TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, Oct. 27, the 301st day of 2016. There are 65 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 27, 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was published.
On this date:
■ In 1858, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, was born in New York City.
■ In 1880, Theodore Roosevelt married his first wife, Alice Lee.
■ In 1886 (New Style date), the musical fantasy “A Night on Bald Mountain,” written by Modest Mussorgsky (MOH’-dest muhSAWRG’-skee) and revised after his death by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, was performed in St. Petersburg, Russia.
■ In 1922, the first annual celebration of Navy Day took place.
■ In 1938, Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: “nylon.”
■ In 1941, the Chicago Daily Tribune dismissed the possibility of war with Japan, editorializing, “She cannot attack us. That is a military impossibility. Even our base at Hawaii is beyond the effective striking power of her fleet.”
■ In 1954, U.S. Air Force Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was promoted to brigadier general, the first black officer to achieve that rank in the USAF. Walt Disney’s first television program, titled “Disneyland” after the yet-to-be completed theme park, premiered on ABC.
■ In 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down while flying over Cuba, killing the pilot, U.S. Air Force Maj. Rudolf Anderson Jr.
■ In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (menAH’-kem BAY’-gihn) were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.
In 1986, the New York Mets won the World Series, coming from behind to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 8-5, in game 7 played at Shea Stadium.
■ In 1995, a sniper killed one soldier and wounded 18 others at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (Paratrooper William J. Kreutzer was convicted in the shootings, and condemned to death; the sentence was later commuted to life in prison.)
■ In 2004, the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4, 3-0.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush said the United States did not torture prisoners, trying to calm a controversy created when Vice President Dick Cheney embraced the suggestion that a “dunk in water” might be useful to get terrorist suspects to talk, a comment the White House said did not refer to “water boarding.”
Five years ago: European leaders clinched a deal they hoped would mark a turning point in their two-year debt crisis, agreeing to have banks take bigger losses on Greece’s debts and to boost the region’s weapons against market turmoil. One year ago: President Barack Obama, addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago, defended officers who had come under intense scrutiny amid a breakdown in relations between law enforcement and minority communities, and said police couldn’t be expected to contain problems that society refuses to solve. Walgreens confirmed it was buying rival pharmacy chain Rite Aid for about $9.41 billion in cash.
Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Lee Greenwood is 74. Producerdirector Ivan Reitman is 70. Country singer-musician Jack Daniels is 67. Rock musician Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 67. TV personality Jayne Kennedy is 65. Actor Peter Firth is 63. Singer Simon Le Bon is 58. Country musician Jerry Dale McFadden (The Mavericks) is 52. Internet news editor Matt Drudge is 50. Violinist Vanessa-Mae is 38. Actress-singer Kelly Osbourne is 32.
Thought for Today: “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”—Theodore Roosevelt, American president (1858-1919).