This Day in History – October 14

Today is the 287th day of 2026. There are 78 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1943: Some 300 Jewish labourers at Sobibor extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland stage a revolt, killing several SS supervisors and Ukrainian guards; many inmates perish but the camp is subsequently dismantled. OTHER EVENTS 1944: German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel commits suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler. 1964: United States civil rights leader Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr wins the Nobel Peace Prize. 1973: Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn of Thailand is forced to step down following huge public demonstrations. 1982: Vietnam turns over to US officials the remains of five Americans believed to have been murdered in Cambodia under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. 1989: Jordan officially launches its first national election campaign in 22 years. 1990: The Israeli Government decides against cooperating with a United Nations (UN) team investigating the shooting deaths of 19 Palestinians at Temple Mount. 1992: A judge in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, convicts Andrei Chikatilo of the sex murders of 52 children and young women over a 12-year period; the horrific nature of the crimes makes Chikatilo one of the worst serial killers in history. 1993: Within hours of a UN police team pull-out of Haiti, gunmen assassinate Justice Minister Guy Malary, creating another setback to plans for ousted President Jean- Bertrand Aristide’s return. 1997: Dozens of protesters shouting, “Clinton go home!” burn an effigy of US President Bill Clinton and throw manure on his limousine, marring an otherwise smooth visit to Brazil. 1999: Monuments to sole Jamaican National Heroine Nanny of the Maroons and National Hero Samuel Sharpe are dedicated in National Heroes’ Park in Kingston, Jamaica. 2002: Britain suspends the Northern Ireland Assembly, saying direct British rule is being introduced over the province because of, “a loss of confidence on both sides of the community”; it is the fourth suspension since December 1999. 2004: Soldiers attack kidnappers holding two Chinese engineers near the Afghan border, killing all five of the militants led by a former Guantanamo prisoner who Pakistani officials say has ties to al-Qaeda. 2006: The UN Security Council votes unanimously to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for its claimed nuclear test, declaring that its action poses “a clear threat to international peace and security”. 2007: Reality TV series Keeping Up with the Kardashians premieres; the show’s huge popularity helps make various family members major celebrities, notably Kim Kardashian. 2011: Britain’s Defence Minister Liam Fox quits his post after days of allegations about the influencepeddling of a close personal friend who joined key visits overseas and posed as an unofficial aide. 2012: Some 20 people are gunned down in a mosque in Dogo Dawa, Nigeria. 2014: Authorities in Mexico report that none of the bodies in mass graves — found during the search for 43 college students who disappeared from a demonstration in Iguala — are those of the missing students. 2017: Producer Harvey Weinstein is expelled by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after historical revelations of sexual harassment and rape. 2019: Bernardine Evaristo for Girl, Woman, Other becomes the first black woman to win the Booker Prize (awarded jointly to Margaret Atwood for The Testaments). 2023: Australia votes against altering its constitution to give indigenous communities more rights in a referendum. 2024: A Russian man is rescued after 67 days adrift in an inflatable boat, after his brother and nephew die in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East. 2025: The US military carries out its fifth known lethal strike in international waters of suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea, killing six people. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS Marcia Barrett, Jamaican original member of group Boney M (1948- ); Allan “Skill” Cole, Jamaican legendary footballer (1950-2025 ); Usher, American musician (1978- ) — Britannica.com/OnThisDay.com/ Jamaica Observer