Today In History

Today is Friday, Oct. 12, the 285th day of 2018. There are 80 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1973: President Richard Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.

ON THIS DATE

› 1492: (According to the Old Style calendar), Christopher Columbus’ expedition arrived in the present-day Bahamas.

› 1792: The first recorded U.S. celebration of Columbus Day was held to mark the tricentennial of Christopher Columbus’ landing.

› 1870: General Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63.

› 1942: During World War II, American naval forces defeated the Japanese in the Battle of Cape Esperance. Attorney General Francis Biddle announced during a Columbus Day celebration at Carnegie Hall in New York that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.

› 1971: The rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway.

› 1986: The superpower meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate, with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev unable to agree on arms control or a date for a full-fledged summit in the United States.

› 2007: Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress Antonia Rey is 91. Former Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, is 86. Singer Sam Moore (formerly of Sam and Dave) is 83. Broadcast journalist Chris Wallace is 71. Actor Hiroyuki Sanada is 58. Actor Carlos Bernard is

56. Jazz musician Chris Botti is 56. Rhythm and blues singer Claude McKnight (Take 6) is 56. Rock singer Bob Schneider is

53. Actor Hugh Jackman is 50. Actor Adam Rich is 50. Rhythm and blues singer Garfield Bright (Shai) is 49. Country musician Martie Maguire (Courtyard Hounds, The Dixie Chicks) is 49. Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller is 41. Rock singer Jordan Pundik (New Found Glory) is 39. Actor Brian J. Smith is 37. Actor Tyler Blackburn is

32. Actor Marcus T. Paulk is 32. Actor Josh Hutcherson is 26.