18 October: DNA; Musselmen Offend Xians; Edict Of Fontainebleau; Play That Killed Lincoln Opens; Alaska & P. R. Belong To US; Al Green Gets The Grits

Today is Sunday, Oct. 18, the 291st day of 2009. There are 74 days left in the year. The UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History:
On Oct. 18, 1962, Dr. James D. Watson of the United States and Drs. Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins of Britain were named winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
On this date:
In 1009 (by some accounts on Oct. 18), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was destroyed at the order of Fatimid caliph al-Hakim of Egypt. (The church was later rebuilt.)
In 1685, King Louis XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes that had established legal toleration of France's Protestant population, the Huguenots. (The French Parliament recorded the new edict four days later.)
In 1776, the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania was settled. Dubbed the "Mason-Dixon" line, it became the unofficial boundary between North and South.
In 1858, the play "Our American Cousin" by Tom Taylor premiered at Laura Keene's theater in New York.
In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.
In 1892, the first long-distance telephone line between New York and Chicago was officially opened (it could only handle one call at a time).
In 1898, the American flag was raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the United States.
In 1922, the British Broadcasting Corp. was established.
In 1931, inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.
In 1944, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia.
Fifty years ago, in 1959, the Soviet Union announced an unmanned space vehicle had taken the first pictures of the far side of the moon.
In 1968, the U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a "black power" salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.

In 1969, the federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
Thirty-five years ago, in 1974, the jury in the Watergate cover-up trial heard a tape recording in which U.S. President Richard Nixon told aide John Dean to try to stop the Watergate burglary investigation before it implicated White House personnel.
In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers. Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees became the second player to hit three home runs in a World Series game as he led New York to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deciding Game 6.

In 1982, former first lady Bess Truman died at her home in Independence, Mo., at age 97.
In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered an investigation of a CIA handbook for Nicaraguan rebels that suggested assassination as a political tactic.
In 1989, Erich Honecker was ousted as leader of East Germany after 18 years in power.
In 1990, Iraq, pinched by economic sanctions, offered to sell oil to anyone at half the going price.
In 1991, Israel and the Soviet Union agreed to renew full diplomatic relations for the first time since 1967. The United States and Soviet Union formally invited Israeli and Arab leaders to a conference in Spain to initiate direct bilateral peace talks.
In 1992, numerous civilians were killed or wounded when Serbian forces unleashed a citywide artillery barrage on Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In 1999, career prosecutor Robert Ray was sworn in to replace Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and wrap up the wide-ranging investigation of President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. The New York Yankees won a record 36th pennant, beating the Boston Red Sox 6-1 in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park.
In 2001, four defendants were convicted in New York for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
In 2004, President George W. Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry traded biting accusations over the war in Iraq, with Bush saying his Democratic challenger stood for "protest and defeatism" while Kerry accused the president of "arrogant boasting." An Anglican church commission urged the U.S. Episcopal Church not to elect any more gay bishops and called on conservative African bishops to stop meddling in the affairs of other dioceses.
In 2007, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, ending eight years of self-imposed exile; a suicide bombing in a crowd welcoming her killed more than 140 people.
In 2008, President George W. Bush, speaking at Camp David, said he would host an international summit in response to the global financial crisis, but did not set a date or place for the meeting. Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Iraq's parliament to reject a pact that would extend U.S. presence in Iraq for three years. Cole Puffinburger, a 6-year-old boy kidnapped from a Las Vegas home by alleged drug dealers posing as policemen, was found safe in a neighborhood northeast of the Las Vegas Strip.
Today's Birthdays: Rock-'n'-roll performer Chuck Berry is 83.

Sportscaster Keith Jackson is 81. Actress Dawn Wells is 71. Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka is 70. Actor Joe Morton is 62. Actress Pam Dawber is 59. Author Terry McMillan is 58. Writer-producer Chuck Lorre is 57. Gospel singer Vickie Winans is 56. International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is 53. Boxer Thomas Hearns is 51. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 49. Actress Erin Moran is 49. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 48. Actor Vincent Spano is 47. Rock musician Tim Cross is 43. Tennis player Michael Stich is 41. Singer Nonchalant is 36. Rock musician Peter Svenson (The Cardigans) is 35. Actor Wesley Jonathan is 31. Singer-actor Ne-Yo is 30.
Today In Entertainment History October 18
In 1952, Hank Williams married his second wife, Billie Jean Jones, in Minden, La. The next day, they repeated their vows twice at two shows for concert-goers in New Orleans.
In 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience made its debut in Paris.
In 1967, the satiric film "How I Won the War" premiered in London. It starred John Lennon as Private Gripweed.
In 1968, John Lennon was arrested in Ringo Starr's London apartment for pot possession. The arrest became the basis for the battle by US immigration officials who wanted to deny Lennon American citizenship. Bob Wills was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1974, Al Green's supposed girlfriend, Mary Woodson, shot herself to death at Green's home north of Memphis. That was after she had thrown a pot of boiling grits on Green as he was getting out of the bathtub.
In 1988, Bruce Springsteen broke up the E Street Band, telling them he wanted to pursue his own projects. They have since reunited. "Roseanne," starring Roseanne Barr, made its debut on ABC.
In 1990, the city of Los Angeles declared "Rocky Horror Picture Show Day," marking the 15th anniversary of the movie. There was a big party with most of the film's movie stars two days later.
In 2000, singer Zack De La Rocha announced he was leaving Rage Against The Machine. They have since reunited.
In 2008, soul singer Dee Dee Warwick died in New Jersey's Essex County at age 63.
Thought for Today: "I do not prize the word cheap. It is not a badge of honor ... it is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country!" — President William McKinley (1843-1901).