On October 9

Syrian civil war: Turkish forces began an offensive into north-eastern Syria following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.

Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai (pictured) was severely injured by a Taliban gunman in a failed assassination attempt.

The Phantom of the Opera, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and currently the longest-running Broadway show in history, opened in London's West End.

Nick Holonyak, an engineer for General Electric, gave the first public demonstration of a light-emitting diode.

A footman shot and killed two colleagues and wounded the lady of the house at Knowsley Hall, England.

World War II: American forces defeated the Japanese at the Third Battle of the Matanikau in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, reversing the Japanese victory a couple of weeks earlier.

World War I: The civilian authorities of Antwerp surrendered and allowed the German army to capture the city.

Carrying a cargo hold full of highly flammable chemicals, the ocean liner SS Volturno caught fire in the north Atlantic and sank, resulting in 136 deaths.

Following a reduction in pay, textile workers in Little Falls, New York, walked out of their mill, starting a three-month strike.

The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., at the time the world's tallest building, officially opened to the general public.

The Universal Postal Union, then known as the General Postal Union, was established with the signing of the Treaty of Bern to unify disparate postal services and regulations so that international mail could be exchanged easily.

Late in the Napoleonic Wars, Empress Marie Louise (pictured) issued decrees conscripting tens of thousands of French teenagers, who became known as Marie-Louises.

French Revolution: After a month-long siege, the leaders of Lyon surrendered, ending their revolt against the National Convention.

The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record began to impact the Caribbean, killing at least 20,000 people across the Antilles over the subsequent days.

European soldiers and Javanese collaborators started massacring Chinese Indonesians (depicted) in the port city of Batavia, modern-day Jakarta: at least 10,000 people were killed.

Great Northern War: Russia defeated Sweden at the Battle of Lesnaya on the Russian–Polish border, in present-day Belarus.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek wrote a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules" – the first known description of protozoa (pictured).