TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, OCT. 2, the 276th day of 2016. There are 90 days left in the year. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, begins at sunset.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1941, during World War II, German armies launched an all-out drive against Moscow; Soviet forces succeeded in holding on to their capital. In 1780, British spy John Andre was hanged in Tappan, N.Y., during the Revolutionary War.
In 1835, the first battle of the Texas Revolution took place as American settlers fought Mexican soldiers near the Guadalupe River; the Mexicans withdrew.
In 1939, the Benny Goodman Sextet, which included Lionel Hampton, made their first recording, “Flying Home,” for Columbia.
In 1944, German troops crushed the twomonth-old Warsaw Uprising, during which a quarter of a million people had been killed. In 1959, Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” made its debut on CBS-TV.
In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford formally welcomed Japan’s Emperor Hirohito to the United States during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. In 1985, actor Rock Hudson, 59, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., after battling AIDS.
In 1996, an AeroPeru Boeing 757 crashed into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 61 passengers and nine crew members on board.
In 2002, the Washington D.C.-area sniper attacks began, setting off a frantic manhunt lasting three weeks. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were finally arrested for 10 killings and three woundings. Muhammad was executed in 2009; Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Country singermusician Leon Rausch (Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys) is 89. Retired MLB All-Star Maury Wills is 84. Singer-songwriter Don McLean is 71. Cajun/country singer Jo-el Sonnier is 70. Actor Avery Brooks and fashion designer Donna Karan are 68. Photographer Annie Leibovitz is 67. Rock musician Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike & the Mechanics) is 66. Singer-actor Sting is 65. Actress Lorraine Bracco and country musician Greg Jennings (Restless Heart) are 62. Rock singer Phil Oakey (The Human League) is 61. Retro-soul singer James Hunter and former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien are 54. Rock musician Bud Gaugh (Sublime, Eyes Adrift) and folk-country singer Gillian Welch are 49. Rhythm-and-blues singer Dion Allen (Az Yet) and actress-talk show host Kelly Ripa (TV: “Live with Kelly”) are 46. Singer Tiffany is 45. Actress Brianna Brown is 37. Tennis player Marion Bartoli is 32. Actor Christopher Larkin is 29. Rock singer Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) is 28. Actress Elizabeth McLaughlin is 23.