October 18 is:
National Chocolate Cupcake Day
Per Foodimentary.com
Cupcake liners do more than make it easy to remove them from the pan. Traditionally, sides of tins are greased for easy removal, but also floured because the batter needs to have something to cling to. A cupcake liner takes care of both.
On August 15, 2009 GourmetGiftBaskets.com broke the world record for largest cupcake ever made. The cupcake was 1,224 pounds, 4 foot tall by 10 foot wide, and had 2 million calories.
The first mention of a cupcake recipe goes as far back as 1796. Amelia Simms wrote a recipe in “American Cookery” which referenced, “a cake to be baked in small cups”.
However, it wasn’t until 1828 that the actual word cupcake was used by Eliza Leslie in her cookbook “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats”.
“Persons Day” in Canada.
From Status of Women in Canada
In Canada, the British North America Act (BNA Act) of 1867 set out the powers and responsibilities of the provinces and of the federal government. The Act used the word “persons” when referring to more than one person and “he” when referring to one person. Many argued the Act implicitly stated that only a man could be a person, which prevented women from participating fully in politics or affairs of state.
Governments also used the “persons” argument to keep women out of important positions. If the word “person” applied only to men, then the stipulation that only “qualified persons” could be appointed to the Senate of Canada meant that only men could be appointed.
In 1927, five women – who have since become known as the Famous Five – launched a legal challenge that would mark a turning point for equality rights in Canada. Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Muir Edwards were journalists, politicians, reformers and activists from Alberta who asked the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the following question: Does the word “person” in Section 24 of the BNA Act include female persons? After five weeks of debate, the Supreme Court decided that the word “person” did not include women.
Although shocked by the Court’s decision, the Famous Five did not give up the fight and took their case to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain in London, which was then Canada’s highest court of appeal.
On October 18, 1929, Lord Sankey, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, announced the decision:
“The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word ‘person’ should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?”
With this milestone victory, the Famous Five not only won the right for women to serve in the Senate, but also helped pave the way for women to participate equally in all aspects of life in Canada.
International Newspaper Carrier Day
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, lies in the northwest quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, reputed to have been built on the site of the crucifixion of Jesus. Constantine the Great first built a church on the site. It was dedicated about 336 CE, burned by the Persians in 614, restored by Modestus (the abbot of the monastery of Theodosius, 616–626), destroyed by the caliph al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh about October 18, 1009, and restored by the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. In the 12th century the Crusaders carried out a general rebuilding of the church. Since that time, frequent repair, restoration, and remodeling have been necessary. The present church dates mainly from 1810.
United States took possession of Alaska in 1867 after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.
The US took control of Puerto Rico on this date in 1898.
Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, while the capital city was named Ciudad de Puerto Rico (“Rich Port City”). The island’s name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The anglicized name was used by the U.S. government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress in 1931.
During the Spanish–American War, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico with a landing at Guánica. After the U.S. victory in the war, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, along with the Philippines and Guam, then under Spanish sovereignty, to the U.S. under the Treaty of Paris.
1919 Birthday of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Liberal Prime Minister of Canada 1968-1979, 1980-1984 and father of current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
1939 Birthday of Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of President John F Kennedy in 1963.
1961: The acclaimed musical film West Side Story, an adaptation of a Broadway play, was released in American theaters; it won 10 Academy Awards, including that for best picture. It starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
In 1982, former First Lady Bess Truman died in October 1982 of congestive heart failure at the age of 97 and is the longest-lived First Lady in U.S. history. Elizabeth Virginia Wallace was born on February 13, 1885 in Independence, MO. She first met Harry S. Truman in Sunday School when she was 5 and he was 6.
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Birthday of Rita Hayworth, American actress whose portrayal of seductresses helped earn her the nickname “The Love Goddess” .
1920 Birthday of Montgomery Clift, American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, The New York Times said he was known for his portrayal of “moody, sensitive young men”.
1938 Birthday of Evel Knievel. Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. 
1939: The American classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart , had its world premiere; although it angered the political establishment, the drama won wide acclaim from the public and film industry. 
Al Capone was the most infamous gangster in American history. In 1920 during the height of Prohibition, Capone’s multi-million dollar Chicago operation in bootlegging, prostitution and gambling dominated the organized crime scene. On October 17, 1931, Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. 
1968: The American action film Bullitt was released; it features Steve McQueen in what many consider his definitive role and is also known for its iconic car-chase sequence.
Dictionary Day Birthday of 
Marie Antoinette, widow of Louis XVI, was guillotined on this date in 1793.
Birthday of Oscar Wilde, Irish author of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and others.
Birthday of David Ben-Gurion (October 16, 1886), Israel’s first prime minister.
Birthday of Eugene Gladstone O’Neill (October 16, 1888), American playwright, author of “Long Day’s Journey into Night”.Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1936) and Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1920, 1922, 1928, 1957).
October 16, 1978 – Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope John Paul II, remaining in this position until 2005. He was the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.
Napoleon I of France began his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean in 1815.
Birthday of Friedrich Nietzsche (October 15, 1844), German philosopher, quoted as having said “God is dead.”
Birthday of John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the “Boston Strong Boy” by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing, de facto reigning from February 7, 1882, to September 7, 1892. He is also generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring Rules, being a cultural icon of the late 19th century America, arguably the first boxing superstar and one of the world’s highest-paid athletes of his era. Newspapers’ coverage of his career, with the latest accounts of his championship fights often appearing in the headlines, and as cover stories, gave birth to sports journalism in the United States and set the pattern internationally for covering boxing events in media, and photodocumenting the prizefights.
Birthday of 
October 15, 1917 – Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed for espionage in France.
Columbus Day: Celebrated on October 14 in 2024.
Fudge
Chocolate cake
Chocolate chip cookies
Brownies
Ice cream
Birthday of William Penn (October 14, 1644), Founder of Pennsylvania and famed leader of the Society of Friends (Quakers). William Penn and his wife, Hannah, are two of only eight people who have been made honorary citizens of the U.S.
Birthday of 
1912 – While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the former President of the United States, 
The children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, was first published in 1926.
1947: American test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier.
1964: Baptist minister and social activist Martin Luther King, Jr., was named the winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace, cited for his work involving civil rights and social justice. 
1792 – In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) was laid.
1925 Birthday of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain 1979-1990.
Paddington Bear, a classic character from English children’s literature, made his debut October 13, 1958.
1892 – 
1935 Birthday of Luciano Pavarotti, Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed and loved tenors of all time. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias, gaining worldwide fame for his tone, and achieving the honorific title “King of the High Cs”. 
In 1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis died under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder’s Stand, about 70 miles southwest of Nashville, Tennessee. Referred to as “undoubtedly the greatest pathfinder this country has ever known”, Thomas Jefferson appointed Lewis as Governor of the Louisiana Territory. Lewis assumed the post in 1808. During his brief time in this office, however, Lewis proved himself a poor administrator. He quarreled with the territorial secretary and local leaders, and failed to keep his superiors in Washington informed of his policies and plans. In September 1809 Lewis set out for the nation’s capital to answer complaints about his actions as governor. While on this trip he died a violent but mysterious death. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Whether he committed suicide, as Jefferson believed, or was murdered, as his family maintained, remains uncertain even today.
Birthday of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884), wife of 
Birthday of Giuseppe Verdi (October 10, 1813), Italian operatic composer famous for “Aida”, “Rigoletto”, “Il Travatore”, and “La Traviata”.
Panama Canal
Surveying for the Mason–Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania was completed in 1767.
The Washington Monument officially opened to the general public Oct 9,1888.
1940 Birthday of John Lennon, English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles.
On Oct. 9, 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader