Today in History
Today is Sunday, Oct. 30, the 304th day of 2016. There are 62 days left
in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 30, 1938, the radio
play "The War of the Worlds," starring Orson Welles, aired as part of
"The Mercury Theater on the Air" on CBS. (The broadcast, which employed
a series of fake news reports about a Martian invasion, was said to
have panicked some listeners, although how many has never been
definitively established.) On this date: In 1735, the second president
of the United States, John Adams, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts.
In 1766, St. Paul's Chapel, Manhattan's oldest surviving house of
worship, was consecrated in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. In 1864,
Helena, Montana, was founded. In 1921, the silent film classic "The
Sheik," starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered in Los Angeles. In 1945,
the U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing, effective at
midnight. In 1953, Gen. George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize. Dr. Albert Schweitzer received the Peace Prize for 1952. In
1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb, the "Tsar Bomba," with a
force estimated at about 50 megatons. The Soviet Party Congress
unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef
Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb. In 1965, British model Jean Shrimpton
scandalized onlookers by showing up for Victoria Derby Day at
Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, in a white, sleeveless
shift mini-dress that was hemmed four inches above her knees. In 1974,
Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a
15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire (zah-EER'), known as the "Rumble in
the Jungle," to regain his world heavyweight title. In 1975, the New
York Daily News ran the headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead" a day after
President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal
bailout of New York City. In 1985, schoolteacher-astronaut Christa
McAuliffe witnessed the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, the
same craft that carried her and six other crew members to their deaths
in Jan. 1986. In 1996, after a four-hour trial, a Chinese court
sentenced pro-democracy activist Wang Dan to 11 years in prison for
"conspiring to subvert the Chinese government. (Wang was freed in April
1998 and sent into exile in the United States.) Ten years ago:
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, addressing a campaign rally for
California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, told a
college audience that young people who didn't study hard might "get
stuck in Iraq," prompting harsh Republican criticism; Kerry later said
it was a botched joke directed at President George W. Bush's handling
of the war. Larry Nelson and Vijay Singh were among five people
inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Five years ago: Britain's
Sunday Telegraph published an interview with Syrian President Bashar
Assad, who warned that a western intervention in Syria would lead to an
"earthquake" that "would burn the whole region. Republican presidential
candidate Herman Cain's campaign denied a Politico report that he'd
been twice accused of sexual harassment while he was the head of the
National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. (This and other
allegations, all denied by Cain, prompted his withdrawal from the White
House race.) One year ago: The United States escalated its fight
against the Islamic State in Syria, pledging the first open deployment
of military boots on the ground. A fire broke out at a nightclub in
Bucharest, Romania, killing 64 people. Character actor Al Molinaro, 96,
died in Glendale, California. The New York Mets defeated the Kansas
City Royals, 9-3, in Game 3 of the World Series, cutting the Royals'
lead to 2-1. Today's Birthdays: Actor Dick Gautier is 85. Movie
director Claude Lelouch is 79. Rock singer Grace Slick is 77.
Songwriter Eddie Holland is 77. Rhythm-and-blues singer Otis Williams
(The Temptations) is 75. Actress Joanna Shimkus is 73. Actor Henry
Winkler is 71. Broadcast journalist Andrea Mitchell is 70. Rock
musician Chris Slade (Asia) is 70. Country/rock musician Timothy B.
Schmit (The Eagles) is 69. Actor Leon Rippy is 67. Actor Harry Hamlin
is 65. Actor Charles Martin Smith is 63. Country singer T. Graham Brown
is 62. Actor Kevin Pollak is 59. Actor Michael Beach is 53. Rock
singer-musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 51. Actor Jack Plotnick is 48.
Comedian Ben Bailey is 46. Actor Billy Brown (TV: "How to Get Away With
Murder") is 46. Actress Nia Long is 46. Country singer Kassidy Osborn
(SHeDAISY) (sh-DAY'-zee) is 40. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal is 38. Actor
Matthew Morrison is 38. Business executive Ivanka Trump is 35. Actress
Fiona Dourif is 35. Actor Shaun Sipos (SEE'-pohs) is 35. Actress Janel
(juh-NEHL') Parrish is 28. Actor Tequan Richmond is 24. Thought for
Today: "You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the
individuals. Marie Curie, Polish Nobel Prize-winning chemist
(1867-1934).
