U.S. National Debt Reaches $1 Trillion

October 22, 1981

It took until 1974 to reach $500 billion in debt. That amount doubled in only seven years to reach $1 trillion.
When U.S. President Ronald Reagan took office in January of 1981, the gross domestic debt, as a percentage of the nation's annual income, had reached 32.5% - its lowest point since 1931. However, a series of tax cuts and expanded military spending and Reagan's economic policies raised the national debt from approximately $900 billion to over $2 trillion. His administration transformed the United States from the world's leading creditor (as late as 1983) to the number-one debtor by 1986.

First Pictures from Another Planet

October 22, 1975

The Soviet Venera 9 transmits pictures from the surface of Venus. The lander portion of the craft touched down and operated for 53 minutes, allowing the return of this single image. The orbiter portion of the craft was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.

First Xerox Copy

October 22, 1938

Chester F. Carlson and Otto Kornei succeed in electronically copying the message from a glass slide to a sheet of wax paper. Xerography is from the Greek words xeros ("dry") and graphein ("writing"). Kornei was not impressed with the results and left Carlson.
Carlson would wait until exactly 10 years later to the day to announce his discovery to the world. He approached IBM with his invention, but they turned it down. In 1947, Carlson sold the rights to the Haloid Company (later renamed Xerox), who used the technology to create the Xerox 914 in 1959. It was the first plain paper photocopier, and has been called the "most successful product of all time."

Houdini Fatally Punched in Stomach

October 22, 1926

The famous magician Harry Houdini is struck four times by a college student challenging his ability to withstand blows to the stomach. Houdini, who was unprepared for the attack and had acute appendicitis, died nine days later. Houdini was famous for his ability to take blows to the stomach. While Houdini was reclining on a coach having his portrait sketched, a college student asked, "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him?" Before Houdini could prepare, the student then began punching Houdini in the abdomen. It is believed that these blows aggravated an existing case of appendicitis that Houdini was unaware of. Houdini remained in pain and on October 24th he developed a 104 °F (40 °C) fever. However, he refused medical help and performed his act that night. Afterwards he was hospitalized and died on October 31st.

Montparnasse Train Wreck

October 22, 1895

The Montparnasse derailment occurred when the Granville-Paris Express overran the buffer stop at its Gare Montparnasse terminus. The driver was trying to make up for lost time and entered the station too fast and the train's air brakes failed to stop it. After running through the buffer stop, the train crossed the station concourse and crashed through the station wall. The train fell onto the road below, where it stood on its nose. A woman in the street below was killed by falling masonry. The driver was fined 50 francs for approaching the station too fast and one of the guards was fined 25 francs because he had been doing paperwork and failed to apply the handbrake.

The End of the World - and the Start of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

October 22, 1844

After several previous failed predictions, October 22, 1844 is chosen to be the end of the world, according to the religious followers of William Miller (Millerites), many of whom gave away their earthly possessions in preparation for the event. Their prediction was based on the 2300 day prophecy in Daniel 8:14 from the Bible: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Miller assumed that the cleansing represented the Earth's purification by fire at Christ's Second Coming. Using the "day-year principle," Miller interpreted a day to mean a calendar year. Setting the starting date to the 457 B.C. decree to rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes I of Persia, he concluded that end of the world would occur between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When that didn't happen, they assumed they had gotten their Biblical chronologies wrong and set the new date for April 18, 1844 using the Karaite Jewish calendar (as opposed to the Rabbinic calendar they had used previously). When that didn't happen, his followers adjusted the prediction to October 22. The failure of this prediction became known as "The Great Disappointment."
Some of the disappointed Millerites left the group and went on to form the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

First President of the Republic of Texas

October 22, 1836

Sam Houston is sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas. Having defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto earlier that year, paving the way for Texas' independence, he was a hero to Texans.
In 1837, the capital of Texas was moved to Houston, which was named for him (it was later moved to Austin).

First Parachute Jump

October 22, 1797

André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first frameless parachute jump. His parachute was an umbrella-like design of white canvas with a diameter of approximately 23 feet (7 m). Garnerin rode in a basket attached to the bottom of the parachute. The parachute and basket were suspended below a hot air balloon via a rope running through the center pole of the umbrella. At a height of approximately 3,000 feet (1,000 m) he severed the rope connecting his parachute to the balloon. Even though the basket swung wildly during the descent, Garnerin emerged uninjured.

Earliest Record of a Solar Eclipse

October 22, 2134 B.C.

The Chinese make records of the celestial event.

Annette Funicello

Born October 22, 1942 d. 2013

American actress. Mouseketeer on the original The Mickey Mouse Club and star of 1960s Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon. Film: The Shaggy Dog (1959).
At one time, she dated singer/songwriter Paul Anka and he wrote his hit song Puppy Love about her.
She died of complications due to multiple sclerosis.

Christopher Lloyd

Born October 22, 1938

American Emmy-winning actor. Film: Back to the Future (1985, Doc), The Addams Family (1991, Uncle Fester), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Max Taber). TV: Taxi (1978-83, Reverend Jim).

Curly Howard (Jerome Lester Horwitz)

Born October 22, 1903 d. 1952

American comic actor. One of the Three-Stooges. Known for phrases such as "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!", "woob-woob-woob!", and "soitenly!" Curly joined the Stooges in 1932, replacing his brother Shemp Howard.
He died at the age of 48 after a series of strokes that began at the age of 42.

Sarah Bernhardt (Rosine Bernard)

Born October 22, 1844 d. 1923

French actress, called Divine Sarah. She is considered the first great actress to appear in a motion picture (1900). She suffered an injury to her knee when she leaped off the parapet during a performance of La Tosca. The mattress on which she was to land was misplaced, and she landed on the boards. This injury never healed properly, and led to the eventual amputation of her leg (1915). She continued her successful career after the amputation.
She also starred in the first feature-length film shown in the U.S. (1912, Queen Elizabeth).