Today in History - History - October 12th

1833Charles Darwin begins return trip to Buenos Aires

1492Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall on Caribbean island he names San Salvador (likely Watling Island, Bahamas). The explorer believes he has reached East Asia (OS 21 Oct)

1960Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe on his desk at UN General Assembly session

1960JFK & Richard Nixon's third presidential debate

1900The first modern submarine is commissioned by the U.S.Navy as the USS Holland, named for its designer John Philip Holland

1966Jimi Hendrix Experience forms with Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding & Mitch Mitchell

1915Theodore Roosevelt criticizes US citzens who identify themselves, with dual nationalities

1862JEB Stuart completes his "second ride around Mcclellan"

1999Pat LaFontaine formally retires from the NHL due to lingering concussion problems

1792First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York

1975Marion Jones, Los Angeles, California, track and field athlete/drug cheat (5 forfeited Olympic medals)

1935Luciano Pavarotti, Modena Italy, operatic tenor (Oh Giorgio, 3 Tenors), (d. 2007)

1991Steven Spielberg weds Kate Capshaw

1822"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" author Victor Hugo (20) weds Adele Fourcher

1942Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (41) weds dancer Lucille Wilson (28)

1980Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman (43) weds businesswoman Lisa Gottsegen (26) in Roxbury, Connecticut

1929US military leader George Marshall (48) weds Katherine Tupper

1893Education pioneer Booker T. Washington (37) weds Margaret James Murray

1997John Denver, American country music star (Country Boy), dies in a plane crash at 53

1999Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player, dies of congestive heart failure at 63

1845Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer and philanthropist (b. 1780)

1870Robert E. Lee, US General of Confederate Army, dies at 63