October 14 Birthday
On October 14, 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold II at Hastings. Harold was killed — according to the Bayeux Tapestry, by an arrow through the eye. William's victory transformed England. French became the language of the court, law, and administration. The English aristocracy was replaced almost entirely by Norman nobles. The Domesday Book, commissioned by William in 1086, recorded every piece of property in England. The Norman Conquest is the single most important event in English history. On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in a Bell X-1 rocket plane over the Mojave Desert. He named the plane "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife. Two days earlier, he had broken two ribs in a horseback riding accident but did not tell anyone. He flew the mission with broken ribs, using a sawed-off broom handle to close the cockpit door because he couldn't reach it. People born on October 14 fall under the zodiac sign of Libra. The birthstone is Opal and the birth flower is Marigold. Historical events on October 14 include 1066: Battle of Hastings — William of Normandy defeats King Harold, 1947: Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in Bell X-1, 1964: Martin Luther King Jr. receives Nobel Peace Prize. Famous people born on October 14 include e.e. cummings (1894), Ralph Lauren (1939), Usher (1978).