October 2 in history

October 2 is a day of beginnings, several of them rooted in conviction. In 1869, Mohandas Gandhi was born in the small coastal state of Porbandar, and he grew up to lead India’s independence movement with nonviolent resistance. In 1928, a young priest in Madrid, Josemaría Escrivá, founded Opus Dei, built on the belief that everyday work could be a path to holiness. Thirty years later, in 1958, Guinea voted no to a new French constitution and proclaimed its independence, becoming the only French territory to choose an immediate break.

The other two anniversaries belong to entertainment, though neither is lightweight. In 1959, Rod Serling launched The Twilight Zone on CBS, using eerie stories and twist endings to raise questions that sponsors might have cut from a realistic drama. In 1995, Oasis released (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, an album that sold hundreds of thousands of copies in its first week and came to define Britpop. Across 126 years, the date travels from a princely state under British rule to a London street once known for its record shops.