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13th October 1908: Suffragette Margaret Travers Symons becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons when she burst into the main chamber

As she was accompanied through the Members’ Lobby, Travers Symons broke away from her escort and burst into the chamber where MPs were debating a bill regarding issues related to children.Read more

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12th October 539 BCE: Babylon falls to the Persian king Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great’s Persian forces defeated the Babylonians at the Battle of Opis before entering Babylon on 12 October, bringing the Neo-Babylonian Empire to an end. He subsequently incorporated Mesopotamia into the Persian Empire while…Read more

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11th October 1521: King Henry VIII of England given the title Defender of the Faith by Pope Leo X

The Pope granted the Latin title Fidei defensor to Henry after he published a book in which he defended Catholic doctrine against the criticisms levelled at it by Martin Luther in his Ninety-five Theses during the early stages…Read more

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10th October 1780: The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills an estimated 22,000 people, making it the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record

At around 6am on 10 October the hurricane made landfall at Barbados in the Lesser Antilles, where it unleashed its full fury as it moved through the islands.Read more

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9th October 1665: King Charles II moves Parliament to the University of Oxford to escape the Great Plague

Charles opened the fifth session of the Cavalier Parliament in the Great Hall at Christ Church College in Oxford, having left London to escape the Great Plague.Read more

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8th October 1480: The Great Stand on the Ugra River by Ivan III

The Great Stand on the Ugra River marked the start of the decline of the Great Horde.Read more

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7th October 1879: Germany and Austria Hungary form the Dual Alliance

Keen to consolidate the newly-united Germany, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck turned to diplomacy in an attempt to ensure the status quo in Europe.Read more

14th October 1962: U-2 spy plane captures images of Cuban missile sites

15th October 1815: Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at his exile on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic