October 12, 1979 – Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy hits the bookstores

The first in a “trilogy of five”, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or H2G2, is a popular comedy science fiction novel that was first created as a radio show in 1978 for BBC Radio 4.

October 13, 1773 – First spiral galaxy discovered

French astronomer, Charles Messier, discovered the Whirlpool Galaxy. Also known as Messier 51a, the galaxy is about 30 million light-years from Earth.

October 14, 1947 – First human to fly faster than the speed of sound

American Air Force test pilot, Chuck Yeager, flew the Bell X-1, an experiment aircraft at Mach 1.07 at an altitude of 45,000 ft. In doing so, he became the first person to break the sound barrier.

October 15, 2003 – Shenzhou 5, China's first human space flight mission launched

Launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the middle of the Gobi desert in northern China, this launch brought the Chinese into the exclusive club of countries who have achieved manned space flight.

October 16, 1923 – The Walt Disney Company is founded

A leader in the international entertainment industry, the company was created by brothers Walt and Roy as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Today, the company is synonymous with cartoon and animated movies and characters.

October 17, 1956 – Bobby Fischer wins the game of the century

The chess match between 13-year old Fischer and Donald Byrne took place at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City.

October 18, 1851 – Moby Dick is published for the first time

The epic written by American novelist, Herman Melville, is about a sailor's obsession with tracking down and killing an elusive whale that took his leg in a previous encounter.