THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― OCTOBER 1

October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 91 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

FIRE PUP DAY  

331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Also called the Battle of Arbela, it was a decisive victory for the Hellenic League and led to the fall of the Persian Empire.

1776 – Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris receive information that the French are going to purchase arms and ammunition in Holland and send them to the West Indies for use by the American Patriots. Meanwhile, Silas Deane, the secret congressional agent in France, wrote to Congress pleading for information, "...For Heaven's sake, if you mean to have any connection with this kingdom (France), be more assiduous in getting your letters here."

1827 – The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Armenia, part of the Russo-Persian War (1826-1830).

1867 – Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" is published.

1890 – An act of Congress creates Yosemite National Park, home of such natural wonders as Half Dome and the giant sequoia trees. Environmental trailblazer John Muir (1838-1914) and his colleagues campaigned for the congressional action, which was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison and paved the way for generations of hikers, campers and nature lovers, along with countless "Don't Feed the Bears" signs.

1918 – A combined Arab and British force captures Damascus from the Turks during World War I, completing the liberation of Arabia. An instrumental commander in the Allied campaign was T.E. Lawrence, a legendary British soldier known as Lawrence of Arabia.

1946 – Twelve high-ranking Nazis are sentenced to death by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg. Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted.

1949 – Naming himself head of state, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong officially proclaims the existence of the People's Republic of China; Zhou Enlai is named premier. The proclamation was the climax of years of battle between Mao's communist forces and the regime of Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek, who had been supported with money and arms from the American government. The loss of China, the largest nation in Asia, to communism was a severe blow to the United States, which was still reeling from the Soviet Union's detonation of a nuclear device one month earlier.

1961 – On the last day of the MLB regular season, New York Yankee Roger Maris becomes the first player to hit more than 60 home runs in a single season. Babe Ruth set the record in 1927. The record today is 73 by Barry Bonds in 2001. Of the top 50 single-season HR seasons, 22 have come between 1997 and 2017

1962 – Johnny Carson takes over from Jack Paar as host of the late-night talk program The Tonight Show. Carson went on to host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for three decades, becoming one of the biggest figures in entertainment in the 20th century.

1974 – The Watergate cover-up trial opens in Washington, DC. It culminated not only in President Richard Nixon’s announcement of his resignation, 39 years ago Thursday, but in the conviction and imprisonment of his three most senior aides. Attorney General John Mitchell, White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs John Ehrlichman were found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury in the three-month Watergate cover-up trial, which ended on January 1, 1975.

1982 – The Sony CDP-101, the world's first commercially released Compact Disc player, is released in Japan for 168,000 yen ($730).

2000 – The United States wins the most medals (97), and the most gold medals (40) in the Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.

2013 – A partial United States federal government shutdown occurs as a result of political disagreements over operational spending

TODAY"S BIRTHS

1881 – William Boeing, American engineer and businessman, founded the Boeing Company (d. 1956)

1903 – Vladimir Horowitz, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (d. 1989)

1910 – Bonnie Parker, American criminal (d. 1934)

1924 – William Rehnquist, American lawyer and jurist, 16th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 2005)

1940 – Marc Savoy, American accordion player, created the Cajun accordion

From Wikipedia and Google, except as noted.