Today in History - History - October 2nd

1991Eric Lindros refuses to sign with Quebec Nordiques

1991Steffi Graf becomes the youngest woman to win 500 professional tennis matches

1937FDR visits Grand Coulee Dam construction site in Washington State

1789George Washington transmits the proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.

2001"Scrubs", starring Zach Braff as Dr. John "J.D." Dorian, premieres on NBC

1967Thurgood Marshall sworn in as 1st black Supreme Court Justice

19501st strip of Charlie Brown, "Li'l Folks", later "Peanuts", by Charles M. Schulz published in 9 papers

1552Conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

1902Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" is published by Frederick Warne & Co. in London.

1921NY Yankee Babe Ruth hits then record 59th HR

1869Mahatma Gandhi [Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi], Porbandar Kathiawad India, pacifist and spiritual leader, (d. 1948)

1904[Henry] Graham Greene, England, prolific novelist (Brighton Rock)

1933John B. Gurdon, Dippenhall, Hampshire, English developmental biologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine)

1890Groucho Marx, [Julius], NYC, comedian (Marx Bros, You Bet Your Life)

1967Thomas Muster, Leibnitz Austria, tennis star (1995 French Open)

1800Nat Turner, Southhampton County Virginia, leader of major slave rebellion (1831)

1900Coco the Clown [Nicolai Poliakoff], Dvinsk, Famous Russian clown

1949Annie Leibovitz, Waterbury, Connecticut, photographer (Rolling Stones)

1942Steve Sabol, Moorestown New Jersey, filmmaker (35 Emmy awards, founder of NFL Films)

1968Jana Novotna, Brno Czechoslovakia, tennis star (1995 Aust/Wimbledon doubles)

2004"Piano Man" singer-songwriter Billy Joel (55) weds television food critic and chef Katie Lee (23) at 15-acre waterfront estate in Centre Island, New York

1993Spike Lee weds Tonya Lewis

2011Canadian stand-up comedian and actor Seth Rogen (30) weds screenwriter Lauren Miller at Kunde Family Estate in Sonoma, California

1970Actor Christopher Plummer (40) weds actress Elaine Taylor (26) in Montreal, Quebec

1968Marcel Duchamp, French painter and sculptor (Nude Descending a Staircase), dies at 81

1803Samuel Adams, US revolutionary (Boston Massacre-Tea Party) and politican, dies at 81