October 22 ...

In 1746 Princeton University in New Jersey received its charter. In 1797 French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet. In 1836 Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas. In 1928 Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the "American system of rugged individualism" in a speech at New York's Madison Square Garden. In 1934 bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, OH. In 1954 West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In 1962 President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island. In 1968 Apollo 7 returned safely to Earth, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1979 the US government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment -- a decision used as one of the reasons for the Iran hostage crisis.