TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018

On this day in history:

1492 - Christopher Columbus sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.

1810 - Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.

1838 - Second Governor of South Australia, Lieutenant George Gawler, arrives in the colony.

1918 - Australian children’s classic The Magic Pudding is first published.

1942 - During World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.

1960 - Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a UN General Assembly.

1976 - China announced that Hua Guo-feng was named to succeed the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Communist Party.

1994 - Haitian military leader Raoul Cedras was granted political asylum by Panama.

1997 - The St. Francis Basilica and 15th-century bell tower above Foligno city hall in Italy were damaged by 3 earthquakes.

1999 - In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup that toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court ruled that the coup was legal but insisted that a civilian government be restored within three years. Birthdays

Elmer Sperry 1860

Perle Mesta 1891

Joe Cronin (MLB) 1906 Guitar Gabriel 1925 Antonia Rey 1927 Nappy Brown 1929

Ned Jarrett 1932

Jean Nidetch 1932

Dick Gregory 1932 Luciano Pavarotti 1935 Samuel Moore (Sam & Dave) 1935

Lawrence Jeffrey 1940