Today in History - History - October 11th

1521Pope Leo X titles King Henry VIII of England "Defender of the Faith"

1809Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder's Stand.

1923Babe Ruth hits 2 HRs in a World Series game

1932Stalin forces Zinoviev & Kamenev out of Communist Party

1986Reagan & Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland

1927Lou Gehrig named AL MVP (Babe Ruth (former winner) not eligible)

1969Blues artist Muddy Waters involved in a car crash that kills 3

1945Chinese civil war begins, Chiang Kai-Shek vs Mao Zedong

1868Thomas Edison patents his 1st invention: electric voice machine

1976Mao Zedong's widow Jiang Qing & "Gang of Four" arrested & charged with plotting a coup

1884Eleanor Roosevelt, [Anna], New York, 1st lady (1933-1945)/crusader (Nobel 1931), (d. 1962)

1844Henry John Heinz, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded prepared-foods company (Heinz-57 varieties), (d. 1919)

1975Future US President Bill Clinton weds future Secretary of State Hillary Rodham

1938Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (37) weds longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith

1987Rock and blues singer Joe Cocker (43) weds Pam Baker

1948Fellow students Fidel Castro and Mirta Diaz-Balart marry (divorced 1955)

1809Meriwether Lewis, (Lewis & Clark Expedition), commits suicide at 35

1963Edith Piaf, French singer (No, I don't regret anything), dies at 47