SUNDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, Oct. 23, the 297th day of 2016. There are 69 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On Oct. 23, 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungary’s Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, and the uprising was put down within weeks.

On this date:

In1864, forces led by Union Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis repelled Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s army in the Civil War Battle of Westport in Missouri.

In 1915, tens of thousands of women paraded up Fifth Avenue in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

In 1942, during World War II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt, resulting in an Allied victory.

In 1944, the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf began, resulting in a major Allied victory against Japanese forces.

In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time.

In 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.

In 1991, Cambodia’s warring factions and representatives of 18 other nations signed a peace treaty in Paris.

In2001, thenation’s anthrax scare hit the White House with the discovery of a small concentration of spores at an offsite mail processing center.

Ten years ago: Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced by a federal judge in Houston to 24 years, fourmonths for his role in the company’s collapse.

Five years ago: A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, killing some 600 people.

One year ago: Hurricane Patricia roared ashore in a sparsely populated area of southwestern Mexico as a Category 5 storm, then quickly abated to a tropical storm.

Today’s Birthdays: Soccer great Pele is 76. ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross is 68. Movie director-Ang Lee is 62. Community activist Martin Luther King III is 59. Movie director Sam Raimi is 57. Parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic is 57. CNN medical reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta is 47. Actor Ryan Reynolds is 40. Actress Emilia Clarke is 30.

Thought for Today: “Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.” — Bertrand Russell, English philosopher (1872-1970).