Today In History

Today is Saturday, Oct. 14, the 287th day of 2017. There are 78 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1947: U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles E. (“Chuck”) Yeager became the first test pilot to break the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell XS-1 (later X-1) rocket plane over Muroc Dry Lake in California.

ON THIS DATE

› 1912: Former President Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the White House as the Progressive (“Bull Moose”) candidate, went ahead with a speech in Milwaukee after being shot and wounded in the chest by New York saloonkeeper John Schrank, declaring, “It takes more than one bullet to kill a bull moose.”

› 1926: “Winnie-the-Pooh” by A.A. Milne was first published by Methuen & Co. of London.

› 1960: Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy suggested the idea of a Peace Corps while addressing an audience of students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

› 1964: Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev was toppled from power; he was succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and by Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

› 1987: A 58-hour drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down a narrow abandoned well at a private day care center; she was rescued on Oct. 16.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Classical pianist Gary Graffman is 89. Movie director Carroll Ballard is

80. Former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 79. Singer-musician Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues) is 71. Actor Harry Anderson is 65. Actor Greg Evigan is 64. TV personality Arleen Sorkin is 62. World Golf Hall of Famer Beth Daniel is 61. Singer-musician Thomas Dolby is 59. Singer Karyn White is

52. Actor Edward Kerr is

51. Actor Jon Seda is 47. Country musician Doug Virden is 47. Country singer Natalie Maines (The Dixie Chicks) is 43. Actress-singer Shaznay Lewis (All Saints) is 42. Singer Usher is 39. TV personality Stacy Keibler is 38. Actor Ben Whishaw is 37. Actor Jordan Brower is 36. Director Benh Zeitlin is 35. Actress Skyler Shaye is 31. Actor-comedian Jay Pharoah is 30.