October 1

1953

Norwegian marathon runner Grete Waitz was born in Oslo.

She won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She also won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland.

1942

The Bell P-59A was flown for the first time. It was the USA’s first jet fighter aircraft.

1891

Stanford University, founded by railroad magnate Leland Stanford, officially opened. There were 559 students and 15 faculty members.

1827

A Russian army, commanded by Ukrainian-born Ivan Paskevich, captured Yerevan, thus ending a millennium of Muslim occupation in Armenia.

1787

At The Battle of Kinburn, during the Russo-Turkish war, Russian forces under the command of Alexander Suvorov defeated the invading Ottoman Turks.

1671

Italian priest, philosopher, mathematician and engineer Luigi Guido Grandi was born in Cremona.

In mathematics, he is best known for studying the rose curve and for Grandi’s series. He contributed to Galileo Galilei’s works and helped introduce calculus to Italy.

331 BC

At the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Achaemenid Persia.

The victory effectively divided the Persian Empire in half and directly led to the complete fall of the Persian Empire to Alexander a year later.