TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, OCT. 26, the 299th day of 2018. There are 66 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1825, the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River.
In 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.
In 1881, the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” took place in Tombstone, Ariz., as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and “Doc” Holliday confronted Ike Clanton’s gang. Three members of Clanton’s gang were killed; Earp’s brothers and Holliday were wounded.
In 1942, Japanese planes badly damaged the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during World War II. (The Hornet sank early the next morning.)
In 1944, the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf ended in a major Allied victory over Japanese forces, whose naval capabilities were badly crippled.
In 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed a measure raising the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour.
In 1972, national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared, “Peace is at hand” in Vietnam.
In 1979, South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot to death by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-kyu.
In 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan signed a peace treaty during a ceremony at the IsraeliJordanian border attended by President Bill Clinton.
In 2001, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.
In 2006, a wildfire in Southern California killed five firefighters (investigators later determined the cause of the blaze was arson).
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Shelley Morrison is 82. Actress Jaclyn Smith is 73. TV host Pat Sajak is 72. Hillary Rodham Clinton is 71. Musician Bootsy Collins is 67. Actor James Pickens Jr. is 66. Rock musician Keith Strickland (The B-52’s) is 65. Actor D.W. Moffett is 64. Actress-singer Rita Wilson is 62. Actor Dylan McDermott is 57. Actor Cary Elwes is 56. Singer Natalie Merchant is 55. Actor Steve Valentine is 52. Country singer Keith Urban is 51. Actor Tom Cavanagh is 50. Actress Rosemarie DeWitt and actor Anthony Rapp are 47. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane (TV: “Family Guy”) is 45. TV news correspondent Paula Faris and actress Lennon Parham are 43. Actor Jon Heder is 41. Rapper Schoolboy Q is 32.