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A bit of October 12th history…
539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon
1216 - King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash as the flood tide swamps his wagons
1492 - Christopher Columbus’s expedition makes landfall on a Caribbean island he names San Salvador; he believes he has reached east Asia (pictured below)
1609 - Children’s rhyme “Three Blind Mice” is published in London
1792 - 1st celebration of Columbus Day in USA in NY
1892 - US Pledge of Allegiance 1st recited in Public Schools
1901 - Theodore Roosevelt renames “The Executive Mansion” as “The White House”
1931 - Christ the Redeemer statue opens standing 98 ft high (30 m) on top of Mount Corcovada overlooking Rio de Janeiro (pictured)
1933 - Gangster George Francis Barnes, aka Machine Gun Kelly, is sentenced to life imprisonment
1978 - Sid Vicious charged with murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen (pictured below)
Today In History: