3rd November 1957: Laika the dog becomes the first animal to enter orbit around the Earth

2nd November 1795: The Directory established in France following the Thermidorian Reaction

1st November 1938: American racehorse Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in a direct contest between the two horses

31st October 1517: Martin Luther reputedly nails his Ninety-five Theses to a church door in Wittenberg, laying the foundations of the Protestant Reformation

30th October 1961: The Tsar Bomba detonated by the USSR

29th October 1923: Republic of Turkey formally proclaimed under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

28th October 1971: Prospero, the only British satellite launched with a British rocket

27th October 1960: American singer Ben E. King records the renowned song ‘Stand By Me’

26th October 1861: Pony Express officially ends, only nineteen months after its first service began

25th October 1415: English king Henry V defeats the numerically superior French army at the Battle of Agincourt

24th October 1926: Harry Houdini performs his final show despite suffering from acute appendicitis

23rd October 1956: Hungarian Revolution begins in Budapest against Soviet control and the Hungarian People’s Republic

22nd October 1797: The first high altitude parachute descent

21st October 1805: The Battle of Trafalgar sees the British Navy under the command of Nelson defeat the combined fleets of France and Spain

20th October 1973: Sydney Opera House officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II

19th October 1935: League of Nations imposes sanctions on Italy for the invasion of Abyssinia

18th October 1565: European and Japanese naval forces fight for the first time

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