Once Upon A Time – October 18 – 1867 – Alaska Purchase: US Takes Formal Possession Of Alaska From Russia, Having Paid $7.2 Million

1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock

1685 French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants

1867 Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million

1931 American gangster Al Capone convicted of tax evasion

1962 James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA

HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY

TODAY IN FILM & TV

1922 British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded, later called British Broadcasting Corporation

TODAY IN MUSIC

1946 Aaron Copland’s 3rd Symphony premieres

MORE FACTS…

1776 In a bar decorated with bird tail in Elmsford, New York, a customer requests a glassful of “those cock tails” from bartender Betsy Flanagan

1900 Count Bernard von Bulow becomes Chancellor of Germany, famous for first referring to Germany’s need for ‘place in the sun’ and global empire

FAMOUS WEDDINGS

1869 Sardinia king Victor Emmanuel II (49) weds his mistress Rosa Vercellana (36) in Italy

1926 Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh (36) weds midwife Zeng Xueming (21) in Guangzhou

1952 Latin actress Maria Felix (38) weds actor and singer Jorge Negreta (40) in Mexico