Forty years ago, on Oct. 15, 1969, peace demonstrators staged activities across the country, including a candlelight march around the White House, as part of a "moratorium" against the Vietnam War.
In 1858, the seventh and final debate between senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in Alton, Ill.
In 1860, 11-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y., wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by letting his whiskers grow.
In 1914, the Clayton Antitrust Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.
In 1917, Dutch dancer Mata Hari, convicted of spying for the Germans, was executed by a French firing squad outside Paris.
In 1928, the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst, N.J., completing its first commercial flight across the Atlantic.
In 1945, the former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, was executed for treason.
In 1946, Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering fatally poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill creating the Department of Transportation.
In 1976, in the first debate of its kind between vice-presidential nominees, Democrat Walter F. Mondale and Republican Bob Dole faced off in Houston.
In 1989, Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings surpassed Gordie Howe's NHL career scoring record of 1,850 points.
In 1990, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. South Africa's Separate Amenities Act, which had barred blacks from public facilities for decades, was scrapped.
In 1991, the Senate narrowly confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, 52-48.
In 1993, Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end apartheid in South Africa.
In 1999, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 2002, ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal pleaded guilty in New York in the biotech company's insider trading scandal. (He was later sentenced to more than seven years in prison.)
In 2003, China launched its first manned space mission. Eleven people were killed when a Staten Island ferry slammed into a maintenance pier. (The ferry's pilot, who'd blacked out at the controls, later pleaded guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.)
In 2004, the FDA ordered that all antidepressants carry strong warnings that they "increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior" in children who take them. Several thousand people opposed to gay marriage gathered on the National Mall in Washington to call for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.
In 2005, Iraqis voted to approve a constitution.
In 2008, Republican John McCain repeatedly assailed Democrat Barack Obama's character and campaign positions on taxes, abortion and more in a debate at Hofstra University; Obama parried each accusation, and leveled a few of his own, saying "100 percent" of McCain's campaign ads were negative. The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 to win the NLCS 4-1 for the team's first pennant since 1993.
Today's Birthdays: Former auto executive Lee Iacocca is 85. Jazz musician Freddy Cole is 78. Singer Barry McGuire is 74. Actress Linda Lavin is 72. Actress-director Penny Marshall is 67. Rock musician Don Stevenson (Moby Grape) is 67. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer is 64. Singer-musician Richard Carpenter is 63. Actor Victor Banerjee is 63. Tennis player Roscoe Tanner is 58. Singer Tito Jackson is 56. Actor-comedian Larry Miller is 56. Actor Jere Burns is 55. Actress Tanya Roberts is 54. Movie director Mira Nair is 52. Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, is 50. Chef Emeril Lagasse is 50. Rock musician Mark Reznicek (The Toadies) is 47. Actress Vanessa Marcil is 41. Singer-actress-TV host Paige Davis is 40. Actor Dominic West is 40. Singer Eric Benet is 39. R&B singer Ginuwine is 39. Actor Chris Olivero is 30. Christian singer-actress Jaci Velasquez is 30. R&B singer Keyshia Cole is 28. Tennis player Elena Dementieva is 28.
Today In Entertainment History October 15
In 1951, the situation comedy "I Love Lucy," starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, premiered on CBS. It ran until mid-1957.
In 1955, "Grand Ole Opry" made its TV debut on ABC. Buddy Holly opened a show for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, Texas.
Fifty years ago, in 1959, the crime show "The Untouchables" made its debut on ABC. The program was based on the real-life exploits of Eliot Ness and his squad of Treasury agents.
In 1964, composer Cole Porter died at age 73.
In 1971, Rick Nelson was booed when he performed new material at an oldies show in New York. It inspired him to write the song "Garden Party."
In 1976, Ike and Tina Turner split up as a musical act.
In 1977, Fleetwood Mac released "Rumours," one of the best-selling albums of all time.
In 1987, Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia opened a sold-out two-week run of solo shows on Broadway.
In 1996, drummer Tommy Lee of Motley Crue was charged with attacking a tabloid TV cameraman. The photographer was trying to take pictures of Lee and his wife, actress Pamela Anderson Lee, outside a nightclub in suburban Los Angeles.
In 1999, Irish tenor Josef Locke, whose life inspired the 1992 film "Hear My Song," died in County Kildare, Ireland, at age 82.
In 2002, musician Ryan Adams jumped into the audience at a show in Nashville to find a fan who had yelled out a request for "Summer of '69," a Bryan Adams song. Adams gave the fan $30 as a refund and refused to continue the show until the man left.
In 2007, Drew Carey took over as host for "The Price Is Right," replacing Bob Barker, who hosted the show for more than 35 years.
In 2008, pop star Madonna and movie director Guy Ritchie announced they were divorcing after nearly eight years of marriage. Actress-singer Edie Adams died in Los Angeles at age 81. Longtime game show host Jack Narz died in Los Angeles at age 85.
Thought for Today: "We used to do things for posterity, now we do things for ourselves and leave the bill to posterity." — Anonymous.
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