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Apollo 7

U.S. President John F. Kennedy proclaims a U.S. naval blockade against Cuba in a nationwide television and radio broadcast from the White House 1962 (AP Photo)

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.)

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Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan (AP Photo-Ron Edmonds)

Today in History: October 11

Today in History: October 11: In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks about arms control and human rights; In 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education ordered all the city’s Asian students segregated into their own school; In 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched; In 1984, Challenger astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space; In 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt was first displayed; In 1991, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment; In 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would admit girls into the Cub Scouts

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