FRIDAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday, Oct. 7, the 281st day of 2016. There are 85 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On Oct. 7, 1916, in the most lopsided victory in college football history, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in Atlanta.

On this date:

In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.

In 1858, the fifth debate between Illinois senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in Galesburg.

In 1929, former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, one of the main figures of the Teapot Dome scandal, went on trial, charged with accepting a bribe from oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny.

In 1949, the Republic of East Germany was formed.

In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent Richard Nixon held their second televised debate.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II concluded his week-long tour of the United States with a Mass on the Washington Mall.

In 1985, Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean.

In 1991, University of Oklahoma lawprofessor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him.

In 1996, FoxNews Channel made its debut.

Ten years ago: Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who’d chronicled Russian military abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was found shot to death in Moscow.

Five years ago: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman, who began pushing for change in Yemen long before the Arab Spring.

One year ago: President Barack Obama apologized to Doctors Without Borders for the American air attack that killed 42 people at its hospital in Afghanistan.

Today’s Birthdays: Retired South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu is 85. Comedian Joy Behar is 74. Singer John Mellencamp is 65. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 61. Recording executive and TV personality Simon Cowell is 57. Rhythm-and-blues singer Toni Braxton is 49. Rock singer-musician Thom Yorke is 48. Singer Taylor Hicks is 40.

Thought for Today: “If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.” — James Michener, American author (1907-1997).