TODAY IN HISTORY

On Oct. 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire from a room at the Mandalay Bay casino hotel in Las Vegas on a crowd of 22,000 country music fans at a concert below, leaving 58 people dead and more than 800injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history; the gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, killed himself before officers arrived.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1908

Henry Ford introduced his Model T automobile to the market.

1910

The offices of the Los Angeles Times were destroyed by a bomb explosion and fire; 21 Times employees were killed.

1949

Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China during a ceremony in Beijing. A 42-day strike by the United Steelworkers of America began over the issue of retirement benefits.

1957

The motto “In God We Trust” began appearing on U.S. paper currency.

1961

Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run during a 162-game season, compared to Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs during a 154-game season.

1971

Walt Disney World opened near Orlando, Florida.

1982

Sony began selling the first commercial compact disc player, the CDP-101, in Japan.

1987

Eight people were killed when an earthquake measuring magnitude 5.9struck the Los Angeles area.

1996

A federal grand jury indicted Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski in the 1994 mail bomb slaying of advertising executive Thomas Mosser. (Kaczynski was later sentenced to four life terms plus 30years.)