TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, OCT. 26, the 300th day of 2020. There are 66 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1774, the first Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia. In 1825, the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. In 1861, the legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph. (The last run of the Pony Express was completed the next month.) In 1881, the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” took place in Tombstone, Arizona, 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 1902, women’s rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in New York at age 86. In 1944, the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf ended in a major Allied victory over Japanese forces, whose naval capabilities were crippled. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed a measure raising the minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents an hour. In 1975, Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian president to pay an official visit to the United States. 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 1980, Israeli President Yitzhak Navon became the first Israeli head of state to visit Egypt. In 1984, “Baby Fae,” a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant in Loma Linda, California. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.) 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 2002, a hostage siege by Chechen rebels at a Moscow theater ended with 129 of the 800-plus captives dead, most from a knockout gas used by Russian special forces who stormed the theater; 41 rebels also died. TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Jaclyn Smith is 75. TV host Pat Sajak is 74. Hillary Rodham Clinton is 73. Musician Bootsy Collins is 69. Actor James Pickens Jr. and rock musician David Was are 68. Rock musician Keith Strickland (The B-52’s) and actor Lauren Tewes are 67. Actor D.W. Moffett is 66. Actor-singer Rita Wilson is 64. Actor Patrick Breen is 60. Actor Dylan McDermott is 59. Actor Cary Elwes is 58. Singer Natalie Merchant is 57. Actor Steve Valentine is 54. Country singer Keith Urban is 53. Actor Tom Cavanagh is 52. Actors Rosemarie DeWitt and Anthony Rapp are 49. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane (TV: “Family Guy”) is 47. TV news correspondent Paula Faris and actor Lennon Parham are 45. Actors Florence Kasumba and Hal Ozsan are 44. Actor Jon Heder is 43. Singer Mark Barry ( BBMak) is 42. Actor Jonathan Chase is 41. Actor Folake Olowofoyeku is 37. Olympic silver medal figure skater Sasha Cohen is 36. Rapper Schoolboy Q is 34. Actor Beulah Koale (TV: “Hawaii Five-0) is 29.