On this day, Oct. 20

1947 The House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry.

1967 A jury in Meridian, Miss., convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of slain civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The seven received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

1973 In what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned.

1977 Three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed along with three others in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Miss.

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.

2018 Saudi Arabia announced that U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. (A U.S. intelligence report later concluded that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had likely approved Khashoggi’s killing by a team of Saudi security and intelligence officials.)

2021 Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to murdering 17 people during a February 2018 rampage at his former high school in Parkland, Fla.

Today’s birthdays: Japan’s Empress Michiko, 89. Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez, 70. Movie director Danny Boyle, 67. Actor Viggo Mortensen, 65. Vice President Kamala Harris, 59. Rapper Snoop Dogg, 52. Actor John Krasinski, 44.