On Oct. 24, 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.
In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia ended the 30 Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1852 statesman, lawyer and orator Daniel Webster died in Marshfield, Mass.; he was 70.
In 1861 the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent as Justice Stephen Field of California transmitted a telegram to President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1891 Rafael Trujillo, who would become dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until he was assassinated in 1961, was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.
In 1901 Anna Edson Taylor, a 43-year-old widow, became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
In 1915 Bob Kane, the cartoonist best known for creating the character Batman, was born in New York.
In 1939 nylon stockings were sold publicly 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 as its charter took effect.
In 1952 Republican presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower declared, ”I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit more than a month later.)
In 1957 French fashion designer Christian Dior died in Montecatini, Italy; he was 52.
In 1972 Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball, died in Stamford, Conn.; he was 53.
In 1980 the merchant freighter SS Poet left Philadelphia for Egypt with a crew of 34 and its cargo of grain and was never heard from again.
In 1983 NBC newswoman Jessica Savitch died in a car accident near New Hope, Pa.; she was 35.
In 1989 former television evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced in Charlotte to 45 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. (The term later would be reduced to 8 years, then further reduced to 4 years for good behavior.)
In 1991 Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the “Star Trek” television series, died in Santa Monica, Calif.; he was 70.
In 1992 the Toronto Blue Jays brought Canada its first pro baseball crown when they edged the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in 11 innings in Game 6 of the World Series.
In 1997, in Arlington, Va., sportscaster Marv Albert was spared a jail sentence after a courtroom apology to the woman he had bitten during a sexual romp.
In 2000 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ended two days of historic talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, with the communist leader indicating a willingness to restrain his country’s long-range missile program.
In 2002 authorities arrested Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo in connection with the Washington-area sniper attacks. Also in 2002 Harry Hay, a founder of the gay-rights movement in the United States, died in San Francisco; he was 90.
In 2003 three Concordes swooped into Heathrow Airport in London, joining in a spectacular finale to the era of luxury supersonic jet travel.
In 2004 a plane owned by top NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports crashed near Martinsville, Va., killing all 10 people aboard. Also in 2004 Arizona’s Emmitt Smith broke Walter Payton’s NFL record for 100-yard rushing games with his 78th.
In 2005 President George W. Bush nominated economic adviser Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chairman. Also in 2005 civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit; she was 92.
