On October 22, 1962, in a nationally broadcast address, President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation.

On October 21, 1892, schoolchildren across the U.S. observed Columbus Day (according to the Gregorian calendar) by reciting, for the first time, the original version of ‘The Pledge of Allegiance.’

On October 20, 1965, in one of the more colorful moments of his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson, recovering from gall bladder surgery, pulled up his shirt and jacket to show off his abdominal scar to reporters and photographers.

A vast throng of black men gathered in Washington, D.C. for the “Million Man March” led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Charles Chaplin’s first all-talking comedy, ‘The Great Dictator,’ a lampoon of Adolf Hitler, opened in New York in 1940.

The World Series was underway in 1979, and in 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt goes ahead with a speech after being shot in the chest.

On October 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.

Today’s Highlight in History: On October 9, 1940, rock-and-roll legend John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. (On this date in 1975, his son, Sean, was born in New York.) On this date: In 1888, the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument. In 1914, the Belgian city of Antwerp fell to German forces […]