TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, OCT. 19, the 292nd day of 2018. There are 73 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1789, John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.
In 1781, British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va., as the American Revolution neared its end.
In 1864, Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s soldiers attacked Union forces at Cedar Creek, Va.; the Union troops were able to rally and defeat the Confederates.
In 1944, the U.S. Navy began accepting black women into WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).
In 1953, the Ray Bradbury novel “Fahrenheit 451,” set in a dystopian future where books are banned and burned by the government, was first published by Ballantine Books.
In 1977, the supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City.
In 1982, automaker John Z. DeLorean was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, accused of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage his business. DeLorean was acquitted at trial on grounds of entrapment.
In 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value (its biggest daily percentage loss), to close at 1,738.74 in what came to be known as “Black Monday.”
In 2001, U.S. special forces began operations on the ground in Afghanistan, opening a significant new phase of the assault against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
In 2005, a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of premeditated murder and torture as his trial opened under heavy security in Baghdad.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Author John le Carre is 87. Actor Michael Gambon is 78. Actor John Lithgow, feminist activist Patricia Ireland and singer Jeannie C. Riley are 73. Rock singer-musician Patrick Simmons (The Doobie Brothers) is 70. Singer Jennifer Holliday is 58. Retired boxer Evander Holyfield is 56. Host Ty Pennington (TV: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) is 54. Rock singermusician Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 53. Actor Jon Favreau is 52. Amy Carter is 51. “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker is 49. Comedian Chris Kattan is 48. Rock singer Pras Michel (The Fugees) is 46. Writer-director Jason Reitman is 41. Actor Benjamin Salisbury is 38. Actress Gillian Jacobs is 36. Rock singer Zac Barnett (American Authors) is 32. Singer-actress Ciara Renee (TV: “Legends of Tomorrow”) is 28. Actress Hunter King is 25.