10th October 1979

Wayne Gretzky Makes NHL Debut

Canadian Wayne Gretzky began
skating at the age of two. By six, he
was playing hockey with boys
aged 10 and 11.

At the age of 16 he was the youngest

player and the top scorer in the Junior
World Cup competition that year.

At 18, he made his debut in the

National Hockey League (NHL) for the
Edmonton Oilers.
“Wayne Gretzky New York Rangers” by Håkan Dahlström
is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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 10th October 1979
Wayne Gretzky Makes NHL Debut
Gretzky is considered by many to be the best to ever play ice
hockey. During his career, he won the Stanley Cup four times.
He was the first-ever NHL player to average at least two points a
game. In his third season, he set the NHL regular-season records
for goals and assists. He broke both records a few years later.

He was top scorer in the league for nine seasons. He

was the first person to be named MVP in eight
consecutive years. He scored more goals and more
assists than any other player in NHL history.

Nicknamed ‘The Great One’, Gretzky was so popular

his wedding was dubbed ‘The Royal Wedding’ and
broadcast on national TV in Canada.

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 11th October 1984
Kathryn Sullivan Walked in Space
In 1978, Kathryn Sullivan was in the first NASA class of women astronauts.

In 1984, she Over 550 people

became the first have been into
American woman space; however,
to walk in space. fewer than 30
Aboard the space have been to
shuttle Challenger, Challenger Deep -
Sullivan performed the deepest
a 3 and a half known point in
hour space walk. the ocean.
In 2020, she set In 2020,
another record… Sullivan became
but in a different the first person
direction. to do both.
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 12th October 1492
Columbus Reached the "New World"
Setting off from Spain in August, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic
looking to find a route to Asia.

With three ships, the Santa Maria, the

Pinta and the Niña, he reached the
Caribbean and mistook it for China.

People used to say that Columbus

‘discovered’ the Americas. However,
people were already living there.
Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn

Columbus wasn’t even the first European to reach the Americas. Vikings led by
Leif Erikson landed in what is modern-day Canada about 500 years earlier.
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 12th October 1915
Edith Cavell Executed
British nurse Edith Cavell was working in a
nurse training school in Brussels, Belgium,
when the First World War broke out.

When the city fell to German forces, she chose

to stay and treat anyone who needed help.

Edith also became part of an underground

group that helped British, French and Belgian
soldiers who were trying to escape. Nearly
200 men got away before Cavell and others
were arrested by the Germans.

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 12th October 1915
Edith Cavell Executed

Even though the governments of Spain

and the United States (countries not
involved with the war at that point)
asked for her release, Edith was
executed by firing squad.

A statue to Edith Cavell was put up in

St Martin's Place near Trafalgar Square
in London.

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 14th October 1066
Battle of Hastings
Harold II was King of England. In September 1066, William, duke of
Normandy, landed in England with a large army.
Harold marched to meet the invading troops and the two forces met on a
hillside near the town of Hastings on the south coast of England.

Over ten thousand men fought

and the battle lasted all day. In
the end, the English forces were
defeated and Harold lay dead.
William marched to London and
was crowned king of England.

The reign of William the Conqueror

started a line of monarchs that
continues to this day - King Charles
III is one of his descendants.
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 14th October 1947
Chuck Yeager Broke the Sound Barrier
Yeager was a fighter pilot in the Second World War. After the war, he
was chosen to test a top secret plane - the X1.

On 14th October 1947, his X-1

was flown to 25,000 feet by a
larger, B-29 plane. Dropped
through the B-29’s bomb doors,
it rocketed up to 40,000 feet,
flew at 700mph and made
Yeager the first person to break
the sound barrier.

Later in his career, Yeager went even faster. In 1953, while piloting an
X-1A, he reached a speed of 1650mph!
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 15th October 1993
Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk Won Nobel Peace Prize

Non-white people were already being treated unfairly in South Africa, but
in 1948 the government made new racial segregation laws and
called it apartheid.

Apartheid laws forced people apart.

For example, people were banned
from marrying each other if they
were from different races. Other laws
banned people from living or working
in certain areas based on the colour
of their skin.

The laws dictated what sort of

education people from different races
got and even if they could vote.

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 15th October 1993
Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk Won Nobel Peace Prize

Many people in South Africa, and around the world, were against
apartheid. One of them was Nelson Mandela. But, because he
fought against apartheid, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mandela became an important figure of resistance to

apartheid. He was kept in prison for over 25 years.

In 1990, the South African

government led by President de Klerk
released Mandela. The two men
worked together to end apartheid

In 1993, they were awarded the Nobel

Peace Prize "for their work for the
peaceful termination of the apartheid
regime, and for laying the foundations
for a new democratic South Africa".
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 Reflection
Which events interested you the most? Why?

What have you learnt today that you didn’t know yesterday?

Can you think of an example of how one of your school values is reflected
in one or more of the events?

Have you heard any of these events elsewhere?

What other questions have these events made you think of?

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