TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, OCT. 1, the 274th day of 2019. There are 91 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 2017, a gunman opened fire from a room at the Mandalay Bay casino hotel in Las Vegas on a crowd of 22,000 country music fans at a concert below, leaving 58 people dead and more than 800 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history; the gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, killed himself before officers arrived.
In 1885, special delivery mail service began in the United States.
In 1890, Congress passed the McKinley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs to a record level.
In 1908, Henry Ford introduced his Model T automobile to the market.
In 1910, the offices of the Los Angeles Times were destroyed by a bomb explosion and fire; 21 Times employees were killed.
In 1955, the situation comedy “The Honeymooners,” starring Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph, premiered on CBS-TV.
In 1957, the motto “In God We Trust” began appearing on U.S. paper currency.
In 1962, Johnny Carson debuted as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” beginning a nearly 30-year run.
In 1971, Walt Disney World opened near Orlando, Florida.
In 1982, Sony began selling the first commercial compact disc player, the CDP-101, in Japan.
In 1987, eight people were killed when an earthquake measuring magnitude 5.9 struck the Los Angeles area.
In 1994, National Hockey League team owners began a 103-day lockout of their players.
In 1996, a federal grand jury indicted Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski in the 1994 mail bomb slaying of advertising executive Thomas Mosser. (Kaczynski was later sentenced to four life terms plus 30 years.) The federal minimum wage rose 50 cents to four dollars, 75 cents an hour.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former President Jimmy Carter is 95. Actress-singer Julie Andrews is 84. Actress Stella Stevens is 81. Rock musician Jerry Martini (Sly and the Family Stone) is 76. Baseball Hallof-Famer Rod Carew is 74. Jazz musician Dave Holland is 73. Actress Yvette Freeman and actor Randy Quaid are 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Howard Hewett is 64. Former British Prime Minister Theresa May is 63. Alt-country-rock musician Tim O’Reagan (The Jayhawks) is 61. Singer Youssou N’Dour is 60. Actor Esai Morales is 57. Retired MLB All-Star Mark McGwire is 56. Actor Christopher Titus is 55. Actress-model Cindy Margolis and producer John Ridley are 54. Rock singer-musician Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra) is 51. Actor Zach Galifianakis is 50. Singer Keith Duffy and actress Sherri Saum are 45. Actress Kate Aselton is 41. Actress Sarah Drew is 39. Actress Carly Hughes is 37. Actor-comedian Beck Bennett is 35. Actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell is 33. Actress Brie Larson is 30. Singer/songwriter Jade Bird is 22. Actress Priah Ferguson is 13. Actor Jack Stanton is 11.