TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 26, the 299th day of 2021. There are 66 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On October 26th, 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.
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 following 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 1965, the Beatles received MBE medals as Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
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 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 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.
In 2010, Iran began loading fuel into the core of its first nuclear power plant.
In 2018, former Fox News Channel personality Megyn Kelly was fired from her NBC morning show after triggering an uproar by suggesting it was OK for white people to wear blackface at Halloween.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama recalled his struggles with student loan debt as he unveiled a plan at the University of Colorado Denver aimed at giving millions of young people some relief on their payments.