This week in history
For the week of Oct. 4, 2026
04
George I. Sanchez (1906-1972): Mexican American. Educator and writer. Sanchez was an authority on Latin American education and on educational and social needs of Mexican Americans. He wrote or edited hundreds of articles and many books, directed research projects, and advised governments, universities, and foundations. He was one of the architects of bilingual and bicultural education programs and an advocate of increased political and economic opportunities for Mexican Americans.
04
Tecumseh(1768?-1813): American Indian. (Shawnee). Political and military leader. Tecumseh led the resistance to the advance of white settlement in the Northwest Territories in the last years of the eighteenth century, refusing to sigh a treaty that surrendered most of Ohio to the United States. He organized the northwestern tribes into a confederation pledged to make no further land concessions and allied himself with the British in the War of 1812. He was killed in battle on this date.
04
Republic Day: Portugal. This holiday celebrates the establishment of the Republic of Portugal in 1834.
04
Surrender of Chief Joseph (1877): American Indian. When the U.S. government ordered the Nez Perce Indians to move from their ancestral lands in the Northwest to a reservation, Chief Joseph led his people on a 1,321 - mile trek northward, hoping to resettle in Canada. After fending off army attacks and suffering terrible losses to cold and sickness, Chief Joseph surrendered on this date with a moving speech, concluding I will fight no more forever.
06
Henri Christophe (1767-1820): Haitian. Military and political leader. One of Toussaint-Louverture's lieutenants in the war for Haitian independence, Christophe set up an independent kingdom in the North and later joined in the effort to defeat the French and drive them permanently from the island. Thwarted in his ambition to lead the new nation, which he thought needed the strong hand of a despot, he withdrew again to the North and from1811 ruled his own kingdom as Henri I. After a reign of general prosperity, he suffered a stroke in 1820, and revolts broke out. When he was unable to restore civil order, he shot himself, and his kingdom soon became part of the Republic of Haiti.
06
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977): African American. Civil rights leader. The daughter of sharecropper parents in the Mississippi Delta, Fannie Lou Hamer became one of the most courageous and inspiring leaders of the civil rights movement as one of the first African Americans to register to vote and then as an organizer. Frequently arrested and beaten, she continued her work and inspired followers with her courage, her faith, and her persistence. She was a major force in the successful effort to integrate the Democratic Party in Mississippi. She also helped to establish agricultural cooperatives, build low-income housing, and bring industry to poor rural areas.
06
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement): Jewish. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the Days of Awe or the Days of Repentance. During this time Jews are to remind themselves of their sins and seek forgiveness for their wrongdoings. Wrongdoing against God can be forgiven by God, but wrongdoing against others can be forgiven only by the person wronged. Because sin corrupts not only the person who commits it, but the entire community as well all sins are confessed by the whole congregation. The last service of Yom Kippur, the Closing, occurs as the sun begins to set. Initially, the closing pertained to the gates of the Temple. The deeper meaning, however, is that the Book of Life, is sealed for the ensuing year. Thus, freed from sin by repentance and sealed in the Book of Life, the worshippers turn from the past to the future.
08
Health Sports Day (Taiiku No Hi): Japan. This is a day to promote physical health and also to commemorate the Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Japan.
08
Thanksgiving Day: Canada. This is observed as a harvest festival and an occasion for families to get together for visiting and traditional foods.
09
Mary Shadd Cary (1823-1893): African American. Journalist and antislavery advocate. Mary Shadd Cary was born to free black parents in Delaware. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, she went to Canada and started a newspaper called The Provincial Freeman, the first antislavery newspaper in western Canada.
09
Han'gul Day: Korea. This commemorates the creation of the alphabet of 29 phonetic symbols called han'gul by King Sejong between 1443 and 1446. Korean is one of the Ural-Altaic family of languages.
09
Independence Day.: Uganda. This holiday commemorates the nation's achieving independence from Britain in 1916.
10
Lin Yutang (1895-1976): Chinese. Writer and teacher. After attending missionary schools and college in China Lin Yutang earned advanced degrees at Harvard and the University of Leipzig. He returned to China and began a career in university teaching and administration. In 1930 he came to the United States, where he lived for thirty years, publishing books on Chinese culture and on his view of America. He retired to Hong Kong.
10
Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole) (1897-1975): African American. Religious leader. Elijah Muhammad was the leader of the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) in the United States from 1934 until his death. His advocacy of hard work, a puritanical moral code, and pride and solidarity among Black people attracted a large following for his movement.
10
Double Tenth Day (Shuang-shih): Republic of China (Taiwan). This national holiday commemorates the outbreak on October 10, 1911, of the revolution led by Sun Yat-sen against the Ch'ing Dynasty (Manchu), which led to the founding of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912.
10
Grito de Yara. (1868): Cuba. The Revolt of Yara began Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain on this day, when Nationalist leaders proclaimed the island a republic and set up a provisional government. When the ensuing ten years of warfare ended with the reestablishment of Spanish rule, many Nationalists left the island to continue working for the freedom of their homeland. Cuba finally achieved its independence in 1898.
11
Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943): African American. Composer and educator. Dett was the first American to incorporate Negro folk tunes into classical compositions, chiefly piano works and choral pieces. He also taught music and directed choral groups at several colleges, notably at Hampton Institute, where he worked from 1913 to 1932.
11
National Coming Out Day/March on Washington (1987) : Gay/Lesbian. On October 11, the largest gay and lesbian gathering of its time-some estimate as many as 200,000-600,000people-took place to protest anti-gay discrimination and demand a stronger federal government response to the AIDS crisis.