TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, OCT. 19, the 292nd day of 2019. There are 73 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6% in value, its biggest daily percentage loss, to close at 1,738.74 in what came to be known as “Black Monday.”
In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, adopted a declaration of rights and liberties which the British Parliament ignored.
In 1781, British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, as the American Revolution neared its end.
In 1814, the first documented public performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” took place at the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore.
In 1944, the U.S. Navy began accepting black women into WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).
In 1960, the United States began a limited embargo against Cuba covering all commodities except medical supplies and certain food products.
In 1977, the supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City.
In 1982, automaker John Z. DeLorean was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, accused of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage his business. DeLorean was acquitted at trial on grounds of entrapment.
In 2001, U.S. special forces began operations on the ground in Afghanistan, opening a significant new phase of the assault against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
In 2005, a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent to charges of premeditated murder and torture as his trial opened under heavy security in the former headquarters of his Baath Party in Baghdad.
In 2008, retired Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican who was President George W. Bush’s first secretary of state, broke with the party and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, calling him a “transformational figure” during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
In 2017, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House about a month after Hurricane Maria, described the situation in the island territory as “catastrophic.”
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Author John le Carre is 88. Actor Tony Lo Bianco is 83. Author and critic Renata Adler is 82. Actor Michael Gambon is 79. Actor John Lithgow, feminist activist Patricia Ireland and singer Jeannie C. Riley are 74. Rock singer-musician Patrick Simmons (The Doobie Brothers) is 71. Actress Annie Golden is 68. Rock singer-musician Karl Wallinger (World Party) is 62. Singer Jennifer Holliday is 59. Retired boxer Evander Holyfield is 57. Host Ty Pennington (TV: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) is 55. Rock singer-musician Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 54. Actor Jon Favreau is 53. Amy Carter is 52. “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker is 50. Comedian Chris Kattan is 49. Rock singer Pras Michel (The Fugees) is 47. Actor Omar Gooding and country singer Cyndi Thomson are 43. Actress Gillian Jacobs is 37. Actress Rebecca Ferguson is 36. Rock singer Zac Barnett (American Authors) is 33. Singeractress Ciara Renee (TV: “Legends of Tomorrow”) is 29. Actress Hunter King is 26.