41st year - Nr 290 Saturday, 17 October 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
41st year - Nr 290 Saturday, 17 October 2026

17 October / Today's 26 Events:

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(x) 197 years ago Saturday 17th of October 1829 17-year-old Foundling Kaspar Hauser aka The Wild Child is attacked and wounded by a hooded man who also threatened him with the words "You still have to die ere you leave the city of Nürnberg" in Nürnberg, Bayern, Germany.

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(-) 177 years ago Wednesday 17th of October 1849 Composer Frédéric François Chopin, originally Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin dies of tuberculosis at the age of 39 in Place Vendôme 12, Ier, Paris, Île-de-France, France.

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(x) 152 years ago Saturday 17th of October 1874 44-year-old Photographer Eadweard James Muybridge shoots Major Harry Larkyns through the heart because he was dating his 23-year-old wife Flora Shallcross Stone and might have fathered their seven-month-old son Florado in Calistoga, California, United States. Upon finding Larkyns, Muybridge said, "Good evening, Major, my name is Muybridge and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife" and shot him point-blank. The jury dismissed an insanity plea and acquitted the photographer on the grounds of 'justifiable homicide'.

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(+) 137 years ago Thursday 17th of October 1889 Gangster and ex-wrestler Juanita Evelita Spinelli aka The Duchess is born in Kentucky, United States.

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(+) 134 years ago Monday 17th of October 1892 SS-Obergruppenführer and first commander of Dachau-KZ Theodor Eicke is born in Hudingen, Lorraine, France. Eicke was the youngest of 11 children

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(+) 128 years ago Monday 17th of October 1898 Writer Simon Vestdijk is born in Voorstraat 61a, Harlingen, Friesland, Netherlands.

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(+) 114 years ago Thursday 17th of October 1912 263rd Pope Ioannes Paulus I, originally Albino Luciani is born in Forno di Canale, Veneto, Italy.

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(+) 111 years ago Sunday 17th of October 1915 Playwright Arthur Asher Miller known for his play ‘Death of a Salesman’ is born in Harlem, New York, New York, United States.

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(+) 108 years ago She Was Baby Love Thursday 17th of October 1918 Actress and pin-up model Rita Hayworth, originally Margarita Carmen Cansino aka The Love Goddess is born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, United States.

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(+) 106 years ago Sunday 17th of October 1920 Actor Montgomery Edward 'Monty' Clift is born in Omaha, Nebraska, United States.

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(+) 96 years ago Friday 17th of October 1930 Journalist and writer Jimmy Earle Breslin is born in Jamaica, New York, United States.

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(-) 95 years ago Saturday 17th of October 1931 First wife of Hermann Göring Carin Axelina Hulda Fock dies of heart failure at the age of 43 in Stockholm, Södermanland, Sweden.

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(+) 93 years ago Tuesday 17th of October 1933 Singer-songwriter Jeanine Deckers aka Sœur Sourire aka The Singing Nun is born in Laeken, Brussel, Brabant, Belgium.

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(+) 88 years ago Monday 17th of October 1938 Daredevil and entertainer Evel Robert Craig Knievel is born in Butte, Montana, United States.

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(-) 59 years ago Tuesday 17th of October 1967 Last Emperor of China Aisin-Gioro Henry Puyi dies of complications from kidney cancer and heart disease at the age of 61 in Beijing, Hebei, China.

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(x) 54 years ago Tuesday 17th of October 1972 27-year-old Serial killer Arthur John Shawcross aka The Genesee River Killer is sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in Watertown, New York, United States. Instead of standing trial for two child murders Shawcross made a plea bargain with prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to the murder of Karen Hill while the charges of murder for Jack Blake were dismissed. In April 1987 Shawcross was paroled and started killing again less than a year later.

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(-) 51 years ago Friday 17th of October 1975 Teresa Knowlton is drugged and strangled by serial killer Charles Sobhraj aka Bad Blood in Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand.

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(-) 50 years ago Sunday 17th of October 1976 Vida Markovčič is raped and strangled by serial killer Metod Trobec aka The Monster of Dolenja Vas in Dolenja Vas, Carniola, Yugoslavia.

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(-) 49 years ago Monday 17th of October 1977 Russell L. Nelson is tortured and strangled by serial killer John Wayne Gacy aka The Killer Clown in 8213 West Summerdale Avenue, Cook, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

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(-) 42 years ago Wednesday 17th of October 1984 Poet, writer and painter Henri Michaux dies of unknown causes at the age of 85 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

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(x) 42 years ago Wednesday 17th of October 1984 Fifth bomb attack by Terrorist organisation Les Cellules Communistes Combattantes aka CCC in C.V.P. Secretariaat, Koning Albertlaan 214, Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium. It was the fifth action in their Première Campagne Anti-Impérialiste d’Octobre.

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(x) 39 years ago Saturday 17th of October 1987 Noise music band Club Moral play their 75th concert in Shaffy Theater, Weesperzijde 34III, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

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(-) 36 years ago He Just Had a Nosebleed Wednesday 17th of October 1990 Cop killer Wilbert Lee Evans is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 44 in Virginia State Penitentiary, Richmond, Virginia, United States. Evans' execution became known as one of Virginia's worst. When the first 55-second jolt of electricity hit Evans, blood flowed from under the leather death mask, streamed down his chin and soaked his shirt. Bloody froth bubbled on his lower lip. Officials said the chair worked fine - Evans just had a nosebleed when he lunged against the mask.

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(-) 36 years ago Wednesday 17th of October 1990 Vadim Gromov is stabbed to death and his tongue bitten off by serial killer Andrei Chikatilo aka The Rostov Ripper in Rostov, Rostov Oblast, Russia.

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21 years ago The Eyes had it Monday 17th of October 2005 My mode of transport on the country roads in Yang Zhen, Shunyi, China.

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(-) 2 years ago He Had Local Seafood Thursday 17th of October 2024 Mass murderer Derrick Ryan Dearman known for the Citronelle homicides is executed by lethal injection at the age of 36 in Holman Correctional Facility, Ross Road, Atmore, Alabama, United States. Dearman's last meal request was for a seafood platter brought to the prison from a local restaurant.

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