On Oct. 22, 1746, Princeton University in New Jersey received its charter.
In 1797 French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet.
In 1811 Franz Liszt, the composer and pianist, was born in Raiding, Hungary.
In 1836 Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
In 1844 actress Sarah Bernhardt was born in Paris.
In 1883 New York celebrated the grand opening of the original Metropolitan Opera House with a performance of Gounod’s “Faust.”
In 1907 a run on a New York bank touched off what later became known as the Panic of 1907. Also, Jimmie Foxx, the baseball Hall of Famer and onetime Cub, was born in Sudlersville, Ind.
In 1934 bank robber Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.
In 1954 West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In 1962 President John Kennedy ordered air and naval forces to quarantine Cuba after concluding Soviet missile bases were being built on the island.
In 1968 Apollo 7 returned safely, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1978 John Paul II was installed as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1979 the U.S. allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment — a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis.
In 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government because of the union’s strike two months earlier.
In 1990 President George H.W. Bush vetoed major civil rights legislation, arguing it would force employers to adopt hiring quotas. (The veto was upheld.)
In 1991 the European Community and the European Free Trade Association concluded a landmark accord to create a free-trade zone of 19 nations by 1993.
In 1995 the largest gathering of world leaders in history marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
In 1996 General Motors settled a three-week strike with its workers in Canada, resolving a walkout that had idled more than 46,000 workers across North America.
In 1998 the government announced one of the biggest toy recalls ever, advising parents to remove the batteries from their children’s “Power Wheels” cars and trucks, made by Fisher-Price, because of faulty wiring that could cause them to erupt into flames.
In 1999 former Vichy official Maurice Papon was expelled from Switzerland and sent back to France.
In 2001 Washington postal worker Joseph Curseen died of inhalation anthrax. Also, the New York Yankees routed Seattle 12-3 in Game 5 to win the American League pennant for the 38th time.
In 2002 a bus driver was shot to death in Aspen Hill, Md., in what would be the 13th and final attack linked by authorities to the Washington-area sniper attacks. Also, former CIA Director Richard Helms died in Washington; he was 89.
In 2003 President Bush was heckled during a speech to a divided Australian Parliament in which he defended the war with Iraq. Also, IRL racer Tony Renna died after crashing at close to 220 m.p.h. during a test drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; he was 26.
In 2005 the White Sox defeated the Houston Astros 5-3 in Game 1 of the World Series.
