TODAY INHISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1996

Fox News Channel made its debut.

1910

A major wildfire devastated the northern Minnesota towns of Spooner and Baudette, charring at least 300,000acres; some 40 people are believed to have died.

1916

In the most lopsided victory in college football history, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 2220in Atlanta.

1954

Marian Anderson became the first Black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.

1960

Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent Richard Nixon held their second televised debate, this one in Washington, D. C.

1982

The Andrew Lloyd WebberTim Rice musical “Cats” opened on Broadway.

1991

University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him; Thomas denied Hill’s allegations.

1992

Trade representatives of the United States, Canada and Mexico initialed the North American Free Trade Agreement during a ceremony in San Antonio, Texas, in the presence of President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

2001

The war in Afghanistan started as the United States and Britain launched air attacks against military targets and Osama bin Laden’s training camps in the wake of the September 11attacks.

2003

California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger their new governor.