On this day, Oct. 19

1903 The Wabash Bridge over the Monongahela River collapsed.

1932 Speaking as a presidential candidate before 30,000 at Forbes Field, Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York expressed opposition to payment of the soldiers’ bonus “until the government has balanced the budget and has a surplus of cash in the treasury.”

1944 The U.S. Navy began accepting black women into WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). 1950 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of Columbia University, told a Carnegie Institute Founders Day audience at Carnegie Music Hall that “there [is] no such thing as a preventive war.” The occasion marked the opening of the institute’s 38th International Art Exhibit, its first in 11 years.

1987 The stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value (its biggest daily percentage loss), to close at 1,738.74 in what came to be known as “Black Monday.”

2014 Pope Francis beatified Pope Paul VI, concluding a remarkable meeting of bishops debating family issues that drew parallels to the tumultuous reforms of the Second Vatican Council which Paul oversaw and implemented.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

Today’s birthdays: Author John le Carre, 88. Actor John Lithgow, 74. Feminist activist Patricia Ireland, 74. Singer Jeannie C. Riley, 74. Rock singer-musician Patrick Simmons (The Doobie Brothers), 71. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, 61. Retired boxer Evander Holyfield, 57. Host Ty Pennington (TV: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition“), 55. Amy Carter, 52. “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker, 50.

Thought for today: “Dream in a pragmatic way.”