TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27, the 300th day of 2021. There are 65 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.
In 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was published. In 1858, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, was born in New York City.
In 1904, the first rapid transit subway, the IRT, was inaugurated in New York City. In 1938, Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: “nylon.”
In 1941, the Chicago Daily Tribune dismissed the possibility of war with Japan, editorializing, “She cannot attack us. That is a military impossibility. Even our base at Hawaii is beyond the effective striking power of her fleet.”
In 1954, U.S. Air Force Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was promoted to brigadier general, the first Black officer to achieve that rank in the USAF.
In 1986, the New York Mets won the World Series, coming from behind to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 8-5, in game 7 played at Shea Stadium.
In 1995, a sniper killed one soldier and wounded 18 others at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (Paratrooper William J. Kreutzer was convicted in the shootings and condemned to death; the sentence was later commuted to life in prison.)
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch cut through the western Caribbean, pummeling coastal Honduras and Belize; the storm caused several thousand deaths in Central America in the days that followed.
In 2001, in Washington, the search for deadly anthrax widened to thousands of businesses and 30 mail distribution centers.
In 2004, the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4, 3-0.
In 2018, a gunman shot and killed 11 congregants and wounded six others at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history; authorities said the suspect, Robert Bowers, raged against Jews during and after the rampage. (Bowers, who is awaiting trial, has pleaded not guilty; prosecutors are seeking a death sentence.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor-comedian John Cleese is 82. Author Maxine Hong Kingston is 81. Country singer Lee Greenwood is 79. Producer-director Ivan Reitman is 75. Rock musician Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 72. Author Fran Lebowitz is 71. Rock musician K.K. Downing and TV personality Jayne Kennedy are 70. Actor-director Roberto Benigni is 69. Actors Peter Firth and Robert Picardo are 68. World Golf Hall-of-Famer Patty Sheehan is 65. Singer Simon Le Bon is 63. Country musician Jerry Dale McFadden (The Mavericks) is 57. Internet news editor Matt Drudge is 55. Rock musician Jason Finn (Presidents of the United States of America) is 54. Actor Sean Holland is 53. Actor Channon Roe is 52. Actor Sheeri Rappaport is 44. Actor David Walton and violinist Vanessa-Mae are 43. Actor-singer Kelly Osbourne is 37. Actor Christine Evangelista is 35. Actor Bryan Craig is 30. Actor Troy Gentile is 28.