📜 This Day in History

October 9

• 1676Antonie van Leeuwenhoek wrote a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules" – the first known description of protozoa.
• 1780The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record began to impact the Caribbean, killing at least 20,000 people across the Antilles over the subsequent days.
• 1888The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., at the time the world's tallest building, officially opened to the general public.
• 1914World War I: The civilian authorities of Antwerp surrendered and allowed the German army to capture the city.
• 1962Nick Holonyak, an engineer for General Electric, gave the first public demonstration of a light-emitting diode.
• 2019Syrian civil war: Turkish forces began an offensive into north-eastern Syria following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.

Born on this day

• 1879Max von Laue, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1960)
• 1892Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav novelist, poet, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1975)
• 1940John Lennon, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 1980)
• 1966David Cameron, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom