It’s finally the last week of October, but what happened in history this week?

On October 27, 1858, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was born in New York City, New York on 28 E 20th Street. His parents were Martha Stewart Bulloch and businessman Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had three siblings: Anna, his older sister, Elliott, his younger brother, and a younger sister named Corinne. As a child, he had severe asthma and would not be able to play outside or any sports, so he turned to books. Most books that he read were based on animals and adventure, developing a passion for nature. At the age of 8, he created a small museum in his home called the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History, where he collected bird skins, seal skulls, and other animal parts. His father encouraged Theodore to exercise and this motivated him with activities including weightlifting, boxing, hiking, and gymnastics to build his strength and health. He transformed from a sickly boy to a strong and athletic young man. His love of learning came from him being tutored at home for his health issues and went to Harvard University in 1876, where his studied natural history and politics. In 1880, he graduated from Harvard and married Alice Hathaway Lee, then he went to study law at Columbia University in the same year. He was elected to the New York State Assembly at the age of 23 and experienced the deaths of both Alice and his mother on February 14th, 1884. This tragedy didn’t stop Roosevelt and lived on a ranch in South Dakota for two years as a rancher to cope with his grief. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and resigned from the Navy to form the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. He also took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill, where he gained national fame as a war hero. He was elected Governor of New York in 1898 and later became the vice president of William McKinley in 1901. After the assassination of McKinley, Roosevelt became president of the United States, which he was the youngest president of the United States so far at the age of 42. He implemented progressive reforms for trust-busting and government regulation of businesses, prioritized conservation of public land as national parks, and helped build the Panama Canal. In the 1912 Election, he ran a third-party group called the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party, and while speaking a speech, he was shot in the chest by former saloonkeeper John Schrank, who wanted to kill him because he said that the ghost of Mckinley told him to do it. He survived the attack with the bullet slowing down from his steel glasses case, but later died on January 6th, 1919 from a blood clot in his lung while he was asleep in his house on Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Woodrow Wilson’s vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that  “Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.”

On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland. The statue was a gift from the French people to the United States, and was celebrated with a ceremony in New York Harbor and recognized as a symbol of friendship and democracy. The statue was given to the United States because it was commemorating the alliance between the two countries and celebrated the centennial of American independence. The statue was originally known as “Liberty Enlightening the World,” the statue was proposed by Edouard de Laboulaye, a French abolitionist, in 1865. It was designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the 151-foot statue was formed of a woman with an uplifted arm holding a torch and based off of the Roman goddess Libertas, but the face is believed to based on the sculptor’s mother, Charlotte. The framework of the statue was designed by Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. Congress approved the location of the statue to be on Bedloe’s Island in 1877. In 1903, a bronze plaque was mounted on the pedestal’s lower level inscribed with “The New Colossus,” a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus that welcomed new immigrants to America. In 1892, Ellis Island became an entry point for immigrants who were entering the United States, and 12 million first saw “Lady Liberty” as a welcoming sign of a new life. The statue later became a national monument in 1924, and the island was renamed to Liberty Island in 1956. With it getting major restoration in the 1980s.

On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street and caused the world to spiral downwards towards the Great Depression. During the 1920s, the economy boomed, and people were buying new technology like cars, radios, and other household appliances which caused the stock market to reach a high point in August 1929. By this point, production declined and unemployment began to rise, leaving stocks in great excess of their real value. Other causes of the eventual market collapse were low wages, the increase of debt, a weak agriculture and an excess of large bank loans that could not be liquidated. Stock prices declined in September and early October 1929, and on October 18th the fall began. October 24th was called Black Thursday to the panic that arose from the stock market falling. A record of 12,894,650 shares were traded with investment companies and leading bankers attempting to stabilize the market by buying large blocks of stocks on Friday. It was a different story on Monday, when a storm broke anew, and the market fell into a free fall. Black Monday was followed by Black Tuesday, where stocks collapsed completely. Many people invested in the stock and took out loans to buy stocks, but when people didn’t have the money from selling their stocks to pay off the banks, banks began to collapse due to bad loans and people taking money out of their banks accounts, closing thousands of banks. The collapse of the stock market was not the main cause, but was part of the large picture of the Great Depression. By 1933, 15 million people, or 30 percent of the population of America were unemployed, but by World War 2, it caused the country to get out of the Great Depression with the production of war materials and supplies.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” radio play was broadcast and was based on H.G. Wells’s novel. The Mercury Theatre on the Air presented this broadcast as a series of realistic news bulletins, which led to many listeners believing that there was an actual Martian invasion was happening, causing widespread panic. The broadcast cemented Welle’s reputation as an innovative storyteller and trickster and highlighted the power of mass media. If you would like to listen to the broadcast for yourself here is the link: https://youtu.be/9q7tN7MhQ4I?si=BwVvVkExAZux4Ppu.

On October 31, 1926, famous illusionist and magician, Harry Houdini, died at the age of 52 in Detroit, Michigan from his appendix bursting, causing a fatal infection. Harry Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary on Match 24th, 1876 and is best known for his illusions and magic tricks. Some of his famous magic tricks includes his suspended straitjacket escape, the milk can escape, where he was handcuffed and sealed inside a milk can, the Chinese water torture cell, where he was submerged in a glass-walled tank of water. He is also known for handcuff tricks, escaping jail cell tricks, and being buried alive. He used the art of illusions to trick the audience while he made his escapes which caused him to become so famous. He was ahead of his time while his trick, causing other magicians to try to replicate his magic tricks. His final words were “I’m tired of fighting… guess this is going to get me” to his brother, Theo.