On Oct. 17, 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American forces in Saratoga, N.Y., a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
In 1855 Henry Bessemer, an English engineer and manufacturer, patented his steelmaking process.
In 1869 James Gordon Bennett, publisher of the New York Herald, directed Henry M. Stanley to find the missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone in Africa. (Stanley, an Anglo-American explorer and journalist, found Livingstone on Lake Tanganyika two years later.)
In 1931 Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion by a federal court in Chicago. Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined $50,000. (He served 7 1/2 years with time off for good behavior.)
In 1945 Col. Juan Peron staged a coup in Buenos Aires and became the dictator of Argentina.
In 1973 Maynard Jackson was elected mayor of Atlanta, making him the first black mayor of a major Southern city.
In 1975 New York City escaped default by hours when the teachers union agreed to furnish $150 million from its pension fund for the city`s immediate borrowing needs.
In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for work with the destitute of Calcutta.
In 1984 Rep. Thomas Downey (D-N.Y.) called for a congressional probe following a report that the CIA had provided a manual to Nicaraguan rebels that mentioned of ”selective use of violence.”
In 1985 Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi resigned in the wake of a dispute over his handling of the Achille Lauro hijacking.
