Important Events

202 BC Battle of Zama: Hannibal Barca and the Carthaginian army are defeated by Roman legions under Scipio Africanus, ending 2nd Punic War

1781 British forces under General Charles Cornwallis sign terms of surrender to George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown at 2 pm, ending the US Revolutionary War

1926 Russian Politburo throws out Leon Trotsky and his followers

1943 Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University

1987 Black Monday: Stock markets around the world crash, including the Dow Jones stock index, which falls 508.32 points (22%), 4½ times the previous daily record

2015 US scientists from University of California find evidence life on earth may have begun 4.1 billion years ago, 300 million earlier than previously thought

Today In Film & TV

1988 US Senate passes bill curbing ads during children’s TV shows

Today In Music

1975 “A Chorus Line”, held record longest-running Broadway show (6,137 performances), premieres on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in New York

Today In Sports

1957 Montreal Canadien Maurice “Rocket” Richard, becomes the 1st NHLer to score 500 goals