TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3, the 276th day of 2018. There are 89 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1995, the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles found the former football star not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman (however, Simpson was later found liable for damages in a civil trial).
In 1789, President George Washington declared Nov. 26, 1789, a day of Thanksgiving to express gratitude for the creation of the United States of America.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day.
In 1932, Iraq became independent of British administration.
In 1941, Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been “broken” and would “never rise again.” “The Maltese Falcon” — the version starring Humphrey Bogart and directed by John Huston — premiered in New York. In 1955, “Captain Kangaroo” and “The Mickey Mouse Club” premiered on C-B-S and A-B-C, respectively.
In 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra became the fifth American to fly in space as he blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the Sigma 7 on a 9-hour flight.
In 1967, folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, the Dust Bowl Troubadour best known for “This Land Is Your Land,” died in New York of complications from Huntington’s disease; he was 55.
In 1981, Irish nationalists at the Maze Prison near Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended seven months of hunger strikes that had claimed 10 lives.
In 1991, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In 2001, the Senate approved an agreement normalizing trade between the United States and Vietnam.
In 2003, a tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of duo “Siegfried & Roy” during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving the superstar illusionist in critical condition on his 59th birthday.
In 2008, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room. (Simpson was later sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was granted parole in July 2017 and released from prison in October of that year.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Composer Steve Reich is 82. Rock and roll star Chubby Checker is 77. Actor Alan Rachins is 76. Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is 75. Magician Roy Horn is 74. Singer Lindsey Buckingham is 69. Jazz musician Ronnie Laws is 68. Blues singer Keb’ Mo’, former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan and Baseball Hall-ofFamer Dave Winfield are 67. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton are 64. Actors Hart Bochner and Peter Frechette are 62. World Golf Hall-of-Famer Fred Couples, actor-comedian Greg Proops and actor Jack Wagner are 59. Actor/ musician Marcus Giamatti is 57. Rock musician Tommy Lee is 56. Actor Clive Owen is 54. Actress Janel Moloney and singer Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) are 49. Pop singer Kevin Richardson is 47. Rock singer G. Love is 46. Actresses Keiko Agena, Neve Campbell and Lena Headey are 45. Singer India.Arie, rapper Talib Kweli and actress Alanna Ubach are 43. Actor Seann William Scott is 42. Actress Shannyn Sossamon is 40. Rock musician Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 39. Actor Seth Gabel is 37. Rock musician Mark King (Hinder) and actor Erik Von Detten are 36. Singermusician Cherrill Green (Edens Edge) and actress Tessa Thompson are 35. Actress Meagan Holder and actresssinger Ashlee Simpson are 34. Rapper A$AP Rocky and actress Alicia Vikander are 30. Actor Noah Schnapp (TV: “Stranger Things”) is 14.