TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, Oct. 9, the 282nd day of 2021. There are 83 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On Oct. 9, 1967, Marxist revolutionary guerrilla leader Che Guevara, 39, was summarily executed by the Bolivian army a day after his capture.
1888 — The public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.
1936 — The first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.
1940 — Rock-and-roll legend John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. (On this date in 1975, his son, Sean, was born in New York.)
1975 — Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1985 — The hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered two days after seizing the vessel in the Mediterranean. (Passenger Leon Klinghoffer was killed by the hijackers during the standoff.)
2001 — In the first daylight raids since the start of US-led attacks on Afghanistan, jets bombed the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.
2009 — President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
2014 — Six US military planes arrived in the Ebola hot zone with more Marines as West African leaders pleaded for the world’s help in dealing with what Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma described as “a tragedy unforeseen in modern times.”
One year ago — A federal judge refused to block New York’s plan to temporarily limit the size of religious gatherings in COVID-19 hot spots.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Retired MLB All-Star Joe Pepitone is 81. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, is 80. C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb is 80. R&B singer Nona Hendryx is 77. Singer Jackson Browne is 73. Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams is 71. Actor Gary Frank is 71. Actor Richard Chaves is 70. Actor Robert Wuhl is 70. Actor-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 69. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 68. Actor Scott Bakula is 67. Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 67. Actor John O’Hurley is 67. Writer-producer-director-actor Linwood Boomer is 66. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary is 63. Actor Michael Paré is 63. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 61. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is 57. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is 55. Singer P.J. Harvey is 52. Movie director Steve McQueen (Film: “12 Years a Slave”) is 52. World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam is 51. Actor Cocoa Brown is 49. Country singer Tommy Shane Steiner is 48. Actor Steve Burns is 48. Rock singer Sean Lennon is 46. Actor Randy Spelling is 43. Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae is 42. Actor Brandon Routh is 42. Actor Zachery Ty Bryan is 40. Actor Spencer Grammer is 38. Comedian Melissa Villasenor (TV: “Saturday Night Live”) is 34. Actor Tyler James Williams is 29. Country singer Scotty McCreery (TV: “American Idol”) is 28. Actor Jharrel Jerome is 24.