Unix Timestamp: 1224806400
Friday, October 24. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

One person is killed and at least fourteen people are injured in two separate terrorist attacks in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, both attributed to al-Shabaab. //english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011102405349143812.html (Al-Jazeera) //www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15435663 (BBC)

The death toll from Turkey's recent earthquake reaches 279, and is expected to increase further as rescue teams search the rubble of the city of Van for survivors. Meanwhile, thousands made homeless by the quake are forced to endure freezing overnight temperatures in the open. //edition.cnn.com/2011/10/23/world/europe/turkey-earthquake/?hpt=wo_c2 (CNN) //www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-24/death-toll-climbs-from-earthquake-in-turkey/3597436 (Reuters and ABC News Australia) //www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15437014 (BBC)

South Korea and the United States cancel a joint naval drill against North Korea in the Yellow Sea, citing its previous anti-submarine training held from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 and a desire not to irritate neighboring countries ahead of the upcoming 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. //news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/24/c_13573223.htm (Xinhua)

In the space of a few hours, Comet Holmes develops a coma and flares up to half a million times its former brightness, becoming visible to the naked eye. Its coma later becomes larger in volume than the Sun, the second such comet in 2007 after Comet McNaught.

Comet 17P/Holmes grows significantly brighter overnight, going from magnitude 17 to magnitude 3 in just a few hours, while in the constellation of Perseus. //blogs.usatoday.com/techspace/2007/10/flash-news-flas.html (USA Today)

The Cedar Fire begins in San Diego County, burning , 2,232 homes and killing 14.

The Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic travel to a close, at least for the time being.

Same-sex marriage: Three same-sex couples in Spain, including a Madrid city councilman, apply for marriage licenses. They state that if the registry judge does not grant them the licenses, they will appeal to Spain's constitutional court, and as far as the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. They describe their actions as inspired by the recent rulings on same-sex marriage in Canada. //www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=10276sd=10/23/03

Aircraft: The final flights of Concorde, from New York, Edinburgh, and a loop around the Bay of Biscay, touch down at Heathrow International Airport around 1600 BST, marking the end of 27 years of commercial supersonic flight. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3211053.stm

The Florida Marlins defeat the New York Yankees to win their second World Series title.

Beltway sniper: Within hours of Police Chief Charles Moose announcing that John Allen Muhammad was wanted in connection with the investigation, Muhammad and his 17-year-old stepson John Lee Malvo were arrested on federal weapons charges, found with the rifle used in the shootings.

The Beltway snipers, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, are arrested.

The Marcopper Mine Disaster occurs dumping toxic copper tailings into the Boac River.

A total solar eclipse is visible from Iran, India, Thailand, and Southeast Asia.//sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEcat/SEdecade1991.html NASA ndash Solar Eclipses: 1991 ndash 2000!

The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-American team to win the World Series.

Cold War: The Supreme Soviet of Kyrgyzstan chooses Askar Akayev as the republic's first president.

The New Zealand general election is won by the New Zealand National Party, and its leader, Jim Bolger, becomes prime minister.

In the Pakistani general election, Prime Minister Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party loses power to a center-right coalition government.

Lambda Sigma Gamma Sorority Inc. was founded at Sacramento State by Linda V. Fuentes and 26 Founding Mothers.

Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.

Negotiations about the Vietnam War begin in Manila, Philippines.

NATO moves its HQ from Paris to Brussels.

Spain closes its Gibraltar border to non-pedestrian traffic.

A fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 44 crewmen.

A military court in Jakarta sentences ex-foreign minister Subandrio to death.

Northern Rhodesia, a former British protectorate, becomes the independent Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule.

Cuban Missile Crisis: First confrontation between US Navy and Soviet cargo vessel. The vessel changes course.

A large rocketexplodes on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, killing at least 90 people of the Soviet space program.

U.S. President Harry Truman declares an official end to war with Germany.

The first Azad Kashmir Government is established by the Freedom Fighters within Pakistan, headed by Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan as its first President supported by the government of Pakistan.

WWII: HMS Eclipse (H08) is sunk by a mine.

Franz von Werra disappears during a flight over the North Sea.

Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time anywhere in Wilmington, Delaware.

The George Washington Bridge is dedicated it opens to traffic the following day.

Revolution of 1930: Getúlio Dornelles Vargas establishes a dictatorship in Brazil.

October 29 ndash Wall Street Crash of 1929: Three multi-digit percentage drops wipe out more than $30 billion from the New York Stock Exchange (10 times greater than the annual budget of the federal government).

Dixie Dean scores a hat-trick for Tranmere Rovers to become the youngest ever player to score three goals for The Superwhites.

British authorities in India arrest Subhas Chandra Bose and jail him for the next 2½ years.

The British Foreign Office publishes the Zinoviev Letter.

Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, delivers the Tenterfield Oration calling for the Federation of Australia.

Cardiff University, Wales, opens (under the name of University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire).

"HMS Warrior", the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled armored battleship, is completed and commissioned.

Sheffield F.C., the world's first association football team, is founded in Sheffield, England.

Van Dieman's Land officially renamed Tasmania

Van Dieman's Land officially renamed Tasmania

First protected submarine telegraph cable laid, across the English Channel.

The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, the first settlers of what later becomes Seattle, Washington.

Ariel and Umbriel, moons of Uranus, are discovered by William Lassell.

The earliest United States patent for a phosphorus friction match is granted to Alonzo Dwight Phillips of Springfield, Massachusetts.

November 5 ndash Persia and Russia sign the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 at the end of the Russo-Persian War by which Persia (Iran) loses all its territories to the north of Aras River to the Russians.

Napoleonic Wars ndash Battle of Maloyaroslavets: An inconclusive encounter between the Frenchvanguard and a Russian force leads Napoleon to decide to retreat along the same line as his advance, with disastrous results.

November ndash Napoleon declares a Continental Blockade against the British.

French forces enter Berlin.

The Third Partition of Poland is made.

The French Republican Calendar is adopted by the National Convention.

Stede Bonnet escapes from prison.

Iberville and Bienville sail from Brest to the Gulf of Mexico to defend the southern borders of New France they will eventually found three capitals of Louisiana (New France), as the future American cities: Mobile, Biloxi New Orleans.ref name=CBLe Moyne de Bienville, Jean-Baptiste, University of Toronto, 2000, webpage: //www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php? BioId=35608 biog-ca-Bienville.

November ndash Tani Jinzan, astronomer and calendar scholar, observes a fire destroy Tosa (now Kochi) in Japan at the same time as a Leonidmeteor shower, taking it as evidence to reinforce belief in the Theory of Areas.

Signing of the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück conclude the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years' War. Rulers of the Imperial States have powers to decide their state religion, Protestant, Catholic or Calvinist, with the minorities of each of those faiths granted toleration of worship, and there is general recognition of exclusive sovereignty, including that of the Dutch Republic and Switzerland. France and Sweden gain territory, and the latter is granted an indemnity. However, France remains at war with Spain until 1659.

Signing of the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück conclude the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years\\\\\\\\' War. Rulers of the Imperial States have powers to decide their state religion, Protestant, Catholic or Calvinist, with the minorities of each of those faiths granted toleration of worship, and there is general recognition of exclusive sovereignty, including that of the Dutch Republic and Switzerland. France and Sweden gain territory, and the latter is granted an indemnity. However, France remains at war with Spain until 1659.

October 26 ndash Battle of Keresztes: The Turks defeat a combined Habsburg–Transylvanian army.

The Black Death hits parts of Europe.

Elizabeth I of England decrees that all Africans should be removed from the British realm in reaction to the food crisis.

The 4th of a 5 year run of poor harvests, largely caused by the weather, a pattern typical of the last third of the century. This causes famine throughout Europe, which leads to food riots in Britain.

The first water closet, by Sir John Harington, is installed in a manor near Kelston in England.

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge is founded.

King Sigismund III Vasa moves the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.

Magdalen College, University of Oxford is founded.

The Jewish community is expelled from Erfurt (Germany), their houses are sold and the synagogue turned into an arsenal.

King Afonso V of Portugal conquers Alcácer Ceguer in North Africa.

The Turks issue a decree to protect the Acropolis after they conquer Athens.

Luis Cadamosto discovers the first Cape Verde Islands.

George of Podebrady becomes king of Bohemia.

Voices tell Joan of Arc that Charles VII of France must be crowned and the English expelled from France.

Itzcóatl becomes ruler of the Aztecs. He eventually begins the construction of Tenochtitlan.

Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury, is mortally wounded in an unsuccessful assault on Orléans. He is succeeded in command by William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk.

Lam Sơn uprising: Lê Lợi, founder of the Lê Dynasty in Vietnam, liberates Annam (the territory occupied by Ming Dynasty China in 1407) and restores the kingdom as Đại Việt.

The Aztec Triple Alliance (also known as "The Aztec Empire") forms with the alliance of three Aztec city-states—Tenochtitlán, Texcoco, and Tlacopán—and defeats Azcapotzalco to win control of the Valley of Mexico.

A serious fire occurs at Baynard's Castle in London.

Shah Shuja regains rule of the Muzaffarid tribe in Persia after the death of his brother, Shah Mahmud.

Dmitri Konstantinovich is installed as ruler of Vladimir (now in eastern Russia) by the Khan of the White Horde.

Muhammed VI overthrows his brother-in-law, Ismail II, as King of Grenada (in present-day Spain) he is in turn overthrown this same year by the former king, Muhammed V.

Nawruz Beg overthrows his brother Qulpa as Khan of the Blue Horde.

King Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark reconquers Scania, which has been in Swedish possession since 1332.

The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years\\\' War. Under its terms, Edward III gives up his claim to the French throne and releases King John II of France in return for French land, including CalaisGascony.

Lithuania: In the "Letters of Gediminas", Vilnius is named as the capital city.

October 30 ndash Edward II of England stays at Liverpool Castle.

Remains of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) are toppled by a series of earthquakes.

Conflict between Ingeborg of Norway and the regencies of her son in Sweden and Norway, which ends with the deminission of her power.

Thomas Aquinas is canonised.

The Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France (the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

The advent of the Age of the Holy Spirit predicted by Joachim of Fiore, according to his interpretation of the Book of Revelation, chapter 6.

Germanmusical theoristFranco of Cologne publishes "Ars Cantus Mensurabilis", in which he advances a new theory of musical notation in which the length of a musical note is denoted by the shape of that note, a system still used today.

Beginning of the construction begins on the cathedrals at Meißen and Schwerin.

The newly formed Sukhothai kingdom of Thailand adopts Theravada Buddhism.

Jacobus de Voragine compiles his work, the "Golden Legend", a late medieval best-seller.

The civil servant and bard longing for lost al-Andalus Ibn al-Abbar is burnt to the stakes by the Marinid ruler.

Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.

Construction on the Dunkeld Cathedral begins in Perthshire, Scotland.

Nicola Pisano sculpts the pulpit of the Pisa Baptistery.

The mosaic "Christ between the Virgin and St Minias" is made on the facade of Florence's Basilica di San Miniato al Monte.

Genoa grants the benefits of a part of the city's fiscal revenues to a consortium of creditor called "compera". It is the first exle of the consolidation of public debt in medieval Europe.

Åhus, in present days Denmark, gains city right.

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona conquers Lérida from the Almoravids after a siege of seven months as well as Fraga.

The Castle of Carimate is destroyed.

Construction on the Liaodi Pagoda in Hebei is complete, the tallest pagoda in Chinese history standing at a height of 84 m (275 ft) tall.

Beginning of the caign of Ferdinand I of Castile against al-Andalus. The king conquers Seia from the Christian allies of the muslim taifas.ref name=picard2000 In a drive to consolidate his southern border, he repopulates the city of Zamora with some of his Cantabrian ("montañeses") subjects.

Ralph the Timid is defeated by the Welsh.

Hugh Capet, King of France dies and is succeeded by his son Robert II of France.

Second Battle of Bedriacum: Flavians under Antonius Primus defeat the Vitellians.