TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, Oct. 26, the 299th day of 2017. There are 66 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On October 26th, 1881, the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” took place in Tombstone, Arizona, as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and “Doc” Holliday confronted Ike Clanton’s gang. Three members of Clanton’s gang were killed; Earp’s brothers and Holliday were wounded.

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. 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.) 1921 — The Chicago Theatre, billed as “the Wonder Theatre of the World,” first opened. 1944 — The World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf ended in a major Allied victory over Japanese forces, whose naval capabilities were badly crippled. 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. 1967 — The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, crowned himself emperor after 26 years on the Peacock Throne. 1972 — National security adviser Henry Kissinger declared, “Peace is at hand” in Vietnam. Aviation innovator Igor Sikorsky died in Easton, Connecticut, at age 83. 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.) 1994 — Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan signed a peace treaty during a ceremony at the Israeli-Jordanian border attended by President Bill Clinton. 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.

One year ago

The Pentagon worked to stave off a public relations nightmare, suspending efforts to force California National Guard troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to repay enlistment bonuses that might have been improperly awarded.

Today’s Birthdays

Actress Shelley Morrison is 81. Actress Jaclyn Smith is 72. TV host Pat Sajak is 71. Actor D.W. Moffett is 63. Actress-singer Rita Wilson is 61. The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is 58. Actor Patrick Breen is 57. Actress Rosemarie DeWitt is 46. Actor Anthony Rapp is 46. Writerproducer Seth MacFarlane (TV: “Family Guy”) is 44. TV correspondent and co-host Paula Faris (TV: “The View”) is 42. Actress Lennon Parham is 42. Actor Hal Ozsan is 41. Rapper Schoolboy Q is 31. Actor Beulah Koale (TV: “Hawaii Five-0”) is 26.