It was on this date in 1888, Harvard educated lawyer and leather tanner, John J. Loud patented the ball point pen. And on this date in 1938, Orson Wells aired an episode on the Mercury Air Theatre of an adaptation of the book by H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds.
Mark Pennell sits at the helm of his time machine.Mark's Almanac is a 90-second time travel that highlights the world's history from the very serious to the sometimes sublime.
Mark's Almanac for October 30, 2020.
![Photo of Orson Welles meeting with reporters in an effort to explain that no one connected with the War of the Worlds radio broadcast had any idea the show would cause panic.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fff5365/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x608+0+0/resize/880x669!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2Fbe%2Feddcfa7840db85212ecd86b9923d%2F800px-orson-welles-war-of-the-worlds-1938.jpg)
WIKIPEDIA COMMONS