On October 2, 1835 the first battle of the Texas Revolution was fought between a group of Texian colonists and one hundred Mexican soldiers. The Texians courageously refused to give up a small cannon that was initially granted to them by the Mexican government for their protection. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The Marx family c. 1915
Groucho is the first person on the left. Groucho Marx was born on October 2, 1890 in Manhattan, New York City. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On October 2, 1968 Redwood National Park in California was established. The Redwood species has existed for about 20 million years along the northern California coast. Image via Shutterstock
American musician Don McLean was born on October 2, 1945 in New Rochelle, New York. Image: Don McLean in 1976 by Herbert S. Gart, management via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
“On the preceding evening Andre wrote letters to his mother, sisters, Miss Seward, and other friends, and made a pen-and-ink sketch of himself sitting at a table with a pen in his hand. On the following morning he made a rude sketch, with pen and ink, depicting the scene of his passage from the Vulture to the shore, when he went to meet Arnold. At noon on the 2d day of October, 1780, Major Andre was executed upon an eminence near Tappaan village, in the presence of a vast concourse of people. He was dressed in full military costume and white top-boots. He was taken to the gallows a cross-piece between two moderate-sized trees by a procession of nearly all the field-officers, excepting Washington and his staff, who remained at headquarters. General Greene led the cavalcade, which passed between two files of soldiers, extending from the prison up to the fatal spot. The prisoner’s step was firm, and he did not falter until he saw the gallows, and knew he was to be hanged as a felon and not shot as a soldier. His hesitation was only for a moment. A baggage-wagon, bearing a plain pine coffin, had been driven under the gallows. A grave had; been dug near by. Into the wagon the prisoner stepped and, taking the rope from the hangman, adjusted it to his neck, and tied a white handkerchief over his eyes. Then Adjutant General Scammell read the order for the execution in a clear voice, and at its conclusion told Andre that he might speak if he desired it. The prisoner lifted the handkerchief from his eyes and, bowing courteously to General Greene and his officers, said in firm voice, “All I request of you, gentlemen, is that, while I acknowledge the propriety of my sentence, you will bear me witness that I die like a brave man.” In an undertone he murmured, “It will be but a momentary pang.” The wagon was driven swiftly from under him, and in a few minutes he ceased to exist. “Thus died in the bloom of life,” wrote Dr. Thacher, a surgeon of the Continental army, who was present, “the accomplished Major Andre, the pride of the royal army and the valued friend of Sir Henry Clinton.” The same authority wrote that Andre’s regimentals, which had been brought up to Tappaan by his servant, were handed to that servant, and he was buried near one of the trees which formed the gibbet.” From: The two spies: Nathan Hale and John André by Benson John Lossing, published in 1886 https://archive.org/details/twospiesnathanha00lossiala/page/103 Source says not in copyright Image of John Andre from The Tower of London via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On October 2, 1959 the first episode of The Twilight Zone aired on network TV. Image of Rod Serling as a boy, the creator of The Twilight Zone and his parents, circa 1930 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
“Cordell Hull with telephone, 1924” Cordell Hull, the U.S. Secretary of State who served eleven years (more than any other U.S. Secretary), was born on October 2, 1871 in Olympus, Tennessee. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945. Image via Library of Congress, no known restrictions
On October 2, 1967 Thurgood Marshall took the constitutional oath of office and was sworn in as the first African American Supreme Court Justice of the United States. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
On October 2, 1755 the first professional female writer in America, Hannah Adams, was born in Medfield, Massachusetts. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Spine-Tingling History According to an article that was published in a Philadelphia newspaper in the early 1880s, the ghost of Benjamin Franklin appeared at Philosophical Hall (near Independence Hall) in Philadelphia more than 90 years after his death. The article referenced a mother and daughter cleaning crew who sighted the specter of the Founding Father wandering the building’s halls. On this eerie occasion the busy and ever studious ghost of Franklin, holding a pile of books, pushed the mother of the crew out of the way so he could access a bookcase that she was cleaning.
