October 22nd, 1962Cold War superpowers reach the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. President John F. Kennedy announces an air and naval blockade of Cuba after Soviet missile bases are discovered on the island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. The crisis ends when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agrees to remove the missiles while Kennedy pledges the US won’t invade Cuba.

1979The United States allows the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment. Weeks later, a mob seizes the US Embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran, taking dozens of Americans hostage for 444 days.

1931Federal agents gun down Charles “pretty boy” Floyd, the Great Depression Era bank robber at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.

2002A bus driver shot to death in Maryland is the final victim in the Washington D.C. area Sniper case. Days later, John Muhammad and Lee Malvo are caught in connection with the string of deadly shootings.

And 1973Pablo Casals, the Spanish-born cellist, conductor and composer, dies in Puerto Rico, he was 96.

Today in History. October 22nd, Mike Gracia, the Associated Press.