TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, OCT. 28, the 301st day of 2021. There are 64 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.
In 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a legislative act establishing Harvard College.
In 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first New York store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan.
In 1922, fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the government.
In 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of missile bases in Cuba; in return, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from U.S. installations in Turkey.
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, Massachusetts.
In 1996, Richard Jewell, cleared of committing the Olympic park bombing, held a news conference in Atlanta in which he thanked his mother for standing by him, and lashed out at reporters and investigators who’d depicted him as the bomber, who turned out to be Eric Rudolph.
In 2002, American diplomat Laurence Foley was assassinated in front of his house in Amman, Jordan, in the first such attack on a U.S. diplomat in decades. A student flunking out of the University of Arizona nursing school shot three of his professors to death, then killed himself.
In 2012, airlines canceled more than 7,000 flights in advance of Hurricane Sandy, transit systems in New York, Philadelphia and Washington were shut down, and forecasters warned the New York area could see an 11-foot wall of water.
In 2013, Penn State said it would pay $59.7 million to 26 young men over claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Jazz singer Cleo Laine is 94. Actor Joan Plowright is 92. Actor Jane Alexander is 82. Actor Dennis Franz is 77. Actor Telma Hopkins is 73. Caitlyn Jenner is 72. Actor Annie Potts is 69. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is 66. Rock musician Stephen Morris (New Order) is 64. Rock singermusician William Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain) is 63. Actor Lauren Holly and talk show host-comedian-actor Sheryl Underwood are 58. Actor Jami Gertz is 56. Actor Chris Bauer and actor-comedian Andy Richter are 55. Actor Julia Roberts is 54. Actor Jeremy Davies and singer Ben Harper are 52. Country singer Brad Paisley is 49. Actor Joaquin Phoenix is 47. Pop singer Brett Dennen is 42. Actor Charlie Semine is 41. Actor Matt Smith is 39. Actor Finn Wittrock is 37. Actor Troian Bellisario is 36. Singer/rapper Frank Ocean is 34. Actor Lexi Ainsworth (TV: “General Hospital”) is 29. Actor Nolan Gould is 23.