OTD in 1897, a custody fight over a mastodon was settled in LeRoy. Two brothers burying a dead colt on a local farm had dug up a giant tusk, and the finders and the landowner all claimed the bones. The outcome: they went to a new historical society, and each claimant got $1. #WNYhistory #history

#OTD in 2022, #daredevil Steve Trotter passed away. Steve was known for being the youngest person to go over #NiagaraFalls in a barrel at age 22 in 1985. He repeated the stunt in 1995, this time in a tandem barrel with Lori Martin, and survived once more.

Read more about Steve here:

#Weirdhistory

#OTD in 1901, saloon-smashing crusader Carrie Nation was arrested on the Pan-American Exposition Midway in Buffalo. Her crime? Peddling souvenir hatchets without a license.

Read more about it: www.panam1901.org/documents/pa...

#WNYhistory #Buffalo

#OTD October 13 1812, the Battle of Queenston Heights

Americans crossed the Niagara River from Lewiston, took the heights, killed English commander Isaac Brock, but were driven off by reinforcements from Fort George, aided in no small part by First Nation allies

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqct...

The Battle of Queenston Heights happened OTD in 1812.

It was a poorly planned, half-assed attempt by the U.S. to invade Canada, and it failed.

islandjohnny65.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-...

#OTD Oct. 13, 1827: A party from Batavia dug up a drowned stranger at Oak Orchard Harbor to prove he was William Morgan, the missing man who threatened to expose Masonic secrets. Morgan’s wife said yes. Then another widow described her husband’s clothes. It wasn’t Morgan. #WNYhistory

#OTD in 2006, Buffalo got thundersnow. In October. Nearly two feet of heavy, wet snow landed on trees still full of leaves, snapping limbs across the city and cutting power to some 400,000 customers. Locals called it the October Surprise. Some called it Arborgeddon. #WNYHistory #history #Buffalo

#OTD (Oct 11)
Events in U.S. organized crime #history.

#NiagaraFallsNY #Chicago #LasVegas #Cleveland #Milwaukee #Pittsburgh #Brooklyn #LasVegas #NewYork #Mafia #MafiaHistory 🗃️ #Skystorians

#OTD Oct. 11, 1812, Lewiston: US troops stood in a howling storm, ready to cross the Niagara and attack Queenston. The lead boat vanished into the dark carrying nearly all the oars, and its officer reportedly ran off. Invasion postponed. #WNYhistory #NiagaraHistory #History #OnThisDay

Read more:

#OTD Oct. 10, 1925: Bobby Leach, who survived Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1911, reportedly parachuted from an airplane over the gorge and drifted into a Canadian cornfield. Months later he died after slipping on an orange peel in New Zealand.

More:

#WNYhistory #NiagaraFalls #OnThisDay #History

10 October 415

The second church structure of Hagia Sophia was inaugurated.

#History #HistoryMatters

OTD 1812, Niagara River near Black Rock.

Lt Jesse Elliot's raiding force boarded and captured the British ships CALEDONIA and DETROIT at 0300.

As they attempted to maneuver the ships back to Black Rock, British soldiers and artillery opened fire.

#OTD On October 9, 1812, 100 American sailors and soldiers crossed the Niagara River to Fort Erie. They successfully captured two British ships, HMS Caledonia and HMS Detroit, along with their cargo, during the War of 1812.
#history #navalhistory #militaryhistory

Oct. 9, 1901, Buffalo: At the Pan-American Exposition, New York Day is kicked off with a 19-gun salute and the release of 10,000 homing pigeons.

Read more here: www.panam1901.org/thisday/octo...

#Buffalo #WNYhistory #Weird #OTD #OnThisDay

I mean, you can’t read this unless you have a Buffalo News subscription, but … now you know.

Not that weird: Oct. 8, 1812: two British brigs sat at anchor across the river from Black Rock. After midnight, about 100 Americans rowed out from Buffalo Creek and seized both. One, the Detroit, ran aground on Unity Island and was burned. #WNYhistory #Buffalo #History #NotWeird #OTD

🧵 On this day in 1829, Sam Patch, America's first professional waterfall jumper, leapt into the Niagara River from a platform on Goat Island and lived. Ten days later he went back and jumped from even higher. 🌊
#WesternNewYork #OnThisDay #Niagara #History

Oct. 7, 1875: The steamboat Jamestown, launched on Chautauqua Lake only that May, burned at her dock. The county historian records it as arson, and she was the first of four boats to carry the name. #WesternNewYork #ChautauquaLake #OnThisDay

Read more here: billburktalks.blog/2026/05/04/a...