TODAY IN HISTORY - OCTOBER 18TH

1540 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto's forces destroy the fortified town of Mabila in present-day Alabama, killing Tuskaloosa.

1648 – Boston Shoemakers form first American labor organization.

1679 – Ann Putnam, Jr., American witness in the Salem witch trials (d. 1716) is born.

1775 – African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine).

1836 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American businessman, founded FAO Schwarz (d. 1911) is born.

1851 – Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.

1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.

1871 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the mechanical computer (b. 1791) dies.

1898 – The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain.

1922 – The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.

1926 – Chuck Berry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist is born.

1929 – The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.

1931 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, invented the light bulb and phonograph (b. 1847) dies.

1939 – Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963) is born.

1954 – Texas Instruments announces the first transistor radio.

1956 – Martina Navratilova, Czech-American tennis player and coach is born.

1960 – Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian martial artist, actor, and producer, and screenwriter is born.

1966 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-American businesswoman, founded Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (b. 1878) dies.

1979 – the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) begins allowing people to have home satellite earth stations without a federal government license.

1982 – Bess Truman, American wife of Harry S. Truman, 40th First Lady of the United States (b. 1885) dies.