TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2018.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Oct. 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office.
ON THIS DATE
In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland.
In 1911, Chinese revolutionaries launched an uprising which led to the collapse of the Qing (or Manchu) Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.
In 1913, the Panama Canal was effectively completed as President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph, setting off explosives that destroyed a section of the Gamboa dike. In 1938, Nazi Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.
In 1943, Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after the official was refused seating in a Howard Johnson’s restaurant near Dover, Delaware.
In 1964, the 18th Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo.
In 1967, the Outer Space Treaty, prohibiting the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the moon or elsewhere in space, entered into force.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a bill authorizing the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
In 1985, U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. Actor-director Orson Welles died in Los Angeles at age 70; actor Yul Brynner died in New York at age 65. In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams, were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2001, U.S. jets pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul. President George W. Bush unveiled a list of 22 mostwanted terrorists, including Osama bin Laden. U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California won the race for the post of House Democratic leader.
Ten years ago: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the government had decided to go forward with a plan to buy a part ownership in a broad array of American banks in response to the financial meltdown. Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled that gay couples had the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions. Five years ago: Gunmen from one of Libya’s many militias stormed a hotel where Prime Minister Ali Zidan had a residence and held him for several hours.
One year ago: The U.S. soccer team failed to qualify for the World Cup, eliminated with a 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago; it ended a run of seven straight U.S. appearances at soccer’s showcase event.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.” — Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (18851962).