Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
1582 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain October 4 of this year is followed directly by October 15, skipping over 10 days. Other countries follow at various later dates (There's something goofy about these Wikipedia Gregorian Calendar entries...)
1764 - While visiting Rome, Edward Gibbon observes a group of barefoot friars singing vespers in the ruined Temple of Jupiter, a sight which inspires him to begin work on a history that will be published as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
1997 - The first supersonic land speed record is set by the ThrustSSC team from the United Kingdom.
1997 - The Cassini probe was launched from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.
2001 - NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io

Births
1881 - P. G. Wodehouse, British comic novelist (d. 1975)
1924 - Lee Iacocca, industrialist
1924 - Mark Lenard, actor (d. 1996)
1946 - Richard Carpenter, singer, pianist, composer (Carpenters)
1959 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
1959 - Emeril Lagasse, chef

Deaths
1964 - Cole Porter, American composer

Holidays & observances
United States - White Cane Safety Day