On this date in history...

In 1992, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor provoked a furor by ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul on “Saturday Night Live” and calling him “the real enemy.” The gesture came at the end of O’Connor’s performance of the Bob Marley protest song, “War.” The incident left the studio audience stunned and NBC’s switchboard jammed with nearly 500 protest calls. Madonna countered on “SNL,” several weeks later, tearing up a photo of Joey Buttafuoco.

In 2000, a state funeral was held for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau at Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. It was attended by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, Prime Minister Jean Chretien, many leading present and former political figuresand world dignitaries including Cuban President Fidel Castro and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

In 2002, five people were shot dead in the Washington, D.C. area within a 14-hour period, beginning the hunt for the “Beltway Sniper.” In all, 10 people were killed; mastermind John Allen Muhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo were caught on Oct. 24. Muhammad was executed. Malvo got life in prison.

In 2011, ESPN pulled Hank Williams Jr.’s classic intro song “Are You Ready For Some Football?” from its “Monday Night Football” broadcast after the country singer used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in discussing President Barack Obama. He apologized for the comment but on Oct. 6 Williams and ESPN announced they had parted ways.

In 2015, a U.S. airstrike mistakenly destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, killing 30 people, including 11 staff.