October 26 - Battle of Leyte Ends

1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf ends . The largest air/naval battle in history ends with an American victory over the Japanese by allied forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur during WWII.

For more on the Battle of Leyte see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_leyte


1825: The Erie Canal officially opens, providing overland water transportation between the East Coast and the Great Lakes region. The Erie Canal proved to be the key that unlocked an enormous series of social and economic changes in the young nation. The Canal spurred the first great westward movement of American settlers, gave access to the rich land and resources west of the Appalachians and made New York the preeminent commercial city in the United States. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Allegheny Mountains were the Western Frontier. The Northwest Territories that would later become Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio were rich in timber, minerals, and fertile land for farming. It took weeks to reach these precious resources. Travelers were faced with rutted turnpike roads that baked to hardness in the summer sun. In the winter, the roads dissolved in a sea of mud.
See: http://www.canals.state.ny.us/cculture/history/index.html


Other events on this day:
1863 Worldwide Red Cross organized in Geneva


Discoveries/inventions/new technology:
1877: British surgeon Joseph Lister performs the first operation to repair a fractured kneecap
1984 Infant , known as �Baby Fae� receives baboon heart and dies 20 days later.


Women in history:
1916 Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control)