On Oct. 15, 1860, 11-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y., wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by growing a beard.
In 1928 the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst, N.J., completing its first commercial flight across the Atlantic.
In 1946 Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.
In 1951 the television sitcom ”I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS.
In 1969 peace demonstrators staged activities across the country, including a candlelight march around the White House, as part of a protest against the Vietnam War.
In 1976, in the first debate of its kind between vice presidential nominees, Democrat Walter Mondale and Republican Bob Dole faced off in Houston.
In 1990 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1991, despite sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, the Senate narrowly confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, 52-48.
In 1999 the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders won the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2003 China launched its first manned space mission, becoming the third country ever to send a person into orbit.
In 2004 Mayor Richard Daley announced an agreement with a Euro-Australian venture to lease the Chicago Skyway that would pour $1.82 billion into Chicago’s coffers.
