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.