by Stephanie Petrovick
September 28
In 1918, a deadly outbreak of influenza began in Philadelphia. When the outbreak finally ended, 30 million people worldwide had died. The outbreak started with a Liberty Loan parade, and it is believed that the disease first originated from a bird or farm animal found in the American Midwest. After traveling through the animals, it may have mutated to affect humans.
September 29
In 1982, seven people died after taking the popular cold medicine Tylenol. It turned out that someone had laced the bottles of Tylenol with cyanide while in the Chicago area stores they had been bought from. Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Tylenol, recalled most of their product, a thing rarely done at the time, and offered a $100,000 reward for information that would help the case. The murder was never solved, and after inspiring a few copycats using other products, medicine companies designed the tamper-proof packaging we have today.
September 30
In 1954, the world’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The Nautilus was constructed by the Russian-born engineer U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover. He was viewed as a fanatic, but he delivered the required submarine a few years ahead of schedule. The submarine was 319 feet long and displaced 3,180 tons. It could stay submerged much longer than other submarines, and it could exceed 20 knots.
October 1
In 1890, Yosemite National Park was established by an act of Congress, protecting the wonders within like Half Dome and the giant sequoia trees. Environmental trailblazers, like John Muir, campaigned for this action. Native Americans originally settled in the Yosemite Valley, but that changed after the Gold Rush and the damaging of the ecosystem, eventually leading to the establishment of the park.
October 2
In 1968 the pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals, Bob Gibson, struck out 17 Detroit Tigers. This occurred during the first game of the World Series, and the event broke Sandy Koufax’s previous record for most strike outs in a Series game. Throughout the seven games that the Cardinals played during the Series, Gibson pitched three of the games and struck out 35 batters.