On October 20, 1973, Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox at the direction of President Richard Nixon after Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Assistant Attorney General Ruckelshaus had refused and resigned.

Listen to contemporary audio of Senator Alan Cranston commenting on the resignations, online via the History Channel.

On October 21, 1781, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II issued the Patent of Toleration, which granted religious freedom to Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire.