Thursday, October 14, 1688

Approximately 10,000 John Deere employees went on strike in one of the largest private-sector strikes in the United States.

A snowstorm and series of avalanches occurred on and around the Himalayan peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, resulting in the deaths of at least 43 people.

Felix Baumgartner jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere to become the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power.

Michael Woodford was dismissed as the CEO of the optics manufacturer Olympus after uncovering internal financial misconduct, escalating the corporate scandal into one of the largest in Japanese business history.

The 6th Congress of the Workers' Party concluded, having anointed North Korean president Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il as his successor.

At least 75,000 people attended the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington, D.C., to demand equal civil rights for LGBT people.

Members of the Politburo voted to remove Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and replace him with Leonid Brezhnev.

After three days of heavy rain, the Turia overflowed and flooded the city of Valencia, Spain, causing at least 81 deaths.

The Queen Elizabeth Way, North America's first intercity divided highway, opens.

B. R. Ambedkar, a leader of India's "Untouchable" caste, publicly converted to Buddhism and became the leader of the Dalit Buddhist movement.

Israeli military commander Ariel Sharon and his Unit 101 special forces attacked the village of Qibya on the West Bank, destroying 45 buildings, killing 42 villagers, and wounding 15 others.

The first of the Smith Act trials concluded in New York City, with eleven leaders of the Communist Party of the United States found guilty of violating the Smith Act.