October 12, 1492 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to successfully navigate across the Atlantic by ship landing in the Bahamas.
October 12, 1960 – During a debate over colonialism in the United Nations, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev takes off his shoe and pounds his desk repeatedly.
October 13, 1884 – Greenwich was established as the universal time from which standard times throughout the world are calculated.
October 14, 1947 – U. S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier flying in a rocket-powered research aircraft.