Jerry Waxman
Today in History: October 26
Today in History: October 26: This day is marked by three peaceful events in American history, three notorious acts of violence, and two events that highlight the undermining of human rights and the people’s will in the United States. In 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia. In 1825, the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. In 1881, four lawmen, including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, exchanged gunfire with five outlaws, killing three of them, at the “Shootout at the O.K. Corral.” In 1861, the legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph. In 1979, South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot to death by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-kyu. In 2001, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists. In 2002, a hostage siege by Chechen rebels at a Moscow theater ended with 129 of the 800-plus captives dead. In 2020, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court by a deeply divided Senate.
Today in History: October 25
Today in History: October 25: In 1929, former Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall was convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for oil field leases at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and Elk Hills and Buena Vista oil fields in California, becoming the first U.S. cabinet member to be imprisoned for crimes committed while in office. In 1760, Britain’s King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II. In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown went on trial in Charles Town, Virginia, for his failed raid at Harpers Ferry. He was convicted and later hanged. In 1962, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba. Stevenson then presented photographic evidence of the bases to the Council. In 1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there. In 2002, Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota along with his wife, daughter and five others, a week and a-half before the election. In 2022, Rishi Sunak became Britain’s first prime minister of color after being chosen to lead the governing Conservative Party.
Today in History: October 24
This Day in History: October 24: In 1945, the United Nations formally came into existence as the Charter of the United Nations, ratified by 29 nations, took effect. In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI. In 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. In 1929, a massive sell-off at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange led to chaos. Though the market recovered some loses by the end of the day, “Black Thursday” marked the beginning of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In 1931, the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City with New Jersey, was dedicated; it was the world’s longest suspension bridge at that time. In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower vowed to go to Korea as he promised to end the ongoing conflict there. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy roared across Jamaica and headed toward Cuba on its way to the eastern United States. In 2021, heavily protected crews in Washington state worked to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States.
Today in History: October 23
Today in History: October 23: In 1915, 25,000 women marched on Fifth Avenue in New York City in support of women’s suffrage. In 1942, during World War II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt. In 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began; the largest naval battle of World War II resulted in a major Allied victory against Japanese forces. In 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungary’s Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, putting down the uprising within weeks . In 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps barracks at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon, while a near-simultaneous attack on French barracks in Beirut killed 58 paratroopers. In 1987, the U.S. Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork 58-42. In 1995, a jury in Houston convicted Yolanda Saldivar of murdering Tejano singing star Selena.
Today in History: October 22
Today in History: October 22: In 1962, in a nationally broadcast address, President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a naval blockade of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the island nation. In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas. In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the “American system of rugged individualism” in a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden. In 1934, bank robber Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot to death by federal agents and local police at a farm near East Liverpool, Ohio. In 1968, Apollo 7 returned safely from Earth orbit, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1995, the largest gathering of world leaders in history marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. In 2012, cyclist Lance Armstrong was formally stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and received a lifetime ban from Olympic sports after the International Cycling Union chose not to appeal doping charges against Armstrong. In 2014, a gunman shot and killed a soldier standing guard at a war memorial in Ottawa, then stormed the Canadian Parliament building before he himself was shot and killed. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. (The Cubs would go on to win the World Series.)
Today in History: October 21
Today in History: October 21: A day of military might, school tragedies, and homicides. In 1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” was christened in Boston’s harbor. In 1805, a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1940, Ernest Hemingway’s novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” was first published. In 1944, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen — the first German city to fall to American forces in World War II. In 1959, the Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in New York. In 1966, 144 people were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and some 20 houses in Aberfan, Wales. In 2013, a seventh-grader at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nevada, shot and killed a teacher and wounded two classmates before taking his own life. In 2014, Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide for shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The conviction was later upgraded to murder. In 2021, Actor Alec Baldwin was pointing a gun on a movie set in New Mexico when it went off and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Today in History: October 20
Today in History: October 20. There is a lot going on today. Richard Nixon figures in a couple stories, and there are two stories involving rock bands. In 1944, General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte in World War II, fulfilling a promise he made after being ordered to evacuate the country two years prior. In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase. In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry. In 1967 a jury in Meridian, Mississippi convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of three slain civil rights workers. In 1973, in the “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and the attorney general and the deputy attorney general resigned. In 1973, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. In 1976, 78 people were killed when the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta rammed the commuter ferry George Prince on the Mississippi River. In 1977, three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Mississippi. In 1990 three members of the rap group 2 Live Crew were acquitted by a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of violating obscenity laws with an adults-only concert. In 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte. Through history it seems October 20 has become a day of turmoil.
Today in History: October 19
Today in History: October 19: In 1987 on this day, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points on what came to be known as “Black Monday.” This happened when Ronald Reagan was president. It should have been seen as a signal that his trickle down economics was not viable. In 1781, British troops under General Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia. This victory for the American Revolution signified that the war was coming to an end. In 1914, the First Battle of Ypres began in World War 1. In 1960, the Reverand Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-down protest at a lunch counter in Atlanta. In 1977, the supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City. It flew from Toulouse, France in three hours and 44 minutes. In 2003, during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa. In 2005, accused of crimes against humanity Saddam Hussein was put on trial by the Iraqi Interim Government. In the third and final 2016 presidential debate, Republican Donald Trump refused to say he would accept the results of the election if he were to lose. This behavior has been consistent even up to this day. Trump shows through his actions that he believes U.S. laws do not apply to him. For reasons such as this, most authorities in the U.S. believe Trump is not fit to be president and never has been.
Today in History: October 18
Today in History: October 18: In 1977, Reggie Jackson – Mr. October – hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win and a 4-2 Series victory. In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. Alaska became the 49th state in the union in 1959. In 1898, the American flag was first raised in Puerto Rico, shortly before the U.S. formally gained control from Spain. In 1931, inventor Thomas Alva Edison died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey. He was 84. In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the first commercially produced transistor radio. In 1962, James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for Medicine for determining the double-helix structure of DNA. In 1968, Bob Beamon shattered the previous long jump world record by nearly two feet at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act. In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked airplane in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 87 hostages and four crew members. In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico if authorities did not stop a caravan of migrants from Central America. This serves as a reminder of how ex-president Trump handled the border when he was president. By inhumanely separating children from their parents, Trump created not only a severe tragedy for asylum seekers, but also a costly catastrophe for the country.