On Oct. 24, 1648, the Peace of Westphalia ended the 30 Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1852 orator Daniel Webster died at 70 in Marshfield, Mass.
In 1861 the first transcontinental telegram was sent, from Justice Stephen Field of California to President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1901 Anna Edson Taylor, 43, became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
In 1915 cartoonist Bob Kane, who created Batman, was born in New York.
In 1931 the George Washington Bridge opened, connecting New York and New Jersey.
In 1939 nylon stockings were sold for the first time, in Wilmington, Del.
In 1940 the 40-hour workweek went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
In 1945 the United Nations officially came into existence.
In 1962 the U.S. blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis began.
In 1964 northern Rhodesia became Zambia.
In 1983 NBC newswoman Jessica Savitch, 35, died in a car accident near New Hope, Pa.
In 1987, 30 years after it was expelled for refusing to answer allegations of corruption, the Teamsters union was welcomed back into the AFL-CIO.
In 1991 Gene Roddenberry, creator of the “Star Trek” television series, died at 70 in Santa Monica, Calif.
In 1992 the Toronto Blue Jays brought Canada its first pro baseball crown, defeating the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in Game 6 of the World Series.
In 1994 actor Raul Julia died at 54 in Manhasset, N.Y.
In 1997, in Arlington, Va., sportscaster Marv Albert was spared jail after a courtroom apology to the woman he had bitten during a sexual romp.
In 1999 Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) died at 77 in Bethesda, Md.
In 2002 John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested in the Washington-area sniper murders. Also, Harry Hay, a founder of the American gay-rights movement, died at 90 in San Francisco.
In 2005 civil rights icon Rosa Parks died at 92 in Detroit.
