Today in history
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2017. There are 81 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On Oct. 11, 1942, the World War II Battle of Cape Esperance began in the Solomon Islands, resulting in an American victory over the Japanese.
On this date
In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, fighting for American independence, died two days after being wounded during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Georgia.
In 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, D.C.
In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first former U.S. president to fly in an airplane during a visit to St. Louis.
In 1932, the first American political telecast took place as the Democratic National Committee sponsored a program from a CBS television studio in New York.
In 1958, the lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far out as planned, fell back to Earth, and burned up in the atmosphere.
In 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard. The government of Panama was overthrown in a military coup.
In 1979, Allan McLeod Cormack and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield were named co-recipients of the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in developing the CAT scan X-ray.
In 1984, Challenger astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space as she and fellow Mission Specialist David C. Leestma spent 3 1/2 hours outside the shuttle.
In 1987, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was unfurled for the first time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; the 7,000-pound quilt bore the names, personal effects and, in some cases, the ashes of victims of AIDS.
In 1991, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a “high-tech lynching.”
In 1992, in the first of three presidential debates, three candidates faced off against each other in St. Louis: President George H.W. Bush, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and businessman Ross Perot.
In 2002, former President Jimmy Carter was named the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ten years ago: The Bush administration reported that the federal budget deficit had fallen to $162.8 billion in the just-completed budget year, the lowest amount of red ink in five years. Cold medicines for babies and toddlers were pulled off shelves amid concerns about unintentional overdoses. Briton Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature. Werner von Trapp, a member of the musical family made famous by the musical “The Sound of Music,” died in Waitsfield, Vermont, at age 91.
Five years ago: Vice President Joe Biden and Republican opponent Paul Ryan squared off in their only debate of the 2012 campaign; the two repeatedly interrupted each other as they sparred over topics including the economy, taxes and Medicare.
One year ago: President Barack Obama, in an op-ed on CNN’s website, sought to reinvigorate his six-year-old call for the U.S. to send humans to Mars by the 2030s. Samsung Electronics said it was stopping production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones permanently, a day after halting global sales of the illfated devices amid reports that batteries were catching fire.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Earle Hyman is 91. Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is 90. Actor Ron Leibman is 80. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is 75. Country singer Gene Watson is 74. Singer Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates) is 71. Sen. Patty Murray, DWash., is 67.