Today In History

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 26, the 300th day of 2016. There are 66 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1861:

The legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph. (The last run of the Pony Express was completed the following month.)

ON THIS DATE

› 1774: The First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.

› 1825: The Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. › 1881: The “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” took place in Tombstone, Arizona.

› 1921: The Chicago Theatre, billed as “the Wonder Theatre of the World,” first opened.

› 1949: President Harry S. Truman signed a measure raising the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour.

› 1958: Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in 8 hours and 41 minutes.

› 1984: “Baby Fae,” a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant

›

in Loma Linda, California. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.) › 2001: President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress Shelley Morrison is 80. Actress Jaclyn Smith is 71. TV host Pat Sajak is 70. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton is 69. Actor James Pickens Jr. is 64. Rock musician Keith Strickland (The B-52’s) is 63. Actor D.W. Moffett is 62. Actress-singer Rita Wilson is 60. The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is 57. Actor Patrick Breen is 56. Actor Steve Valentine is 50. Country singer Keith Urban is 49. Actor Tom Cavanagh is 48. Actress Rosemarie DeWitt is 45. Actor Anthony Rapp is 45. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane (TV: “Family Guy”) is 43. TV correspondent and co-host Paula Faris (TV: “The View”) is 41. Actress Lennon Parham is 41. Actor Jon Heder is 39. Singer Mark Barry (BB Mak) is 38. Actor Jonathan Chase is 37. Olympic silver medal figure skater Sasha Cohen is 32. Rapper Schoolboy Q is 30.