Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/October 1

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October 1: National Day in the People's Republic of China (1949); Independence Day in Cyprus and Nigeria (both 1960), Tuvalu (1978) and Palau (1994).

331 BC: Alexander the Great of Macedon defeated Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela, and was subsequently crowned "King of Asia" in a ceremony in Arbela.
1891: Stanford University, founded by railroad magnate and California Governor Leland Stanford along with his wife, Jane Stanford, officially opened with 559 students and free tuition.
1936: Francisco Franco was declared Generalísimo and head of state during the Spanish Civil War.
1958: NASA began operations, replacing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA).
1964: Tōkaidō Shinkansen, the first Shinkansen line of high-speed railways in Japan, opened.
1977: Brazilian football star Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, played his last professional football game.