Oct 14 1943
An estimated 200 inmates of Sobibor escape the Polish extermination camp after killing 11 SS guards in an uprising. 52 of the fugitives manage to survive. The Nazis close the facility shortly thereafter. The events are later portrayed in a 1987 made-for-TV movie.
Oct 14 1944
Field Marshall Erwin Rommel suicides. He was implicated in an anti-Hitler plot, and given the choice of suicide or humiliating trial and execution. Hitler always liked him.
Oct 14 1959
Actor and Nazi sympathizer Errol Flynn, dubbed "the most despicable human being yet born", dies of a heart attack in Vancouver's west end. Flynn slept with both Truman Capote and Howard Hughes. Eww.
Oct 14 1972
Joe Cocker and members of his backup band are arrested on (surprise) drug charges in Australia.
Oct 14 1977
During an anti-gay rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Anita Bryant gets hit in the face mid-prayer with a banana cream pie. Bryant finishes with custard dripping from her face: "Father, I want to ask that you forgive him and that we love him, and that we're praying for him to be delivered from his deviant lifestyle."
Oct 14 1977
Crooning child abuser Bing Crosby dies on a golf course in Madrid, Spain. Since his death, two of his sons have committed suicide with a shotgun blast to the head (Lindsay in 1989, Dennis in 1991).
Oct 14 1982
President Ronald Reagan, like Nixon before him, declares war on drugs. This time, for sure!
Oct 14 1985
Respected Roman Catholic priest Gilbert Gauthe Jr. of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, pleads guilty to molesting 11 boys and is sentenced to 20 years. The Catholic Church had been aware of his pederastic avocation since 1973, but pretended not to. In the end, the church coughs up $5.5M in out-of-court settlements.
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