TO D AY I N H I S TO R Y

Today is Saturday, Oct. 17, the 291st day of 2020. There are 75 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight

On Oct. 17, 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United

States as a refugee from Nazi

Germany.

On this date

In 1777,

In 1814,

British forces under

Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in

Saratoga, N.Y. the London Beer

Flood inundated the St. Giles district of the British capital as vats of beer ruptured, sending more than 320,000 gallons of liquid into the streets; up to nine people were reported killed.

In 1931,

In 1973,

In 1989, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison,

Capone was released in 1939.)

Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974. an earthquake measuring 6.9 in magnitude struck

Northern California, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion worth of damage.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Marsha Hunt is 103.

Singer Jim Seals (Seals &

Crofts) is 78. Singer Gary

Puckett is 78. Actor Michael

McKean is 73. Actor George

Wendt is 72. Actor-singer Bill

Hudson is 71. Country singer

Alan Jackson is 62. Movie critic Richard Roeper is 61.

Animator Mike Judge is 58.

Actor-comedian Norm Macdonald is 57. Reggae singer

Ziggy Marley is 52. Rapper

Eminem is 48. Actor Felicity

Jones is 37.