Jenna Elfman

On September 30, 1918, Arab forces and Australian mounted troops reached Damascus as the Ottoman position in Syria collapsed during the closing weeks of World War I. British-led forces followed as Damascus passed from Ottoman control by October 1. Among the most famous figures involved in the campaign was British officer T.E. Lawrence, later immortalized as “Lawrence of Arabia.” Born in Tremadoc, Wales, and educated at Oxford, Lawrence had extensive knowledge of Arab history and culture before joining British military intelligence in Cairo in 1914. Two years later, after Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, launched the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, Lawrence became a liaison officer with forces commanded by Hussein's son, Faisal.

Working alongside Arab commanders rather than commanding the revolt himself, Lawrence became an influential adviser and advocate of guerrilla warfare. Arab forces attacked Ottoman communications and railway lines, helping disrupt the enemy while British armies advanced through the region. The capture of Aqaba in July 1917 was one of the campaign's most important successes and strengthened cooperation between the Arab forces and the British. Lawrence continued north with Faisal's army toward Damascus as Australian mounted troops and other Allied units pursued retreating Ottoman forces. Damascus fell at the end of September and beginning of October 1918, but the victory did not produce the independent and unified Arab state Lawrence had hoped would emerge from the revolt.

Disillusioned by the postwar political settlement and Britain's role in determining the future of former Ottoman territories, Lawrence returned home and advocated Arab self-government, attending the Paris Peace Conference with Faisal's delegation in 1919. His wartime experiences eventually became the basis for Seven Pillars of Wisdom, the book that helped create his enduring legend. Uncomfortable with celebrity, Lawrence later served under assumed names in the Royal Air Force and Royal Tank Corps. Shortly after leaving the RAF in 1935, he suffered severe injuries in a motorcycle accident near his Dorset home and died several days later, ending the extraordinary life behind one of World War I's most enduring personalities.

On September 30, 1947, the New York Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-3 at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series, but the afternoon was historic for reasons extending far beyond the score. It became the first World Series game shown on television and the first Fall Classic to include a Black player. Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson had broken Major League Baseball's longstanding color barrier earlier that season and played before more than 73,000 spectators as the two New York rivals met in another “Subway Series.” Millions more followed by radio, where Red Barber and Mel Allen were among the broadcasters describing the action, while Bob Stanton handled NBC's television coverage.

Television was still very much a novelty in 1947. Only a small number of American households and businesses owned sets, with many concentrated around major East Coast cities, and viewers often gathered in bars, restaurants and other public locations to watch. The technology was also far from polished. Bright sunlight and deep shadows at Yankee Stadium made portions of the action difficult for television cameras to capture, while NBC's bulky equipment experienced technical problems. Compared with the dependable familiarity of radio, televised baseball remained an experiment—but one that offered an intriguing glimpse of how Americans would eventually watch their national pastime.

The Yankees went on to defeat Brooklyn in a dramatic seven-game series, but television's relationship with the World Series had only begun. Eight years later, the same clubs met again when the 1955 World Series became the first televised in color. That time Brooklyn finally prevailed, defeating the Yankees in seven games to capture the franchise's first World Series championship and its only title before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.

On September 30, 1954, the U.S. Navy commissioned USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine. The revolutionary vessel emerged from the Navy's nuclear propulsion program led by Captain Hyman G. Rickover, an engineer whose relentless approach to technical standards earned him both considerable admiration and a reputation for being exceptionally difficult to satisfy. President Harry S. Truman participated in the keel-laying ceremony at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, in 1952, and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christened Nautilus when the submarine was launched on January 21, 1954. Following commissioning, further testing and preparation continued until January 17, 1955, when Nautilus famously reported “UNDERWAY ON NUCLEAR POWER” and began demonstrating just how dramatically naval propulsion had changed.

At roughly 319 feet long and considerably larger than many earlier diesel-electric submarines, Nautilus possessed an enormous operational advantage: its reactor did not require atmospheric oxygen for propulsion. Conventional submarines had to surface or snorkel periodically to operate diesel engines and recharge batteries, but nuclear power allowed Nautilus to remain submerged for far longer periods while maintaining sustained underwater speeds exceeding 20 knots. Its reactor generated heat to produce steam, which powered turbines connected to the propulsion system. Nuclear submarines would still need to surface for supplies, maintenance and the requirements of their crews, of course—nuclear reactors may have tremendous endurance, but sailors stubbornly continue requiring food.

Nautilus quickly established records for submerged speed, distance and endurance, but its most celebrated achievement came in August 1958 during Operation Sunshine. Traveling beneath the Arctic ice, the submarine became the first vessel to reach the geographic North Pole while submerged, passing beneath it during a voyage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. After approximately a quarter-century of service and roughly half a million miles traveled, Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. The submarine was later designated a National Historic Landmark and preserved at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut, where the vessel that helped usher the world's navies into the nuclear age remains open to visitors.

At approximately 5:45 p.m. on September 30, 1955, actor James Dean was fatally injured when his Porsche 550 Spyder collided with another automobile near Cholame, California. Dean, just 24, was traveling toward Salinas with Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich when a Ford driven by college student Donald Turnupseed turned across the Porsche's path at an intersection. Wütherich suffered serious injuries but survived, while Turnupseed escaped with relatively minor injuries. Dean was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Paso Robles, where he was pronounced dead. Only East of Eden had reached theaters during his lifetime; Rebel Without a Cause opened less than a month after his death, followed by Giant in 1956. Together, the three films transformed an extraordinarily brief screen career into one of Hollywood's most enduring legends.

Dean was passionate about automobiles and motor racing and had competed successfully in several events earlier that year. He had recently purchased the silver Porsche, which became known as “Little Bastard,” and was taking it to a racing event at Salinas when the collision occurred. Dean had received a speeding citation earlier in the journey, although the precise speed of the Porsche immediately before the crash has remained a subject of debate. Investigations and later reconstructions have focused on Turnupseed's left turn, the small Porsche's low profile and the difficult visibility conditions around the intersection. Whatever the exact combination of circumstances, the collision brought an abrupt end to the career of an actor who was only beginning to discover the extent of his fame.

In the years afterward, the wrecked Porsche acquired a mythology almost as famous as Dean himself. Stories circulated that the car was “cursed,” with various accidents and deaths supposedly connected to components salvaged from the wreck. Many of those tales have proved difficult or impossible to document, and contradictory accounts surround what ultimately happened to the remains of the Spyder. The legend nevertheless became part of the James Dean story, reinforcing the image of the rebellious young star forever associated with speed, danger and an early death. Dean received two posthumous Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, for East of Eden and Giant, ensuring that behind the mythology remained evidence of a remarkable acting career that had barely begun.

On September 30, 2005, Michael Eisner ended his 21-year tenure as chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company, closing one of the most consequential periods in the entertainment company's history. Eisner had arrived at Disney in 1984 when the company was struggling creatively and had recently faced the possibility of a corporate takeover. During the following two decades, Disney expanded dramatically through movies, television, theme parks, consumer products and other entertainment businesses. The period also included the celebrated revival of Disney animation, producing enormously successful films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Disney's acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC in 1996 added the ABC television network and ESPN to an increasingly formidable entertainment empire.

Born in New York City in 1942 and educated at Denison University, Eisner began his career in television before joining ABC, where he rose through the programming ranks. In 1976, Barry Diller recruited him as president and CEO of Paramount Pictures. During Eisner's years there, Paramount enjoyed a remarkable run that included such hits as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flashdance, Trading Places, Footloose, Beverly Hills Cop and Terms of Endearment. His success made him a natural candidate when Disney's leadership sought someone capable of revitalizing the company in the mid-1980s.

Eisner's later years at Disney were considerably more contentious. Highly publicized disputes included the departure of studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and the costly severance agreement involving short-lived Disney president Michael Ovitz. Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, resigned from the company's board in 2003 and became a prominent critic of Eisner's leadership. At Disney's 2004 shareholder meeting, about 43 percent of votes cast opposed Eisner's reelection to the board, after which he surrendered the chairman's position while remaining chief executive. Eisner finally stepped down as CEO on September 30, 2005, and was succeeded by Robert Iger. Whatever the controversies surrounding his departure, the Disney Eisner left behind was vastly larger and more diversified than the company he had taken over two decades earlier.