October 12: Elmer Sperry, whose 400 patents included gyroscope navigational devices for airplanes and ships, was born on this date in 1860.

October 11: Henry Bristow, who served with the famed 7th New York State National Guard during the Civil War, and went on to be elected a Congressman, died on this date in 1906.

October 10: Thomas Crawford, sculptor of the statue of Freedom atop the United States Capitol, died on this date in 1857 at the age of 43.

October 9: Bird Sim Coler, first comptroller of Greater New York, and the 4th borough president of Brooklyn, was born on this date in 1867 and died in 1941.

October 8: On this date in 1996, President of Ireland Mary Robinson rededicated the restored gravestone of Irish republican Matilda Tone.

October 7: John Reisenweber was born on this date in 1851; he would become a famed restauranteur, inventing the modern cabaret with such stars as Gracie Fields and Sophie Tucker, introducing the dance floor for patrons, and creating the cover charge to pay for the entertainment.

October 6: The remains of Ada Eugenia von Boos-Farrar, who in 1907 became the first person to have his or her singing voice broadcast on the radio, were interred at Green-Wood on this date in 2010.

October 5: Clarkson Crolius, the leader of generations of Manhattan stoneware potters, and a member of New York City’s Common Council, died on this date in 1843.

October 4: Jerome Park Racetrack, which was opened in the Bronx by Leonard Jerome (grandfather of Winston Churchill) and August Belmont, and where the Belmont Stakes were first run, closed on this date in 1894.

October 3: On this date in 1853, Cornelius Garrison was elected the fifth mayor of San Francisco, California.