On this day, Oct. 20

1803 The Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

1901 The Iron City Trades Council (Pittsburgh Central Labor Union) was organized by craft and trade unions of the city.

1944 During World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2½ years after saying, “I shall return.”

1959 The Carnegie Institute of Technology received a $2.25 million grant from the Ford Foundation.

1982 Carnegie Mellon University concluded an agreement with IBM to become an experimental computer center, with more than 20,000 PCs distributed on campus.

2011 Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell.

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

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin Today’s birthdays: Japan’s Empress Michiko, 85. Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson, 82. Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez, 66. Movie director Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,” “Slumdog Millionaire”), 63. Actor Viggo Mortensen, 61. Journalist Sunny Hostin (“The View”), 51. Political commentator Michelle Malkin, 49. Actor Kenneth Choi (“Sons of Anarchy,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”), 48. Rapper Snoop Dogg, 48. Country singer Jimi Westbrook (Little Big Town), 48. Actor/comedian Dan Fogler, 43. Rock musician Jon Natchez (The War on Drugs), 43. Actor Sam Witwer (“Supergirl,” “Star Wars” cartoons), 42. Actor John Krasinski, 40. Rock musician Daniel Tichenor (Cage the Elephant), 40. Actress Katie Featherston (“Paranormal Activity” series), 37. Actress Jennifer Nicole Freeman (“My Wife and Kids”), 34.

Thought for today: “Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”