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Made for the 250thOn this day › October 22
What happened on October 22 in American history
October 22 is the 295th day of the year (the 296th in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 7 stories from October 22 spanning 1777 to 1981. Among them: in 1777, Six hundred defenders at Fort Mercer turn back 1,200 Hessians; and in 1836, Sam Houston takes the oath as Texas's first president.
1777
Six hundred defenders at Fort Mercer turn back 1,200 Hessians
Colonel von Donop promised his men he would take the fort or die there. By nightfall he was shot through the thigh and left for dead.
1836Member story · 1776 Club
Sam Houston takes the oath as Texas's first president
Burnet steps aside as Houston, fresh off defeating Santa Anna, takes on the job of running the republic he fought for.
1879
Edison's thread-filament bulb glows for thirteen and a half hours before it dies
A length of carbonized cotton thread, sealed in glass, outlasts every filament Edison had tried before it.
1884Member story · 1776 Club
Delegates in Washington make Greenwich zero degrees longitude for the whole world
San Domingo alone votes no; France and Brazil abstain.
1907Member story · 1776 Club
Eight million dollars gone in three hours; Knickerbocker Trust shuts its doors
Two vans of cash couldn't satisfy the crowd on Fifth Avenue, and for every depositor paid, ten more arrived demanding theirs.
1962
Kennedy goes on television: Soviet missiles sit in Cuba, and the Navy will stop every ship
The president calls it a quarantine, not a blockade, so Moscow cannot call it an act of war.
1981Member story · 1776 Club
The air traffic controllers' union is formally dissolved; PATCO no longer exists in the eyes of the law
Eleven weeks after the walkout, the Federal Labor Relations Authority strips PATCO of its right to bargain for anyone.
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