This Date In History
Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 9, the 282nd day of 2019. There are 83 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight 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.
On this date:
In 1776, a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.
In 1910, a coal dust explosion at the Starkville Mine in Colorado left 56 miners dead.
In 1914, the Belgian city of Antwerp fell to German forces during World War I.
In 1930, Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.
In 1936, the first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.
In 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.)
In 1958, Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy. (He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.)
In 1974, businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving about 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, died in Frankfurt, West Germany (at his request, he was buried in Jerusalem).
In 1985, the hijackers of the Achille Lauro (ah-KEE’-leh LOW’-roh) cruise liner surrendered two days after seizing the vessel in the Mediterranean. (Passenger Leon Klinghoffer was killed by the hijackers during the standoff.)
In 2001, in the first daylight raids since the start of U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan, jets bombed the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., were sent to Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy; the letters later tested positive for anthrax.
In 2006, North Korea faced a barrage of condemnation and calls for retaliation after it announced that it had set off a small atomic weapon underground; President Bush said, “The international community will respond.” Google Inc. announced it was snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock deal.
In 2012, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison following his conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse of boys.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Five years ago: Six U.S. 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.” French novelist Patrick Modiano was named the recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carolyn Kizer, 89, died in Sonoma, California.
One year ago: President Donald Trump and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that Haley would be leaving the administration at the end of the year; no reason was given for her departure. Brett Kavanaugh took the bench for the first time as a Supreme Court justice in a jovial atmosphere that was at odds with the rancor that surrounded his confirmation. After starting the week with a rare political post on social media. Taylor Swift captured four honors at the American Music Awards to become the most decorated woman in the show’s history. Police at the Orlando, Florida airport removed a passenger who refused to get off a flight to Cleveland after she was found carrying a squirrel she had described as an emotional support animal.
Today’s Birthdays: Retired MLB All-Star Joe Pepitone is
79. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 78. C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb is 78. Rhythm-andblues singer Nona Hendryx is
75. Singer Jackson Browne is 71. Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams is 69. Actor Gary Frank is 69. Actor Richard Chaves is
68. Actor Robert Wuhl is 68. Actress-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 67. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 66. Actor Scott Bakula is 65. Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 65. Actor John O’Hurley is 65. Writer-producer-director-actor Linwood Boomer is 64. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary is 61. Actor Michael Pare is 61. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 59. Rock singer-musician Kurt Neumann (The BoDeans) is 58. Country singer Gary Bennett is 55. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is
55. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is 53. Singer P.J. Harvey is 50. Movie director Steve McQueen (Film: “12 Years a Slave”) is 50. World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam is
49. Actress Cocoa Brown is 47. Country singer Tommy Shane Steiner is 46. Actor Steve Burns is 46. Rock singer Sean Lennon is 44. Actor Randy Spelling is 41. Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae is 40. Actor Brandon Routh is 40. Actor Zachery Ty Bryan is 38. Actress Spencer Grammer is 36. Comedian Melissa Villasenor (TV: “Saturday Night Live”) is 32. Actor Tyler James Williams is 27. Country singer Scotty McCreery (TV: “American Idol”) is 26. Actor Jharrel Jerome is 22. Thought for Today: “I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.” — Al McGuire, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (1928-2001).