17th October 1943: The Thailand–Burma ‘Death’ Railway completed using forced labour including Allied prisoners of war

16th October 1846: First public demonstration of ether anaesthesia

15th October 1923: Rentenmark introduced in Weimar Germany in an attempt to stop the hyperinflation crisis

14th October 1892: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle first published, containing 12 stories

13th October 54: The Roman Emperor Claudius dies, supposedly after being poisoned

12th October 1915: British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad

11th October 1986: Reykjavík Summit takes place between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev

10th October 1957: Eisenhower apologises to Ghanaian minister for racism in Delaware restaurant

9th October 1967: Execution of Marxist revolutionary icon Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in Bolivia

8th October 1856: Second Opium War begins after the arrest of the crew of the Arrow, a Chinese-owned but British-registered cargo boat

7th October 1949: The creation of East Germany, formally known as the German Democratic Republic

6th October 1683: Germantown founded in the Pennsylvania Colony

5th October 1914: First recorded aerial combat victory takes place when a French Voisin shoots down a German Aviatik aircraft

4th October 1936: The Battle of Cable Street took place in London’s East End

3rd October 1990: East and West Germany reunified when the German Democratic Republic joins with the Federal Republic of Germany

2nd October 1766: Nottingham Cheese Riot takes place at the city’s Goose Fair, triggered by rising food prices

1st October 1928: The USSR introduces the first five-year plan under Joseph Stalin

30th September 737: Umayyad Caliphate defeated in the Battle of the Baggage

29th September 1916: John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire according to newspapers in the USA

28th September 1066: William of Normandy lands in England