On Oct. 23, 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.
In 1707, the first Parliament of Great Britain, created by the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, held its first meeting.
In 1864, forces led by Union Gen. Samuel R. Curtis repelled Confederate Gen. Sterling Price's army in the Battle of Westport in Missouri.
In 1915, tens of thousands of women marched in New York City, demanding the right to vote.
In 1942, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt.
In 1945, Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player hired by a major league team, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and sent to their Montreal farm team. He moved up to the Dodgers in 1947 and became one of the sport's greatest stars.
In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow.
In 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungary's Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, and the uprising was put down within weeks.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon agreed to turn over White House tape recordings subpoenaed by the Watergate special prosecutor to Judge John J. Sirica.
In 1987, the U.S. Senate rejected, 58-42, the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork.
Twenty years ago, in 1989, 23 people were killed in an explosion at Phillips Petroleum Co.'s chemical complex in Pasadena, Texas. In a case that inflamed racial tensions in Boston, Charles Stuart claimed he and his pregnant wife, Carol, had been shot in their car by a black robber. (Carol Stuart and her prematurely delivered baby died; Charles Stuart later died, an apparent suicide, after he was implicated.)
In 1993, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter became the second player to end a World Series with a home run - a three-run shot that gave Toronto an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6.
In 1995, a jury in Houston convicted Yolanda Saldivar of murdering Tejano singing star Selena. (Saldivar is serving a life prison sentence.)
In 1998, Dr. Barnett Slepian, a doctor who performed abortions, was killed at his home in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., when a sniper fired through his kitchen window. (James Kopp was convicted of murder and is serving 25 years to life in prison.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a land-for-peace agreement at the White House, following nine days of talks at Wye River, Md.
Sound Bites:
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
King Hussein of Jordan
In 1999, sixteen members of the Ku Klux Klan held a silent rally in New York City as thousands of counter-demonstrators jeered them. The New York Yankees won the first game of the World Series, beating the Atlanta Braves, 4-1. (The Yankees went on to sweep the series.)
In 2002, gunmen seized a crowded Moscow theater, taking hundreds hostage and threatening to kill them unless the Russian army pulled out of Chechnya.
In 2003, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, widow of the Chinese nationalist leader, died in New York at age 105.
In 2004, gunmen ambushed a group of U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers on a road east of Baghdad; around 50 of the soldiers, who were unarmed, were killed execution-style. A 6.8-magnitude earthquake in northern Japan killed 40 people. The Boston Red Sox took Game 1 of the World Series, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 11-9.
In 2008, Badgered by lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan denied the nation's economic crisis was his fault but conceded the meltdown had revealed a flaw in a lifetime of economic thinking and left him in a "state of shocked disbelief." The Tampa Bay Rays evened the World Series at one game apiece by beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2.
Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., is 78. Movie director Philip Kaufman is 73. Soccer great Pele is 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Barbara Ann Hawkins (The Dixie Cups) is 66. Actor Michael Rupert is 58. Movie director Ang Lee is 55. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is 53. Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 53. Community activist Martin Luther King III is 52. Movie director Sam Raimi is 50. Parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic is 50. Rock musician Robert Trujillo (Metallica) is 45. Christian/jazz singer David Thomas (Take 6) is 43. Rock musician Brian Nevin (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 43. Country singer-musician Junior Bryant is 41. CNN medical reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta is 40.
Today In Entertainment History October 23
In 1925, comedian and talk show host Johnny Carson was born in Corning, Iowa.
In 1941, the Disney film "Dumbo" was released.
In 1950, actor-singer Al Jolson died in San Francisco at the age of 64. He's probably best known for starring in "The Jazz Singer," the first talking film.
In 1962, a 12-year-old named Little Stevie Wonder recorded his first single for Motown Records. It was called "Thank You For Loving Me All The Way."
In 1978, Maybelle Carter, the matriarch of the musical Carter family, died. Maybelle was the mother of June Carter, who became Mrs. Johnny Cash. She was 69.
In 1984, musician Bob Geldof watched a documentary on the BBC about Ethiopia's famine. He was so moved he called his friend, Midge Ure, and together they wrote the charity song "Do They Know It's Christmas."
In 1991, Rodney Crowell issued a statement that he and Rosanne Cash were getting divorced. They had married in 1979.
In 1992, country singer George Strait made his movie debut in "Pure Country," in which he starred as a country western singer.
In 1995, a Houston jury found Yolanda Saldivar guilty of murdering Tejano singing star Selena. She was sentenced to spend at least 30 years in prison.
In 2004, Ashlee Simpson walked off stage after the wrong vocal track was played during her performance on "Saturday Night Live," which revealed she was lip-synching. Opera singer Robert Merrill died in New Rochelle, N.Y., at age 87.
Thought for Today: "The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan values and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism." — Reinhold Niebuhr, American clergyman and author (1892-1971).
No comments:
Post a Comment