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THIS WEEK IN PEOPLE’S HISTORY, OCT 8–14, 2025  
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_ Vietnam’s Slippery Slope (1950), History-Changing Hurricane
(1780), Saying ‘No’ to Real Un-Americans (1960), Live, from New
York! (1975), The Army Against Civilians Isn’t New (1925), Deer
Island or Devil’s Island? (1675), She Sure Had Rhythm! (1930) _

In Vietnam in 1954, a French soldier and a U.S.-supplied tank,

 

_STARTING DOWN VIETNAM’S SLIPPERY SLOPE_

OCTOBER 8 IS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY of the U.S. beginning to open the
funding spigot for the doomed military effort to maintain brutal
colonial control of Vietnam and all Indochina. The tap remained open
for more than two decades, providing the wherewithal to kill or maim
at least three million of the region’s people.

On this day in1950 the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group opened
shop on the French Army’s Base Militaire on the eastern edge of what
was then called Saigon and is now Ho Chi Minh City. In short order 40
U.S.-built F-6 fighter planes arrived on permanent loan to the French
air force, to be followed by 90 F-8 Bearcats, also on permanent loan.

Before the end of 1950, the die was cast when the U.S. and France
signed a Mutual Defense Assistance Treaty for Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos.
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_A HISTORY-CHANGING HURRICANE_

OCTOBER 9 IS THE 245TH ANNIVERSARY of what is thought to have been the
deadliest known Atlantic hurricane, which not only killed some 27,000
people (many of them sailors) in the Caribbean but also sank eleven of
the largest, most heavily armed ships in the Royal Navy. 

The destruction of so many British warships was almost certainly a
contributing factor in the American colonists’ victory in the
American Revolution, which took place almost exactly a year after the
Great Hurricane of 1780.

The British army might have avoided being forced to surrender at
Yorktown if the Royal Navy had been able to come to the Army’s
support by sailing into Chesapeake Bay. But the British, having not
had time to replace the warships lost in the hurricane, were prevented
from coming to the aid of the besieged Redcoats by French warships
blocking access to the Bay.
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_SAYING ‘NO’ TO THE REAL UN-AMERICANS_

OCTOBER 10 IS THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY of the first convention of the
National Committee to Abolish the Un-American Activities Committee,
which was held in New York City in 1960.  

The National Committee to Abolish HUAC decided to widen its focus to
include opposition to the criminalization of dissent and changed its
name to National Committee Against Repressive Legislation in the late
1960s. 

On Jan. 14, 1975, the House voted to abolish HUAC. Soon after the
House did so Representative Robert Drinan acknowledged the importance
of the work of the National Committee and its successor organization,
saying: “No account of the demise of the House Un-American
Activities Committee would be complete without a notation of the
extraordinary work done by the National Committee Against Repressive
Legislation.”
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_‘LIVE, FROM NEW YORK!’ WAY BACK WHEN_

OCTOBER 11 IS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of the premiere of NBC’s Saturday
Night Live, hosted by George Carlin, and featuring Dan Aykroyd, John
Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine
Newman, Michael O'Donoghue and Gilda Radner, with musical guests Janis
Ian and Billy Preston, produced by Lorne Michaels.
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_THE ARMY AGAINST CIVILIANS. WHAT ELSE IS NEW?_

OCTOBER 12 IS THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY of the beginning of the 2-week
occupation of Panama City, the capital of Panama, by some 600 U.S.
Army troops, who had been asked to take over the city in order to
suppress an anti-government rent strike. Before the troops arrived,
Panama police had already killed four protesters; the U.S. soldiers
killed another two. For more information and photographs, please visit
the Zinn Education Project’s website here:
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_DEER ISLAND, OR WAS IT DEVIL’S ISLAND?_

OCTOBER 13 IS THE 350TH ANNIVERSARY of a decision by the leaders of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony that led to the death by starvation and
disease of hundreds of innocent Native Americans living in eastern New
England.

At the time, New England settler-colonists and many of the region’s
Native Americans were already engaged in armed conflict that began in
June, five months earlier. The fighting was precipitated by the
colonists’ appropriation of farmland traditionally used by Native
Americans and the resulting resistance by the Native Americans.

Even though the Native Americans lacked anything like an army and the
fighting was sporadic, the settlers called the ongoing conflict King
Philip’s War, which they named after the region’s preeminent
Wampanoag chief, Metacom, who was called Philip by some.

After five months of fighting, resulting in scores of fatalities and
the destruction of hundreds of buildings and crop-filled fields, on
Oct. 13 the Massachusetts Bay Council took the harsh step of ordering
the imprisonment of all the region’s Indians who were converts to
Christianity. The Council decided to imprison what the colonists
referred to as “praying Indians” because the Christian Indians
were thought to include individuals who were secretly giving aid,
comfort, and information to hostile Native Americans. Lacking any
evidence of the “praying Indians’” disloyalty, the Council
nevertheless determined to isolate the Christians on Massachusetts
Bay’s Deer Island.

Roughly a thousand “praying Indians” were forced to remain on Deer
Island for the winter of 1675-6. Entirely lacking shelter except
makeshift combinations of excavations and driftwood and also almost
foodless, fewer than half the prisoners survived the winter.
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_BOY, SHE DID HAVE RHYTHM!_

OCTOBER 14 IS THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY of the Broadway premiere of ‘Girl
Crazy’ by George and Ira Gershwin, with George Gershwin conducting
the orchestra.

Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman made their Broadway debuts on that 1930
night, and both became overnight stars. Two of the show’s many high
points were Merman’s show-stopping rendition of ‘I Got Rhythm’
and Rogers’ heartbreaking ‘But Not for Me’. You can listen to
each number, performed by Merman:
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unfortunately, recorded during the original production.

For more People's History, visit
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* Vietnam War
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* U.S. revolution
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* House UnAmerican Activities Committee
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* saturday night live
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* Panama
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* Native American Indians
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* George Gershwin
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