1582

In Italy and Spain, this day becomes the first day of the Gregorian Calendar after it is adopted by Pope Gregory XIII. Ten days would be eliminated, thus October 5, 1582 became October 15.

1815

Napoleon Bonaparte lands on the Island of St Helena, South Atlantic where he has been sent into exile by the British after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

1826

Death of Chau Thi Vinh Te (born 1766), wife of Vietnamese General Nguyen Van Toai under the Nguyen dynasty. She was a great contributor to the construction of the two biggest canals in southern Viet Nam, one of which is named after her, the Vinh Te Canal.

1953

From October 15 to November 6, Vietnamese resistance forces break the French Operation Mouette in Ninh Binh Province south of Ha Noi. The operation marked the beginning of the French attempt to win the First Indochina War in 18 months.

1964

Nguyen Van Troi (born 1940), a young Vietnamese patriot, is executed by the US-backed Sai Gon administration after failing in his attempt to assassinate visiting US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara during the American War.

1993

African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and South African President F W de Klerk are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to end apartheid and lay the foundations for a democratic South Africa.

1998

Lebanon's parliament elects General Emile Lahoud to be the country's first new president since the civil war.

1999

Pakistan army chief General Pervez Musharraf declares himself the country's new ruler, suspends the constitution and imposes a state of emergency.

2001

US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle receives a letter containing a highly refined type of anthrax spore at his Washington, DC office.

2006

Thousands of people are evacuated from their homes in the central German city of Hanover as experts dispose of three freshly unearthed World War II bombs.

2007

European Union foreign ministers give their final approval to deploy a 3,000-strong EU peacekeeping force for one year to help refugees and displaced people living along the borders of Sudan's Darfur region with Chad and the Central African Republic. — AP/REUTERS/VNS