Just starting a "this day in military history" thread.
Everyone's invited to continue this thread.
Here's a couple of sources you can use:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/dailyco...=9397083#event
http://www.historychannel.com/today/

October 23

BEIRUT BARRACKS BLOWN UP:
October 23, 1983


A suicide bomber drives a truck packed with explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. That same morning, 58 French soldiers were killed in their barracks two miles away in a separate suicide terrorist attack. The U.S. Marines were part of a multinational force sent to Lebanon in August 1982 to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon. From its inception, the mission was plagued with problems--and a mounting body count.

42. B.C: Brutus commits suicide:
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272988

1864, Civil War:
Battle of Westport, Missouri
Confederate GEN Sterling Price was defeated at the Battle of Westport, MO, ending Civil War fighting west of the Mississippi River.
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272988

1941 Soviets switch commanders in drive to halt Germans
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272988

1942: The British, led by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, launched a successful infantry attack against the Germans at El-Alamein, Egypt, during World War II.

1944: During World War II, U.S. forces under the leadership of Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., commenced a decisive air and sea battle against the Japanese on the central Philippine island of Leyte.

1965, Vietnam War:
1st Cavalry Division launches Operation Silver Bayonet
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272988

oh yes.

Lets us all give a salute right now infront of the screen to honor those people. Beginning with Marcus Brutus and ending with the other dead me..

*salutes (( FOR REAL))

Very good initiative RedLeg - I throw in a very important piece of European history to fullfill the day

October 23

1956 Hungarian protest turns violent

Thousands of Hungarians erupt in protest against the Soviet presence in their nation and are met with armed resistance.

Organized demonstrations by Hungarian citizens had been ongoing since June 1956, when signs of political reform in Poland raised the possibility for such changes taking place in their own nation. On October 23, however, the protests erupted into violence as students, workers, and even some soldiers demanded more democracy and freedom from what they viewed as an oppressive Soviet presence in Hungary. Hungarian leader Erno Gero, an avowed Stalinist, only succeeded in inflaming the crowds with praise for the Soviet Union's policies. Furious fighting broke out in Budapest between the protesters and Hungarian security forces and Soviet soldiers. In the next few days, hundreds of protesters in Budapest and other Hungarian cities were killed in these battles. Gero appealed for additional Soviet assistance and this was forthcoming in the form of an armored division that rolled into Budapest. Street fighting escalated in response to the Russian show of force. In an attempt to quell the disturbances, Communist Party officials in Hungary appointed Imre Nagy (who had earlier fallen out of favor with Party members) as the new premier. Nagy asked the Soviets to withdraw their troops from the capital so that he could restore order. Russian forces complied and withdrew from Budapest by November 1, but tensions remained high.

*Salutes again

U better salute man, and for real man, honestly

Great Idea. Here is another good source:
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/

The Italo-Turkish war saw numerous technological advances used in warfare; notably the aeroplane. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot flew over Turkish lines on a reconnaissance mission, and in 1912, the first ever bomb dropped from the air landed on Turkish troops in Libya.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo-Turkish_War

October 24

Big day today, at least for some..

1945 The United Nations is born

On this day in 1945, the United Nations Charter, which was adopted and signed on June 26, 1945, is now effective and ready to be enforced.

The United Nations was born of perceived necessity, as a means of better arbitrating international conflict and negotiating peace than was provided for by the old League of Nations. The growing Second World War became the real impetus for the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union to begin formulating the original U.N. Declaration, signed by 26 nations in January 1942, as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan, the Axis Powers.

http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272989

1648 Thirty Years War ends

The Treaty of Westphalia is signed, ending the Thirty Years War and radically shifting the balance of power in Europe.

The Thirty Years War, a series of wars fought by European nations for various reasons, ignited in 1618 over an attempt by the king of Bohemia (the future Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II) to impose Catholicism throughout his domains. Protestant nobles rebelled, and by the 1630s most of continental Europe was at war.

http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272989

1862 Rosecrans replaces Buell

Union General Don Carlos Buell is replaced because of his ineffective pursuit of the Confederates after the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8. He was replaced by William Rosecrans, who had distinguished himself in western Virginia in 1861 and provided effective leadership at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, just prior to Perryville.

http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272989

1917:
More than 600,000 Italians surrendered or retreated at the Battle of Caporetto during World War I.

1922:
Benito Mussolini summoned a “March on Rome” and subsequently became dictator of Italy.

1945:
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (Norwegian traitor ) was tried for high treason and executed by firing squad (just a few meters away from my office by the way)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling

1956
Soviet troops invade Hungary

1973
Yom Kippur War ends, Israel 65 miles from Cairo, 26 from Damascus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War

deserves another salute

*salutes

October 25 (It's snowing here by the way.. )

1147
The armies of the Second Crusade (1147-49) were destroyed by the Saracens at Dorylaeum (in modern Turkey). The Crusaders went on with fruitless campaigns against Damascus, Syria.

1415 The battle of Agincourt
During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, Henry V, the young king of England, leads his forces to victory at the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.
Two months before, Henry had crossed the English Channel with 11,000 men and laid siege to Harfleur in Normandy. After five weeks the town surrendered, but Henry lost half his men to disease and battle casualties. He decided to march his army northeast to Calais, where he would meet the English fleet and return to England. At Agincourt, however, a vast French army of 20,000 men stood in his path, greatly outnumbering the exhausted English archers, knights, and men-at-arms.
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...0&cat=10272946

1812
US frigate United States captures British vessel Macedonian

1854 the Charge of the Light Brigade
In an event alternately described as one of the most heroic or disastrous episodes in British military history, Lord James Cardigan leads a charge of the Light Brigade cavalry against well-defended Russian artillery during the Crimean War. The British were winning the Battle of Balaclava when Cardigan received his order to attack the Russians. His cavalry gallantly charged down the valley and were decimated by the heavy Russian guns, suffering 40 percent casualties. It was later revealed that the order was the result of confusion and was not given intentionally. Lord Cardigan, who survived the battle, was hailed as a national hero in Britain.

1861 Keel of the Monitor laid
Signaling an important shift in the history of naval warfare, the keel of the Union ironclad Monitor is laid at Greenpoint, Long Island.
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles appointed an Ironclad Board when he heard rumors that the Confederates were trying to build an iron-hulled ship-an ironclad ship could wreck havoc on the Union's wooden armada. In September 1861, the board granted approval for engineer John Ericsson, a native of Sweden, to begin constructing the U.S. Navy's first ironclad.
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272990

1936:
Germany and Italy established the Rome-Berlin Axis.

1944 First kamikaze attack of the war begins
On this day in 1944, during the Battle of the Leyte Gulf, the Japanese deploy kamikaze ("divine wind") suicide bombers against American warships for the first time. It will prove costly--to both sides.
This decision to employ suicide bombers against the American fleet at Leyte, an island of the Philippines, was based on the failure of conventional naval and aerial engagements to stop the American offensive. Declared Japanese naval Capt. Motoharu Okamura: "I firmly believe that the only way to swing the war in our favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with our planes.... There will be more than enough volunteers for this chance to save our country."
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272990

1945
Japanese surrender Taiwan to Gen Chiang Kai-shek

1950
China entered the Korean War on the side of North Korea against the United States and South Korea.

1951
Peace talks aimed at ending Korean War resumed in Panmunjom

1962
Stevenson demands USSR ambasadeur Zorin answer regarding Cuban missile bases saying "I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over"

1972
Nixon suspends bombing of North Vietnam
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272990

1983
The U.S. military, under President Ronald Reagan, invaded the tiny island country of Grenada.

that s a great thread... Thanks for having it here.

Can I add any thing that comes up?

Originally Posted by phoenix80

Can I add any thing that comes up?

Sure. Feel free to post your own "Today in history" replies here as well..


October 26

1795
When General Paul Barras resigns his commission as head of France's Army of the Interior to become head of the Directory, his second-in-command becomes the army's commander-Napoleon Bonaparte.

1863
Worldwide Red Cross organized in Geneva

1864
"Bloody Bill" Anderson killed
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272991

1881
The (famous) Shootout at the OK corral, in Tombstone, Az
Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday fought against Billy Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, and Ike Clanton.
Both McLaurys and Billy Clanton were killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfigh...he_O.K._Corral
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272991

1905
Norway signs a treaty of separation with Sweden. Norway chooses Prince Charles of Denmark as the new king; he becomes King Haakon VII.

1942
US ship Hornet sunk in Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during WW II
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272991

1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf ends
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272991

1955
Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims Vietnam a republic with himself as president
http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/t...2&day=10272991

1957
USSR fires defense minister, Marshal Georgi Zhukov

1968
Soyuz 3 launched

1971
UN votes to replace Taiwan with China

1972
Henry Kissinger declares "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam

1977
5th & final test of space shuttle Enterprise