On Oct. 12, 1915, former President Theodore Roosevelt criticized the concept of ”hyphenated Americanism,” referring to those who identified themselves by dual nationalities.
In 1933 bank robber John Dillinger escaped from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang.
In 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt delivered one of his so-called fireside chats in which he recommended the drafting of 18- and 19-year-old men.
In 1964 the Soviet Union launched a Voskhod space capsule with a three-man crew on the first manned mission involving more than one crew member.
In 1973 President Richard Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro Agnew as vice president.
In 1988 federal prosecutors announced that Sundstrand Corp. had agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges and pay a $115 million settlement for overbilling the Pentagon for airplane parts over five years.
In 1991, testifying for a second day on sexual harassment charges leveled by law professor Anita Hill, Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas told the Senate Judiciary Committee he would “rather die than withdraw,” and repeated his denial of Hill’s allegations.
In 1993 the Toronto Blue Jays won their second straight American League pennant, defeating the White Sox.
In 1996 President Bill Clinton signed into law the Water Resources Development Act, which authorized federal water projects across the country.
In 1999 NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain died in Los Angeles; he was 63.
In 2001 Polaroid Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection.
In 2002 a bomb blamed on Islamic militants destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people.
