Today in History: October 4

1537: Jacobus van Meteren of Antwerp publishes the first Old Testament in the English language, which is printed at Paris and London.

1582: The Gregorian calendar, promulgated by Pope Gregory XIII, goes into effect in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Poland.  Eleven days will be cut; tomorrow will be October 15.

1822: Future U.S. President Rutherford Birchard Hayes (Harvard Law 1845) is born at Delaware, Ohio.  He’s a national hero in Paraguay, where a city (Villa Hayes) and a region (Presidente Hayes) are named for him.

1824: Mexico adopts a new constitution, making it a federal republic, the United Mexican States.  The liberality of this constitution is a major drawing card for American and European settlers to Mexico.

1883: The Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits introduces a new Istanbul train-and-ferry service, known as the Orient Express.

1895: Twenty-one year-old Englishman Howard Rawlins wins $150 in prize money at the first U.S. Open Golf Tournament, held at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.

1957: The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, Sputnik (“Fellow Traveler”) I.  Millions of American school children suddenly have to start studying math and science.

1958: France establishes its Fifth Republic.  But who’s counting?

2004: SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded human-carrying spacecraft (bankrolled by Paul Allen of Microsoft) wins the $10 million Ansari X prize after it successfully flies twice in two weeks.