From the archives
Classic headlineMonday 12 October 2026
What happened, who was born, who we lost — plus today's horoscope for every sign.
Birthday twins
Trey Parker1969
Jon Favreau1966
John le Carre1931Events, inventions, discoveries and releases. Looking for people or sport? See , and below.
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What happened on this day · Odd history for today
Hurricane Wilma (pictured) became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum atmospheric pressure of 882 mbar (26.05 inHg).
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pieces of the French Crown Jewels are successfully stolen during a heist on the Louvre Museum in Paris..
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Pennsylvania Gazette published a statement by Benjamin Franklin describing a kite experiment (depicted) to determine the electrical nature of lightning.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
The French invasion of Russia fails when Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
From The Guardian Archives — On This Day

About half of the CO2-equivalent caused by releasing methane in Australia comes from agriculture. The rest comes main…
Read on The Guardian →
GOP rivals Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins face Raphael Warnock in virtual debate for Senate seat race with no primary
Read on The Guardian →Ralph Bakshi revived public interest in animation as a medium for the seventies with a trio of controversial cartoon…
Read on NYTimes.com →Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform · Historic front pages via the NYT Archive API
Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform and the NYT Archive API. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.
Strange but true headlines of the day
From the archives
Classic headlineDid you guess the year?
When was “Hurricane Wilma (pictured) became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum atmospheric pressure of 882 mbar (26.05 inHg).” happening? Slide to your guess.
Hurricane Wilma (pictured) became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum atmospheric pressure of 882 mbar (26.05 inHg).
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pieces of the French Crown Jewels are successfully stolen during a heist on the Louvre Museum in Paris..
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.
Read more →Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hall of Fame headlines are manually verified clippings (source linked); nothing is scraped from Newspapers.com. Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Clippings from the Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers site.
Viewing 19 October — today is 12 October.
John le Carre was born. English novelist known for spy thrillers like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Jon Favreau was born. American director known for Iron Man and The Mandalorian.
Trey Parker was born. American co-creator of South Park.
Five infamous ends — executed, assassinated or murdered — drawn at random from the archive. All infamous ends →

King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine in Paris during French Revolution.

Kurt Cobain, musician, died on this day in 1994. Suicide by gunshot. Remembered as: Frontman of Nirvana, voice of a generation.

John Lennon, musician, died on this day in 1980. Assassinated in New York City. Remembered as: Co-lead vocalist and founder of The Beatles.

Cleopatra, queen of the ptolemaic kingdom, died on this day in 30 BC. Suicide (historically debated, asp bite). Remembered as: The last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.

Mahatma Gandhi, political ethicist, died on this day in 1948. Assassinated. Remembered as: Leader of the Indian independence movement.
Today · 19 October
Coming up this week
Encourages individuals to pause, reflect on their goals, and assess their personal well-being.
Music · No.1 on this day
The official No.1 singles and albums in the UK and the USA on this date, decade by decade.
2016 10 yrs ago
2006 20 yrs ago
1996 30 yrs ago
1986 40 yrs ago
1976 50 yrs ago
1966 60 yrs ago
1956 70 yrs ago
Finals, medals and records decided on 19 October.
No recorded sporting finals on this date yet.
Sporting almanac
World Cups, Olympics, Wimbledon, the Masters, Super Bowl and more — year by year since 1877.
2016 10 yrs ago
2001 25 yrs ago
1976 50 yrs ago
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