Today in history

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2017. There are 67 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight

On Oct. 25, 1854, the “Charge of the Light Brigade” took place during the Crimean War as an English brigade of more than 600 men charged the Russian army, suffering heavy losses.

On this date

In 1415, during the Hundred Years’ War, outnumbered English soldiers led by Henry V defeated French troops in the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.

In 1760, Britain’s King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II.

In 1929, former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall was convicted in Washington, D.C. of accepting a $100,000 bribe from oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny. (Fall was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000; he ended up serving nine months.)

In 1939, the play “The Time of Your Life,” by William Saroyan, opened in New York.

In 1945, Taiwan became independent of Japanese colonial rule.

In 1954, a meeting of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Cabinet was carried live on radio and television; to date, it’s the only presidential Cabinet meeting to be broadcast.

In 1957, mob boss Albert Anastasia of “Murder Inc.” notoriety was shot to death by masked gunmen in a barber shop inside the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York.

In 1962, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba; Stevenson then presented photographic evidence of the bases to the Council.

In 1971, the U.N. General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.

In 1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there.

In 1994, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, claimed that a black carjacker had driven off with her two young sons (Smith later confessed to drowning the children in John D. Long Lake, and was convicted of murder). Three defendants were convicted in South Africa of murdering American exchange student Amy Biehl.

In 2002, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota along with his wife, daughter and five others, a week and ahalf before the election. Actor Richard Harris died in London at age 72.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush visited Southern California, telling residents weary from five days of wildfires: “We’re not going to forget you in Washington, D.C.” The Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1 at Fenway to take a 2-0 World Series lead.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama, seeking to shore up support among women, intensified his pressure on Mitt Romney to break any ties with a Republican Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock of Indiana, who said that if a woman became pregnant from rape it was “something God intended.” Romney ignored the emotional social issue, holding to an optimistic campaign tone as he fought for victory in crucial Ohio.

One year ago: A federal judge in San Francisco approved a nearly $15 billion settlement, giving nearly a half-million Volkswagen owners and leaseholders the choice between selling their diesel engine cars back or having them repaired so they didn’t cheat on emissions tests and spew excess pollution. Four people were killed in a river rapids ride accident at a popular theme park in Queensland, Australia.