TODAY IN HISTORY

SUNDAY OCT 24, 2021

1940

The 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

1648

The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.

1861

The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.

1931

The George Washington Bridge, connecting New York and New Jersey, was officially dedicated.

1945

The United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.

1962

A naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.

1972

Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who’d broken Major League Baseball’s modernera color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.

1989

Former television evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced by a judge in Charlotte, N.C., to 45 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy.

1992

The Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-u.s. team to win the World Series as they defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in Game 6.

1996

Tyron Lewis, 18, a Black motorist, was shot to death by police during a traffic stop in St. Petersburg, Florida; the incident sparked rioting.

2002

Authorities apprehended John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Maryland, in the Washington-area sniper attacks.

2005

Civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit at age 92.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Rock musician Bill Wyman is

85. Actor F. Murray Abraham is 82. Movie directorscreenwriter David S. Ward is 76. Actor Kevin Kline is

74. Congressman and former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume (kwah-ee’-see oom-foo’-may) is 73. Actor Doug Davidson is 67. Actor B.D. Wong is 61. Actor Zahn Mcclarnon is 55. Singer Michael Trent (Americana duo Shovels & Rope) is 44. Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 42.