History Today - Oct. 6

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1:04And see why thousands of guys have given them five stars. That's jackarcher.com slash this day for 15% off your first order. And welcome to history today. It's October 6th, and here's a brief look at a few things that happened on this day throughout history. In 891, Formosis was elected Pope. Now, his papal reign did not last very long, less than five years, and it was filled with controversy and conflict. But the strangest thing about Formosis is that nine months after he died, his body was exhumed and his corpse was put on trial by Pope Stephen VI. Questions were posed to the corpse sitting on a throne with a deacon answering for him. He was accused of perjury and found to be in violation of canon law. He was found guilty, of course. His election as Pope was declared invalid, and his body was thrown into the Tiber River. Now, the thing is, this sham trial and the ensuing verdict and desecration of Formosis's remains

2:09split Rome politically, leading to an insurrection that resulted in Stephen's imprisonment and eventual death by strangulation. It's the stuff Old Hollywood films are made of, and you've probably seen a few inspired by the schemes of this band of bandit brothers, the Renoes. Following the Civil War, the Reno brothers cooked up a new kind of crime that terrorized travelers for years to come, and it culminated on this day in Indiana in 1866. When John and Sim Reno, along with partner Frank Sparks, staged a first of its kind train robbery. You see, trains had been the target of thieves prior to this, but those trains had been easy marks hanging out at a depot or a freight yard. Well, the Reno brothers boarded this train at a depot, let the train get moving and waited until it got to a sparsely populated area, broke into the train car where the money was, tied up the guard, and then pushed the safe out of the moving train where the rest of the gang was waiting.

3:13Now, the Renoes robbed three more trains in a similar manner. They were finally captured when word leaked about a fifth train that they planned to rob. The Pinkerton detective agency set up a sting operation, foiling the robbery in progress, wounding several of the men during a fight, and arresting them when the smoke cleared. The Reno brothers' brazen methods inspired others, though, like Butch Cassidy and his wildbunch to adopt similar methods. It also forced railroad companies to beef up their security and find ways to thwart future would-be bandits. On this day in 1981, Islamic extremists assassinated Egyptian President Enmar Sadat as he reviewed troops on the anniversary of the Yom Kapoor War, led by Khaled Al-Islambouli, a lieutenant in the Egyptian army with connections to the terrorist group, Tukfear Walhejra, the terrorists all wearing army uniforms, stopped in front of the reviewing stand and fired shots and threw grenades into a crowd of Egyptian government officials.

4:15Sadat, who was shot four times, died two hours later, to others also died in the attack. Eventually, charges were brought against 25 men who went to trial in November. Many of those charged were unrepentant and proudly admitted their involvement. Islambouli and four others were executed. And if you've ever had fun with a supersoaker, then say thank you and happy birthday to Lonnie Johnson, who was born on this day in 1949. Johnson was a nuclear engineer who worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then joined the Air Force and in 1979, became a systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working on the Galileo mission. Well, in 1985, he had his Eureka moment, working on an environmentally friendly heat pump, a powerful stream of water shot out during a test. And he began work on the toy that became a game changer in backyard battles all over the country.

5:17In 1989, he started his own company, sold his supersoaker idea to the toy company Laramie, and the rest, as they say, is history. The toy in its many iterations has generated more than a billion dollars in sales, and continues to provide kids of all ages with summertime fun. That's all for now. Come back tomorrow for another look around History's Calendar. Thanks for joining me, and I hope you have a great day. This episode is brought to you by EA Sports FC27. Welcome to the World's Game. FC27 is introducing the grounds where the streets meet the stadium, connect with friends, go pro, and express yourself on or off the pitch. Play FC27 with the ultimate edition September 18th. Learn more at EA.com. Rated E for everyone includes in-game purchases including random items. The grounds is only available on PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X and S PC and Nintendo Switch 2 versions.