TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, OCT. 28, the 301st day of 2017. There are 64 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1726, the original edition of “Gulliver’s Travels,” a satirical novel by Jonathan Swift, was published in London.
In 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a legislative act establishing Harvard College.
In 1776, the Battle of White Plains was fought during the Revolutionary War, resulting in a limited British victory.
In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
In 1940, Italy invaded Greece during World War II.
In 1958, the Roman Catholic patriarch of Venice, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was elected Pope; he took the name John XXIII.
In 1965, Pope Paul VI issued a Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions which, among other things, absolved Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
In 1976, former Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman entered a federal prison
camp in Safford, Ariz., to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions. He was released in April 1978.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter and Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan faced off in a debate.
In 1991, what became known as “The Perfect Storm” began forming hundreds of miles east of Nova Scotia; lost at sea during the storm were the six crew members of the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat from Gloucester, Mass.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Jazz singer Cleo Laine is 90. Musician-songwriter Charlie Daniels is 81. Actress Jane Alexander is 78. Actress Telma Hopkins is 69. Olympic track and field gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner is 68. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is 62. Rock musician Stephen Morris (New Order) is 60. Actor Mark Derwin is 57. Actress Lauren Holly and talk show host-comedian-actress Sheryl Underwood are 54. Actress Jami Gertz is 52. Actress Julia Roberts is 50. Country singer Brad Paisley is 45. Actor Joaquin Phoenix is 43. Actor Charlie Semine is 37. Actor Matt Smith is 35. Actor Finn Wittrock is 33. Actress Troian Bellisario is 32. Actress Lexi Ainsworth (TV: “General Hospital”) is 25. Actor Nolan Gould is 19.