Today in History: October 19 Quiz

[B] The first general court session | A key first step toward self-governance for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which held its first official meeting on this day.

[C] The fire extinguisher | The first patent for a fire extinguisher was actually granted a year later, in 1723, to an Englishman named Ambrose Godfrey.

[B] Henry Ford | The auto magnate gave his first-ever radio address, pioneering a new way for business leaders to communicate directly with the public.

[A] Basketball | The sport was officially voted into the 1936 Olympics, moving it from small wooden courts to the world stage.

[D] Ernest Rutherford | The "father of nuclear physics" passed away on this day, but his groundbreaking research on the atom opened the door to the microscopic world.

[C] Anna Lee Wiley | This female jockey made history by becoming the first woman to win a race against men at a recognized North American track.

[D] The first ascent of Cho Oyu, the world's sixth highest mountain | A remarkable feat in mountaineering history, as climbers successfully scaled the world's sixth-highest mountain for the first time.

[C] Maurice "Rocket" Richard | The legendary "Rocket" scored his 500th career goal on this day, cementing his place in NHL history.

[B] Mike Hawthorn | In a dramatic twist, he won the F1 World Drivers Championship by just one point, despite not winning the final race of the season.

[B] Boston Bruins | Hockey legend Bobby Orr joined the Boston Bruins to kick off his storied NHL career.

[A] Jackie Stewart | He secured his first F1 World Drivers Championship at the Italian Grand Prix earlier that year, not by finishing fourth in Mexico.

[D] Saudi Arabia and other Arab states proclaimed an embargo on oil exports to the United States | This was the day oil became a political weapon, as Arab states announced an embargo that would trigger a global energy crisis.

[C] Nicolaas Bloembergen and Arthur Schawlow | These two scientists won the Nobel Prize for their work in laser spectroscopy, a field that uses lasers to explore the secrets of matter more precisely.

[B] The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22% | This day is known as "Black Monday," marking the largest one-day percentage drop in the Dow's history and shaking global markets.

[A] Hurricane Wilma | With the lowest atmospheric pressure ever recorded, this storm reached its peak intensity on this day, becoming the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in history.