THURSDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, Oct. 6, the 280th day of 2016. There are 86 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On Oct. 6, 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, in his second presidential debate with Democrat Jimmy Carter, asserted that there was “no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.” (Ford later conceded such was not the case.)

On this date:

In 1683, thirteen families from Krefeld, Germany, arrived in Philadelphia to begin Germantown, one of America’s oldest settlements.

In 1884, the Naval War College was established in Newport, R.I.

In 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, a movie featuring both silent and sound-synchronized sequences.

In 1939, in a speech to the Reichstag, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler spoke of his plans to reorder the ethnic layout of Europe — a plan which would entail settling the “Jewish problem.”

In 1973, war erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II, on a week-long U.S. tour, became the first pontiff to visit the White House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter.

In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade.

Ten years ago: The U.N. Security Council adopted a statement warning North Korea of unspecified consequences if it carried out a nuclear test.

Five years ago: In a poor quality audio recording, a voice identified as that of Moammar Gadhafi called on Libyans to take to the streets and wage a campaign of civil disobedience against the country’s new leader.

One year ago: Takaaki Kajita of Japan and Arthur McDonald of Canada won the Nobel Prize in physics for key discoveries about neutrinos, a cosmic particle that whizzes through space at nearly the speed of light, passing easily through Earth and even people’s bodies..

Today’s Birthdays: Broadcaster and writer Melvyn Bragg is 77. Actress Britt Ekland is 74. Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dungy is 61. Country singer Tim Rushlow is 50. Actor Lamman Rucker is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Melinda Doolittle is 39.

Thought for Today: “Talking comes by nature, silence by wisdom.” — Author unknown.