume his responsibilities as high commissioner in Iraq.

1921 - WJZ, Newark NJ begins broadcasting

1922 - Former Chicago Staleys play 1st NFL game as Chicago Bears, win 6-0

1922 - Rogers Hornsby's 3-for-5 ups avg to .401

American President Jimmy Carter

• Future American President Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, on this day in 1924.

1924 - Fokker F-7 1st flight (Amsterdam to Batavia)

1924 - Paavo Nurmi runs world record 4 mile (19:15.4) & 5 mile (24:06.2)

1924 - Landis bans Giants Jimmy O'Connell & Cozy Dolan from World Series after they admit an attempt to bribe Phils shortstop Heinie Sand

1926 - An oil field accident cost aviator Wiley Post his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft.

1927 - Pirates clinch NL pennant with a 9-6 win over Reds

1928 - Leon Vanderstuyft of Belgium bicycled 76 miles 504 yards in 1 hour

1928 - Paavo Nurmi runs world record 15m (46:49.6)

1928 - USSR launches its 1st 5 year plan

1930 - Soccer team WHC forms

1930 - World Series opens at Phila's Shibe Park, Phila A's beat St Louis 5-2

1931 - Spanish Cortes accept general female suffrage

1931 - World Series is a rematch as A's seek 3rd straight title vs Cards

1931 - The second (and current) Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is opened in New York.

1932 - NHL readmits Ottawa & drops Pittsburgh

1932 - Oswald Mosley forms British Union of Fascists

1932 - World Series moves to Chicago, In 5th inning, Babe Ruth waits until he has 2 strikes, points & hits next pitch into center field bleachers

1933 - Antwerp Sports arena opens

1933 - Packers make 5 1st downs, Giants make 0, but still win 10-7

1933 - Wash Senator coach Nick Altrock plays in a game at age 57

• 1934 - Adolf Hitler expands German army & navy & creates an air force, violating Treaty of Versailles

1936 - Generalissimo Francisco Franco establishes state of Spain

1937 - Pullman Co formally recognizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

1938 - Cubs clinch NL pennant

• 1938 - Germany annexes Sudetenland (1/3 of Czechoslovakia)

 

Statue of soldier, author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London

• 1939 - Churchill calls Soviets "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma"

1939 - After a one-month Siege of Warsaw, hostile forces entered the city.

Spanish Dictator Francisco FrancoSpanish Dictator Francisco Franco 1940 - Pennsylvania Turnpike, pioneer toll thruway, opens

1941 - D Sjostakovitch plane evacuated in Moscow

1941 - H Martin/R Blanes musical "Best Foot Forward," premieres in NYC

1941 - Yankees beat Dodgers 3-2 at Yankee Stadium in opener of World Series

1942 - Bell P-59 Airacomet fighter, 1st US jet, makes maiden flight

1942 - Little Golden Books (children books) begins publishing

• 1943 - Allied forces captured Naples during WW II

1943 - Averell Harriman named US ambassador to Moscow

1943 - Germans attack Jews in Denmark

1943 - King's Dragon Guards liberates suburbs of Naples

• 1944 - Newspaper editor Alejandro Córdova assassinated in Guatemala

1944 - St Louis Browns win their only AL pennant

1945 - Heavyweight champ Joe Louis is discharged from army

1945 - US Office of Strategic Serbia (OSS) disbands

• 1946 - 12 war criminals sentenced to death in Nuremberg

1946 - 1st NL playoffs, Dodgers vs Cards (St Louis wins 2 games to 0)

1946 - Bob Feller 348th strikeout of season

1947 - 1st helicopter air mail & express service, LA, Ca

1947 - NHL Pension Society founded

1947 - US control of Haitian customs & governmental revenue ends

1947 - William Wister Haines' "Command Decision," premieres in NYC

1947 - The F-86 Sabre flies for the first time.

1948 - California Supreme Court voids state statue banning interracial marriages

1948 - Radio Denmark begins transmitting

Chinese Communist Revolutionary and Politician Mao Tse-TungChinese Communist Revolutionary and Politician Mao Tse-Tung 

The flag of the People's Republic of China

• 1949 - People's Rep of China proclaimed by Mao Tse-tung (National Day)

• 1949 - Republic of China (Taiwan) forms on island of Formosa

1950 - Phillies win NL pennant on last day of season (10th inning HR)

1950 - South Korean troops exceed 38° latitude during Korean War

1950 - Browns lose to Giants, setting club record for fewest points scored by both teams (tied in 1979), NY 6, Cleveland 0

1950 - South Korean troops cross 38th parallel into North Korea

1951 - 1st Giant-Dodgers playoff game, Giants win 3-1

1951 - 1st treaty signed by woman ambassador-Eugenie Anderson

1951 - 24th Infantry Regiment, last all-black military unit, deactivated

1952 - 1st ultra high frequency (UHF) television station, Portland Or

1952 - Liberal Party wins Japanese elections

1952 - Monte Bello-Island (Great Britain 1st atom bomb explosion)

1953 - Indian state of Andhra Pradesh partitioned from Madras

1953 - KJEO TV channel 47 in Fresno, CA (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting

1953 - KYTV TV channel 3 in Springfield, MO (NBC) begins broadcasting

1953 - WATE TV channel 6 in Knoxville, TN (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting

1953 - WREX TV channel 13 in Rockford, IL (ABC) begins broadcasting

• 1954 - British colony of Nigeria becomes a federation

1955 - "Honeymooners" premieres

1955 - Piet Lieftinck becomes director v/h IMF (World bank)

1955 - WORA TV channel 5 in Mayaguez, PR (TCI) begins broadcasting

1956 - Johnny Heckmann rides 7 winners at Chicago Hawthorne Horse track

1956 - Zestienhoven airport at Rotterdam official opens

1957 - B-52 bombers begin full-time flying alert in case of USSR attack

1957 - First appearance of "In God We Trust" on U.S. paper currency.

1958 - Britain transfers Christmas Island (south of Java) to Australia

1958 - Inauguration of NASA

1958 - Vanguard Project transferred from military to NASA

1958 - NASA created to replace NACA.

1959 - 1st World Series since 1948 not to feature a NY team (LA vs Chic)

1960 - 14th NHL All-Star Game: All-Stars beat Montreal 2-1 at Montreal

1960 - KCBY TV channel 11 in Coos Bay, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting

Flag of Nigeria

• 1960 - Nigeria gains independence from Britain (National Day)

• 1961 - A believed extinct volcanco erupts in Tristan da Cunha

• 1961 - East & West Cameroon merge as Federal Republic of Cameroon

1961 - KGIN TV channel 11 in Grand Island, NB (CBS) begins broadcasting

1961 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Mickey Wright Golf Open

1961 - Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovitsch' 12nd Symphony

American Baseball Player Roger MarisAmerican Baseball Player Roger Maris 1961 - Roger Maris sets record of 61 HRs (off of Tracy Stallard)

1961 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1961 - WOLO TV channel 25 in Columbia, SC (ABC) begins broadcasting

1961 - WYAH TV channel 27 in Portsmouth, VA (IND) begins broadcasting

1962 - Barbra Streisand signs her 1st recording contract (with Columbia)

1962 - Brian Epstein signs a contract to manage Beatles through 1977

1962 - James Meredith became 1st black at U of Mississippi

1962 - Johnny Carson hosts his 1st Tonight Show, Joan Crawford guests

1962 - Lucy Show premieres

1962 - SF beats Dodgers, 8-0 in 1st of best-of-3 NL playoff

1962 - UN gives Netherlands control of New-Guinea

1962 - US National Radio Astronomy Obs gets a 300' (91m) radio telescope

1962 - WEDH TV channel 24 in Hartford, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting

1963 - 1st time since 1910 no AL player, played in every game

1963 - Nigeria becomes a republic within Commonwealth

Singer-songwriter & Actress Barbra StreisandSinger-songwriter & Actress Barbra Streisand 1964 - 1st official broadcast of Trans World Radio on Bonaire

1964 - 2nd Dutch televisienet begins broadcastings

1964 - Free Speech Movement launched at University of California , Berkley

1964 - SF cable cars declared a national landmark

• 1965 - Failed coup under lt col Untung in Indonesia

1965 - France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria

1966 - Newspaper magnate Thomson purchases "The Times"

1966 - WAEO (now WJFW) TV channel 12 in Rhinelander, WI (NBC) begins

1966 - West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with eighteen fatal injuries and no survivors 5.5 miles south of Wemme, Oregon. This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9.

• 1967 - Pink FLoyd's 1st US tour (arrives in NYC)

1968 - "Night of the Living Dead" premieres in Pittsburgh

• 1968 - The Guyanese government takes over the British Guiana Broadcasting Service (BGBS).

1969 - Concorde 001 test flight breaks sound barrier

1969 - Guernsey & Jersey begin issuing their own postage stamps

1969 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1970 - 63 arrest in riot to buy Rolling Stone tickets in Milano Italy

1970 - Last game at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium, Phils-2 Expos-1

1971 - Joseph Luns becomes secretary-general of NATO

1971 - Simplified echtscheidingsrecht of force

1971 - Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida opens

1972 - "Don't Play Us Cheap" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 164 perfs

1972 - 1st games of World Hockey Association

1972 - 2nd NYC Women's Marathon won by Nina Kuscsik in 3:08:41

1972 - 3rd NYC Marathon won by Sheldon Karlin in 2:27:52

1972 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Portland Ladies Golf Classic

Baseball Player and Manager Leo DurocherBaseball Player and Manager Leo Durocher 1973 - Leo Durocher resigns as Houston Astro manager

1973 - USSR-West Germany gas tunnel opens

• 1974 - Watergate cover-up trial opens in Wash DC

1975 - Britain grants internal self-government to Seychelles

1975 - Ellice Islands split from Gilbert Islands, take name "Tuvalu"

1975 - Muhammad Ali TKOs Joe Frazier in 15 for heavyweight boxing title in "The Thrilla in Manila"

1975 - Reunion Island stops printing stamps, France takes over production

1976 - 1st Dutch casino opens

1977 - Brazilian soccer great Pele' retires with 1,281 goals in 1,363 games

1977 - Department Of Energy established

1977 - Elton John honored by MSG Hall of Fame

1977 - Yanks win 2nd consecutive AL East title

1978 - Comoros adopts constitution

1978 - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Golden Lights Golf Championship

1978 - Tuvalu (formerly Ellice Islands) declares independence from UK

Singer Elton JohnSinger Elton John 1978 - Yanks lose 9-2 to Indians forcing a playoff game with Red Sox

• 1978 - The Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party is founded.

• 1979 - Nigeria adopts constitution, Alhaji Shagari becomes president

Picture of a bust of Pope John Paul II taken at the Basilique Saint-Sernin in Toulouse.

• 1979 - Pope John Paul II begins visit of US

1979 - RKO radio network begins operation

• 1979 - US returns Canal Zone to Panama after 75 years (but not the canal)

1980 - Cosmonauts Ryumin & Popov break space endurance record of 176 days

1981 - Iranian plane crash

1981 - J Chodorov/N Panama's "Talent for Murder," premieres in London

1981 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

1982 - EPCOT Center opens in Orlando Florida

1982 - USSR performs underground nuclear test

Flag of Germany (formerly West Germany during the Cold War)

• 1982 - West Germany's Parliament ousts Helmut Schmidt for Helmut Kohl

1982 - The Sony CDP-101, the world's first commercially released Compact Disc player, is released in Japan for 168,000 yen ($730)

1983 - Denise Wallace, 18, of Virginia crowned Miss Teen of America

1984 - Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip resumes after 2-year hiatus

1984 - Peter Ueberroth replaces Bowie Kuhn as 6th commissioner of baseball

1985 - Israeli air raid on PLO-headquarter at Tunis, 68 killed

• American President Jimmy Carter's Presidential Library/Museum was dedicated in Atlanta on this day in 1986.

1987 - "Roza" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 12 performances

1987 - 6 killed by an earthquake measuring 6.1 in LA

• 1987 - Fiji's constitution is suspended

1987 - The Whittier Narrows earthquake shook the San Gabriel Valley, registering as a magnitude 5.9.

1988 - Bradley Center in Milwaukee opens

1988 - Lowest batting avg for NL champion (Tony Gwynn .313)

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail GorbachevGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev 

The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)

• 1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev became president of Soviet Union

1989 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Konica San Jose Golf Classic

1989 - Dallas Cowboy, Ed "Too Tall" Jones records his 1,000th NFL tackle

Flag of East Germany

• 1989 - Thousands of East Germans flee to West Germany

1989 - US issues a stamp, labeling an apatosaurus as a brontosaurus

1989 - Batting titles decided on final day Puckett goes 2-for-5 edges Carney Lansford .339 to .336, Gwynn's 3-for-4 edges Will Clark .336 to .333

1990 - 10,000 Uganda RPF rebels move into Rwanda

1990 - Meteorite explode above Pacific Ocean

• 1990 - US President Bush at UN, condemns Iraq's takeover of Kuwait

1990 - Serbs in Croatia proclaim autonomy

1991 - Howard Stern adds Baltimore to his radio network (WJFK-AM)

• 1991 - New Zealand's Resource Management Act 1991 commences.

1992 - "Oba Oba '93" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 22 performances

1992 - Cartoon Cable Network premieres

1992 - Greater Pittsburgh International Airport opens

US President George H. W. BushUS President George H. W. Bush 1992 - Ross Perot re-enters presidental race

1993 - Lennox Lewis TKOs Frank Bruno in 7 for heavyweight boxing title

1994 - Boon completes his 19th Test century (114 v Pak, Karachi)

1994 - Liselotte Neumann wins LPGA GHP Heartland Golf Classic

Statue of Nelson Mandela in the gardens in front of the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa

• 1994 - South African President Nelson Mandela visits US

1994 - Stanley Betrian sworn in as leader of Curacao

1995 - Bermuda begins using new area code 441

1995 - Gail Graham wins FieldCrest Cannon/Carolina LPGA Golf Classic

1995 - Indians set record of 30 game lead over 2nd place team

1995 - Mike Mussina tosses Balt's 5th consecutive shutout 4-0 win over Tigers

1995 - NY Yankees win 1st baseball wildcard ever

1995 - Rockies are 1st team to make postseason before 7th year in existence

1997 - Carolina Hurricanes 1st game vs Tampa Bay Lightning

1997 - Spice Hot premieres on cable

1998 - Vladimir Putin became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

Russian President Vladimir PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin 

• 2000 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, the chairman of the IOC declares Sydney the "best Olympic Games ever"

Flag of the Olympics

• 2000 - Closing ceremony of the XXVII Olympics in Sydney, Australia

2000 - United States retain Basketball's Olympic gold medal defeating France 85-75

2000 - United States wins the most medals (97), and the most gold medals (40) in Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia

2004 - Baseball: Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki gets his 258th hit of the season, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old single-season record.

2005 - Bombing kills 23 people in Bali.

2007 - Most of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 came into force in the United Kingdom.

2012 - California becomes the first US state to ban conversion therapy for minors

2012 - 36 people are killed in a ferry collision in Hong Kong

2012 - 3 NATO soldiers and 16 Afghan police are killed by a suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan

1569 - The Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for trying to marry Mary the Queen of Scots.   1800 - Spain ceded the territory of Louisiana back to France. Later the property would be purchased by the U.S. effectively doubling its size.   1880 - Thomas Edison began the commercial production of electric lamps at Edison Lamp Works in Menlo Park.   1885 - Special delivery mail service began in the United States. The first routes were in West Virginia.   1890 - The U.S. Congress passed the McKinley Tariff Act. The act raised tariffs to a record level.   1896 - Rural Free Delivery was established by the U.S. Post Office.   1903 - The first modern World Series took place between the Boston Pilgrims and the Pittsburgh Pirates.   1908 - The Model T automobile was introduced by Henry Ford. The purchase price of the car was $850.   1918 - Damascus was captured from the Turks during World War I by a force made up of British and Arab forces.   1933 - Babe Ruth made his final pitching appearance. He pitched all nine innings and hit a home run in the 5th inning.   1936 - General Francisco Franco was proclaimed the head of the Spanish state.   1938 - German forces enter Czechoslovakia and seized control of the Sudetenland. The Munich Pact had been signed two days before.   1940 - The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened as the first toll superhighway in the United States.   1943 - Naples was captured by the Allied forces during World War II.   1946 - The International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg sentenced 12 Nazi officials to death. Seven others were sentenced to prison terms and 3 were acquitted.   1946 - The first baseball play-off game for a league championship was played. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-2.   1949 - Mao Tse-tung raised the first flag of the People's Republic of China when the communist forces had defeated the Nationalists. The Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan.   1952 - "This is Your Life" began airing on NBC-TV.   1961 - Roger Maris (New York Yankees) hit his 61st home run of the season to beat Babe Ruth's major league record of 60.   1962 - Johnny Carson began hosting the "Tonight" show on NBC-TV. He stayed with the show for 29 years. Jack Paar was the previous host.   1964 - The Free Speech Movement was started at the University of California at Berkeley.   1968 - "Night of the Living Dead" premiered in Pittsburgh, PA.   1971 - Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, FL.  Disney movies, music and books   1972 - The Chinese government approved friendly relations with the United States.   1979 - The United States handed control of the Canal Zone over to Panama.   1980 - Robert Redford became the first male to appear alone on the cover of "Ladies' Home Journal." He was the only male to achieve this in 97 years.   1981 - EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) Center opened in Florida. The concept was planned by Walt Disney.   1984 - U.S. Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan announced that he was taking a leave of absence following his indictment on charges of larceny and fraud. He was later acquitted.   1985 - The PLO's headquarters in Tunisia was raided by Israeli jet fighters.   1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev assumed the Soviet presidency.   1989 - The authorized Charles Schulz biography, Good Grief, was published.   1989 - 7,000 East Germans were welcomed into West Germany after they were allowed to leave by the communist government.   1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly and once again condemned Iraq's takeover of Kuwait.   1990 - In Croatia, minority Serbs proclaimed autonomy.   1991 - U.S. President Bush condemned the military coup in Haiti that removed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. U.S. economic and military aid was suspended.   1991 - The U.S. trust territory of Palau became independent.   1992 - The Strategic Arm Reduction Treaty was approved by the U.S. Senate.   1994 - The U.S. and Japan avoided a trade war by reaching a series of trade agreements.   1994 - The National Hockey League (NHL) team owners began a lockout of the players that lasted 103 days.   1995 - Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine other defendants were convicted in New York of conspiring to attack the U.S. through bombings, kidnappings and assassinations.   1996 - Lucent Technologies became an independent company.   1998 - The U.S. government posted a $2.2 million reward for the capture of Augustin Vasquez Mendoza. He is accused of killing an undercover U.S. agent during a drug purchase in 1994.   1999 - The 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China was celebrated in Beijing.   2001 - San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban Internet filters designed to keep pornography away from children at city libraries. The board left the decision up to the Library Commission to decide whether to install filtering software in children's areas. A federal law in the U.S. mandated the use of the filters.




1800 Spain ceded Louisiana to France in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. 1908 Henry Ford introduced the first mass-produced automobile on the market—the Model T car to the market. Each car cost 825. 1936 General Francisco Franco became head of the insurgent Spanish government. 1961 Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run of the season, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 60 set in 1927. 1971 Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida.


The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/oct01.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory