1998 – John Glenn returns to space nearly four decades after becoming the first American to orbit the Earth.
October 30th
1938 – Orson Welles causes a nationwide panic with his broadcast of “War of the Worldsâ€â€”a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth.
October 31st
1993 – 23-year-old River Phoenix, who is known for his roles in films, like Stand by Me and My Own Private Idaho, dies of a drug overdose outside of the Viper Nightclub in Hollywood. At the time of his death, Phoenix was considered one of the most promising actors of his generation and received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in 1988’s Running on Empty.
November 1st
1512 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s finest works, is exhibited to the public for the first time.
November 3rd
1964 – Residents of the District of Columbia cast their ballots in a presidential election for the first time. The passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave citizens of the nation’s capital the right to vote for a commander in chief and vice president. They went on to help Democrat Lyndon Johnson defeat Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964, the next presidential election.
November 4th
1948 – T.S. Eliot wins the Nobel Prize in literature, for his profound effect on the direction of modern poetry.
