Today in history

On Oct. 26, 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.

In 1825 the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, linking Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

In 1881 the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” took place in Tombstone, Ariz., 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 were wounded.)

In 1942 the U.S. ship Hornet was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during World War II.

In 1957 the Soviet Union announced that defense minister Marshal Georgi Zhukov had been relieved of his duties.

In 1958 Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in eight hours and 41 minutes.

In 1967 the Shah of Iran crowned himself and his queen after 26 years on the Peacock Throne.

In 1972 national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared, “Peace is at hand” in Vietnam.

In 1975 Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian president to pay an official visit to the United States.

In 1977 the experimental space shuttle Enterprise glided to a bumpy but successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1979 South Korean President Park Chung Hee was killed in a military coup.

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, Calif. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.)

In 1997 the Florida Marlins became the youngest franchise to win the World Series with a 3-2 victory in the 11th inning over the Cleveland Indians in the seventh and final game.