TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, OCT. 29, the 302nd day of 2019. There are 63 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On Oct. 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy slammed ashore in New Jersey and slowly marched inland, devastating coastal communities and causing widespread power outages; the storm and its aftermath were blamed for at least 182 deaths in the U.S.
In 1787, the opera “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had its world premiere in Prague.
In 1901, President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, was electrocuted.
In 1911, Hungarian-born American newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer, 64, died in Charleston, S.C.
In 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed.
In 1929, “Black Tuesday” descended upon the New York Stock Exchange. Prices collapsed amid panic selling and thousands of investors were wiped out as America’s “Great Depression” began.
In 1956, during the Suez Canal crisis, Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” premiered as NBC’s nightly television newscast.
In 1957, former MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer died in Los Angeles at age 75.
In 1960, a chartered plane carrying the California Polytechnic State University football team crashed on takeoff from Toledo, Ohio, killing 22 of the 48 people on board.
In 1967, Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, closed after six months.
In 1987, following the confirmation defeat of Robert H. Bork to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Ronald Reagan announced his choice of Douglas H. Ginsburg, a nomination that fell apart over revelations of Ginsburg’s previous marijuana use. Jazz great Woody Herman died in Los Angeles at age 74.
In 1998, Sen. John Glenn, at age 77, roared back into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, retracing the trail he’d blazed for America’s astronauts 36 years earlier.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Bluegrass singer-musician Sonny Osborne (The Osborne Brothers) is 82. Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is 81. Country singer Lee Clayton is 77. Rock musician Denny Laine is 75. Singer Melba Moore is 74. Musician Peter Green is 73. Actor Richard Dreyfuss is 72. Actress Kate Jackson is 71. Country musician Steve Kellough (Wild Horses) is 63. Actor Dan Castellaneta (TV: “The Simpsons”) is 62. Comic strip artist Tom Wilson (“Ziggy”) is 62. Actress Finola Hughes is 60. Singer Randy Jackson is 58. Rock musician Peter Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 54. Actress Joely Fisher is 52. Rapper Paris is 52. Actor Rufus Sewell is 52. Actor Grayson McCouch is 51. Rock singer SA Martinez (311) is 50. Actress Winona Ryder is 48. Actress Tracee Ellis Ross is 47. Actress Gabrielle Union is 47. Actor Trevor Lissauer is 46. Olympic gold medal bobsledder Vonetta Flowers is 46. Actress Milena Govich is 43. Actor Jon Abrahams is 42. Actor Brendan Fehr is 42. Actor Ben Foster is 39. Rock musician Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend) is 35. Actress Janet Montgomery is 34. Actress India Eisley is 26.