1 On Oct. 1, 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung raised the first flag of the People's Republic of China during a ceremony in Beijing. - In 1800 Spain ceded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty. - In 1885 special delivery mail service began in the U.S. - In 1896 the U.S. Post Office established Rural Free Delivery, with the first routes in West Virginia. - In 1908 Henry Ford introduced the Model T to the automobile market. - In 1936 Gen. Francisco Franco was proclaimed the head of an insurgent Spanish state. - In 1943 Allied forces captured Naples during World War II. - In 1961 Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 61st home run during a 162-game season, compared with Babe Ruth's 60 home runs in a 154-game season. - In 1964 the Free Speech Movement was launched at the University of California-Berkeley.- In 1971 Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Fla. - In 1979 Pope John Paul II arrived in Boston for the start of a U.S. tour. - Ten years ago thousands of East Germans received a triumphal welcome in West Germany after the communist government agreed to let them leave for the West. - Five years ago the U.S. and Japan reached a series of trade agreements, averting a threatened trade war. National Hockey League team owners began a 103-day lockout of their players. - One year ago, seeking to head off threatened NATO attacks, Yugoslavia's Serb leadership invited foreign experts to investigate massacres in Kosovo.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Daniel J. Boorstin, former librarian of Congress, is 85. - Actor Walter Matthau is 79.- Actor James Whitmore is 78. - Former President Jimmy Carter is 75. - William Rehnquist, chief justice of the U.S., is 75.- Actor Tom Bosley is 72. - Actor Richard Harris is 69.- Actress-singer Julie Andrews is 64. - Actress Stella Stevens is 63. - Rock musician Jerry Martini (Sly and the Family Stone) is 56. - Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew is 54.- Actor Stephen Collins is 52. - Actor Randy Quaid is 49.- Singer Howard Hewett is 42. - Singer Youssou N'Dour is 40. - Rock singer-musician Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra) is 31. - Country singer Kelly Willis is 31. - Actress Jurnee Smollett ("Eve's Bayou") is 13.

2 On Oct. 2, 1944, Nazi troops crushed the two-month-old Warsaw Uprising in which 250,000 people were killed. - In 1780 British spy John Andre was hanged in Tappan, N.Y. - In 1835 the first battle of the Texas Revolution took place as American settlers defeated a Mexican cavalry near the Guadalupe River. - In 1919 President Wilson suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. - In 1939 the Benny Goodman Sextet recorded "Flying Home." - In 1941 German armies began Operation Typhoon - an all-out drive against Moscow. - In 1950 the comic strip "Peanuts," created by Charles M. Schulz, was first published in nine newspapers. - In 1958 the former French colony of Guinea in West Africa proclaimed its independence. - In 1959 Rod Sterling's "The Twilight Zone" made its debut on CBS-TV. - In 1967 Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first black appointed to the nation's high court. - In 1985 actor Rock Hudson died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 59 after a battle with AIDS. - Ten years ago nearly 10,000 people marched through Leipzig, East Germany, demanding legalization of opposition groups and adoption of democratic reforms in the country's largest protest since 1953. - Five years ago U.S. soldiers in Haiti detained several leaders of the country's pro-army militias as part of an effort to dismantle armed opposition to restoration of elected rule. - One year ago the House released 4,600 pages of evidence that detailed President Clinton's efforts to contain the Monica Lewinsky scandal as it erupted. Gene Autry, Hollywood's original singing cowboy and former owner of the Anaheim Angels, died at age 91.*Happy Birthday* ---------------- - Singer-musician Leon Rausch (Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys) is 72. - Former Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills is 67.- Movie critic Rex Reed is 61. - Singer-songwriter Don McLean is 54.- Cajun/country singer Jo-el Sonnier is 53. - Country singer Chris LeDoux is 51.- Photographer Annie Leibovitz is 50. - Rock musician Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike & the Mechanics) is 49. - Singer-actor Sting is 48.- Rock singer Phil Oakey (The Human League) is 44. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Freddie Jackson is 41. - Rock musician Bud Gaugh (Sublime) is 32. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Dion Allen (Az Yet) is 29.- Singer Tiffany is 28. - Rhythm-and-blues singer LaTocha Scott (Xscape) is 26.

3 On Oct. 3, 1863, President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. - In 1226 St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, died; he was canonized in 1228. - In 1929 the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes formally changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. - In 1941 Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been "broken" and would "never rise again." - In 1942 President Roosevelt established the Office of Economic Stabilization. - In 1944 during World War II, U.S. troops cracked the Siegfried Line north of Aachen, Germany. - In 1962 astronaut Wally Schirra blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the Sigma 7 on a nine-hour flight. - In 1974 Frank Robinson was named the first black manager in major league baseball, with the Cleveland Indians. - In 1981 Irish nationalists at the Maze Prison near Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended seven months of hunger strikes in which 10 died. - In 1990 West Germany and East Germany ended 45 years of postwar division, declaring the creation of a unified country. - In 1995 the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial found the former football star innocent of the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman (Simpson was later found liable in a civil proceeding). - Ten years ago Panamanian officers launched an unsuccessful coup against Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega. In a move to stem the flow of refugees to the West, East Germany suspended unrestricted travel to Czechoslovakia. - Five years ago U.S. soldiers in Haiti raided the headquarters of a hated pro-army militia. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy announced his resignation because of questions about gifts he had received. South African President Nelson Mandela addressed the United Nations, urging the world to support his country's economy. - One year ago Australian Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government was narrowly re-elected. Pope John Paul II beatified Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, the World War II archbishop of Zagreb and a controversial figure because many Serbs and Jews accused him of sympathizing with the Nazis.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Author Gore Vidal is 74.- Actress Madlyn Rhue is 65.- Singer Alan O'Day is 59. - Rock 'n' roll star Chubby Checker is 58.- Actor Alan Rachins is 57. - Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is 56.- Singer Lindsey Buckingham is 52. - Jazz musician Ronnie Laws is 49.- Blues singer Keb' Mo' is 48. - All-star outfielder Dave Winfield is 48. - Actor Peter Frechette ("Profiler") is 43.- Actor Jack Wagner is 40. - Rocker Tommy Lee is 37.- Pop singer Kevin Richardson (Backstreet Boys) is 28. - Actress Neve Campbell is 26.- Actor Erik Von Detten is 17.

4 On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into orbit. - In 1777 George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., with heavy American casualties. - In 1822 the 19th president of the U.S., Rutherford B. Hayes, was born in Delaware, Ohio. - In 1887 the first issue of the International Herald Tribune was published as the Paris Herald Tribune. - In 1895 the first U.S. Open golf tournament was held at the Newport (R.I.) Country Club. - In 1931 the comic strip "Dick Tracy," created by Chester Gould, made its debut. - In 1940 Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps, where the Nazi leader sought Italy's help in fighting the British.- In 1958 the first transatlantic passenger jetliner service was begun, by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), with London-New York flights. - In 1970 rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room. - In 1976 agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigned in the wake of a controversy over a joke he had made about blacks. - In 1978 funeral services were held at the Vatican for Pope John Paul I. - Ten years ago Fawaz Younis, a Lebanese hijacker convicted of commandeering a Jordanian jetliner in 1985 with two Americans aboard, was sentenced in Washington to 30 years in prison. - Five years ago exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide vowed in an address to the U.N. General Assembly to return to Haiti in 11 days. President Clinton welcomed South African President Nelson Mandela to the White House. - One year ago Russian envoys warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that NATO might launch air-strikes unless he took "decisive measures" to end the humanitarian crisis in the southern province of Kosovo. Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso won re-election.*Happy Birthday*----------------- Comedian Jan Murray is 82. - Actor Charlton Heston is 75.- Country singer Leroy Van Dyke is 70. - Actress Felicia Farr is 67.- Actor Eddie Applegate is 64. - Author Jackie Collins is 58.- Author Anne Rice is 58. - Actor Clifton Davis is 54.- Actress Susan Sarandon is 53. - Actor Armand Assante is 50.- Actor Alan Rosenberg is 49. - Producer Russell Simmons is 42. - Musician Chris Lowe (The Pet Shop Boys) is 40. - Country musician Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (Sawyer Brown) is 39. - Actor David W. Harper is 38.- Singer Jon Secada is 38. - Actor Liev Schreiber is 32.- Rock musician Andy Parle (Space) is 29. - Actress Alicia Silverstone is 23.- Actress Rachel Leigh Cook is 20. - Actor Jimmy Workman is 19.- Actor Michael Charles Roman is 12.

5 On Oct. 5, 1892, the Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, lost several of its members in an attempt to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kan. - In 1830 Chester Arthur, 21st president of the U.S., was born in Fairfield, Vt. - In 1921 the World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time. - In 1937 President Roosevelt called for a "quarantine" of aggressor nations. - In 1941 former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the nation's highest court, died in Washington at age 84. - In 1947 President Truman delivered the first televised address from the White House. - In 1953 Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson. - In 1962 the Beatles' first hit, "Love Me Do," was released in the United Kingdom. - In 1969 "Monty Python's Flying Circus" made its debut on BBC-TV. - In 1986 American Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Sandinista soldiers after the weapons plane he was riding in was shot down over southern Nicaragua.- In 1988 Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambasted Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." - Ten years ago a jury in Charlotte, N.C., convicted former PTL evangelist Jim Bakker of using his television show to defraud followers. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. - Five years ago 48 members of a secret religious doomsday cult were found dead in apparent murder-suicides carried out simultaneously in two Swiss villages; five other bodies were found in a sect apartment in Montreal, Canada. - One year ago the House Judiciary Committee voted along hardened partisan lines to investigate whether President Clinton should be removed from office. Michael Carneal pleaded guilty but mentally ill to shooting to death three fellow students and wounding five other people at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky. (Carneal was later sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 25 years.) *Happy Birthday*----------------- "Family Circus" cartoonist Bil Keane is 77. - Actress Glynis Johns is 76.- Comedian Bill Dana is 75. - Actress Diane Cilento is 66. - Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, is 63. - Country singer Johnny Duncan is 61. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Arlene Smith (The Chantels) is 58. - Singer Richard Street is 57.- Singer-musician Steve Miller is 56. - Actor Jeff Conaway is 49.- Actress Karen Allen is 48. - Writer-producer-director Clive Barker is 47. - Rock singer and famine-relief organizer Bob Geldof is 45. - Rock singer-musician Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States of America) is 35.- Actor Guy Pearce ("L.A. Confidential") is 32. - Rock musician Brian Mashburn (Save Ferris) is 24. - Actor Scott Weinger ("Full House") is 24.- Actress Kate Winslet is 24.

6 On Oct. 6, 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson, a movie which featured both silent and sound-synchronized scenes. - In 1884 the Naval War College was established in Newport, R.I. - In 1889 the Moulin Rouge in Paris first opened its doors to the public. - In 1891 Charles Stewart Parnell, the "Uncrowned King of Ireland," died in Brighton, England. - In 1939 in an address to the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler denied any intention of war against France and Britain. - In 1949 American-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino, convicted as Japanese wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was sentenced in San Francisco to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000. President Truman signed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, totaling $1.3 billion in military aid to NATO countries. - In 1973 war erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria attacked Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday. - In 1979 Pope John Paul II, on a week-long U.S. tour, became the first pontiff to visit the White House, where he was received by President Carter.- In 1981 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade. - In 1983 Cardinal Terence Cooke, the spiritual head of the Archdiocese of New York, died at age 62. - Ten years ago Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev joined in festivities in East Berlin marking the 40th anniversary of East Germany, while thousands of refugees migrated to the West. Actress Bette Davis died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, at age 81. - Five years ago in an address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, South African President Nelson Mandela warned against the lure of isolationism, saying the U.S. post-Cold War focus should be on eliminating "tyranny, instability and poverty" across the globe. - One year ago with a House vote set on launching an open-ended impeachment inquiry, Democrats rushed to counter Republican plans while still underscoring their disapproval of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Author-journalist Shana Alexander is 74. - President Hafez Assad of Syria is 69.- Actress Britt Ekland is 57. - Impressionist Fred Travalena is 57.- Singer Millie Small is 53. - Singer-musician Thomas McClary is 49. - Rock singer Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) is 48. - Rock singer-musician David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) is 45. - Singer Matthew Sweet is 35.- Country singer Tim Rushlow is 33. - Rapper Kitty (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 28.

7 On Oct. 7, 1849, author Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore at age 40. - In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England. - In 1777 the second Battle of Saratoga began during the American Revolution. (British forces under General John Burgoyne surrendered 10 days later.)- In 1949 the Republic of East Germany was formed. - In 1954 Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York. - In 1963 President Kennedy signed the documents of ratification for a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union. - In 1968 the Motion Picture Association of America adopted its film-rating system. - In 1979 Pope John Paul II concluded a week-long tour of the U.S. with a Mass on the Mall in Washington. - In 1981 Egypt's parliament named Vice President Hosni Mubarak to succeed the assassinated Anwar Sadat. - In 1982 the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical "Cats," featuring the popular song "Memory," opened on Broadway. - In 1985 Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean with more than 400 people aboard. - Ten years ago Hungary's Communist Party renounced Marxism in favor of democratic socialism during a party congress in Budapest. - Five years ago President Clinton ordered Army troops on alert and dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf after Iraqi troops were spotted moving south toward Kuwait. At an East Room news conference, Clinton expressed frustration over failures in his legislative agenda, blaming Republicans for "trying to stop it, slow it, kill it or just talk it to death." - One year ago Matthew Shepard, a gay college student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie; he died five days later. (Russell Henderson later pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping; a second suspect, Aaron McKinney, has yet to stand trial.) The Justice Department sued Visa and MasterCard, the nation's largest credit card networks, on grounds they were restraining competition and limiting consumer choice.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Singer Al Martino is 72.- Retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is 68. - Former National Security Council aide Oliver North is 56. - Rock musician Kevin Godley (10cc) is 54. - Country singer Kiernan Kane (The O'Kanes) is 50. - Singer John Mellencamp is 48.- Actress Christopher Norris is 46. - Rock musician Tico Torres (Bon Jovi) is 46.- Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 44. - Gospel singer Michael W. Smith is 42.- Actress Judy Landers is 38. - Singer Toni Braxton is 31.- Rock singer-musician Thom Yorke (Radiohead) is 31. - Rock musician Leeroy Thornhill (Prodigy) is 30.

8 On Oct. 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire erupted while another deadly blaze broke out in Peshtigo, Wis. - In 1869 Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the U.S., died in Concord, N.H. - In 1890 American aviation hero Eddie Rickenbacker was born in Columbus, Ohio. - In 1918 Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 in the Argonne Forest in France. - In 1934 Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for murder in the death of the infant son of Charles A. Lindbergh. - In 1944 "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" made its debut on CBS Radio. - In 1945 President Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada. - In 1956 Don Larsen pitched the first perfect game in a World Series as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0. - In 1982 all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned. - In 1985 the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer. - In 1993 the government issued a report absolving the FBI of wrongdoing in its final assault in Texas on the Branch Davidian compound. - Ten years ago the Oakland A's won the American League pennant for the second year in a row by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays. - Five years ago President Clinton, responding to the massing of Iraqi troops near the Kuwaiti border, warned Saddam Hussein not to misjudge "American will or American power" as he ordered additional U.S. forces to the region. - One year ago the House triggered an open-ended impeachment inquiry against President Clinton in a momentous 258-176 vote; 31 Democrats joined the Republican majority in opening the way for nationally televised impeachment hearings. Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago won the Nobel Literature Prize.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 63.- Actor Paul Hogan is 60. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 59. - The Rev. Jesse Jackson is 58.- Comedian Chevy Chase is 56. - Author R.L. Stine ("Goosebumps") is 56.- Country singer Susan Raye is 55. - TV personality Sarah Purcell is 51.- Actress Sigourney Weaver is 50. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 49. - Producer-director Edward Zwick is 47. - Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 46.- Actor Michael Dudikoff is 45. - Actress Stephanie Zimbalist is 43. - Rock musician Mitch Marine (Tripping Daisy) is 38. - Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 36. - Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 34. - Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 33.- Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 29. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 20.

9 On Oct. 9, 1958, Pope Pius XII died, 19 years after he was elevated to the papacy. - In 1635 religious dissident Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. - In 1701 the Collegiate School of Connecticut, later Yale University, was chartered in New Haven. - In 1776 a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco. - In 1888 the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument. - In 1936 the first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles. - In 1946 the Eugene O'Neill drama "The Iceman Cometh" opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York. - In 1967 Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed while attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia. - In 1974 Czech-born German businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving about 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, died in Frankfurt, West Germany; at his request, he was buried in Jerusalem. - In 1975 Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov received the Nobel Peace Prize. - In 1985 the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt. - Ten years ago the San Francisco Giants won the National League championship by defeating the Chicago Cubs. The official Soviet news agency Tass reported that a spaceship of some kind, complete with a trio of tall aliens, had visited a park in the city of Voronezh. - Five years ago the U.S. sent troops and warships to the Persian Gulf after Saddam Hussein sent tens of thousands of elite troops and hundreds of tanks toward the Kuwaiti border. - One year ago Ariel Sharon returned to the center of power in Israel as the country's new foreign minister.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Actor Fyvush Finkel is 76.- Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 58. - Rock musician John Entwistle (The Who) is 55.- Singer Jackson Browne is 51. - Actor Gary Frank is 49.- Actor Richard Chaves is 48.- Actor Robert Wuhl is 48. - Actor Tony Shalhoub is 46.- Actor Scott Bakula is 45. - Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 45.- Actor Michael Pare is 40. - Rock singer-musician Kurt Neumann (The BoDeans) is 38. - Country singer Gary Bennett (BR5-49) is 35.- Singer P.J. Harvey is 30. - Sean Lennon is 24.- Actor Randy Spelling ("Sunset Beach") is 21. - Actor Zachery Ty Bryan ("Home Improvement") is 18.

10 On Oct. 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion and resigned his office. - In 1845 the U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Md. - In 1886 the tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. - In 1911 revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China's Manchu dynasty. - In 1935 George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess" opened on Broadway. - In 1938 Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. - In 1943 Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China. - In 1970 Quebec Labor Minister Pierre Laporte was kidnapped by the Quebec Liberation Front, a militant separatist group. (His body was found about a week later.) Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule. - In 1978 President Carter signed a bill authorizing the $1 Susan B. Anthony coin. - In 1985 U.S. fighter jets surrounded an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and forced it to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. - Ten years ago South African President F.W. de Klerk announced that eight prominent political prisoners, including African National Congress official Walter Sisulu, would be unconditionally freed, but that Nelson Mandela would remain imprisoned. - Five years ago Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras resigned as commander-in-chief of Haiti's armed forces and pledged to leave the country. Iraq announced it was withdrawing its forces from the Kuwaiti border; seeing no signs of a pullback, President Clinton dispatched 350 additional aircraft to the region. Americans Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell won the Nobel Prize in medicine. - One year ago former defense secretary and presidential adviser Clark M. Clifford died at age 91.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Playwright Harold Pinter is 69. - Former Illinois Sen. Adlai Stevenson III is 69.- Actor Peter Coyote is 57. - Entertainer Ben Vereen is 53.- Singer John Prine is 53. - Actor Charles Dance is 53. - Rock singer-musician Cyril Neville (The Neville Brothers) is 51. - Actress Jessica Harper is 50.- Singer-musician Midge Ure is 46. - Singer David Lee Roth is 44.- Country singer Tanya Tucker is 41. - Singer Kirsty MacColl is 40.- Musician Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet) is 38. - Rock musician Jim Glennie (James) is 36.- Actress Rebecca Pidgeon is 34. - Rock musician Mike Malinin (Goo Goo Dolls) is 32. - Actress Jodi Lyn O'Keefe is 21.- Singer Mya is 20.

11 On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard. - In 1776 the first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought during the American Revolution. American forces led by Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses but managed to stall the British. - In 1779 Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski was killed while fighting for American independence during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga. - In 1811 the first steam-powered ferryboat, the Juliana, was put into operation between New York City and Hoboken, N.J. - In 1890 the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, D.C. - In 1942 the World War II Battle of Cape Esperance began in the Solomons, resulting in an American victory over the Japanese. - In 1948 the musical comedy "Where's Charley?" starring Ray Bolger and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway. - In 1958 the lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far out as planned, fell back and burned up in the atmosphere. - In 1962 Pope John XXIII convened Vatican II, the first session of the Roman Catholic Church's 21st Ecumenical Council. - In 1975 NBC's "Saturday Night Live" made its debut with guest host George Carlin. - In 1984 astronaut Kathy Sullivan stepped out of the space shuttle Challenger and became the first American woman to walk in space. - Ten years ago the House narrowly approved an amendment to an appropriations bill that would restore Medicaid for abortions in cases of rape or incest. (President Bush vetoed the bill, and the veto was upheld.) - Five years ago U.S. troops in Haiti took over the National Palace. Iraqi troops began moving north, away from the Kuwaiti border. The Colorado Supreme Court declared the state's anti-gay rights measure unconstitutional. - One year ago Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun who died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.*Happy Birthday*----------------- Actor Ron Leibman is 62. - Country singer Gene Watson is 56.- Singer-musician Daryl Hall is 50. - Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is 49. - Rhythm-and-blues musician Andrew Woolfolk (Earth, Wind & Fire) is 49. - Actress-director Catlin Adams is 49.- Actor David Morse is 46. - Country singer Paulette Carlson is 46.- Football player Steve Young is 38. - Actress Joan Cusack is 37.- Actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 34. - Actor Luke Perry is 33.- Actress Jane Krakowski is 31.- Rapper MC Lyte is 28. - Singer NeeNa Lee is 24.- Actress Michelle Trachtenberg is 14.

12 On Oct. 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived with his expedition in the present-day Bahamas. - In 1870 Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63. - In 1933 bank robber John Dillinger escaped from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang, who killed the sheriff. - In 1942 during World War II, President Roosevelt delivered one of his so-called "fireside chats" in which he recommended drafting 18- and 19-year-old men. Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the U.S. would no longer be considered enemy aliens. - In 1960 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding his desk with a shoe during a dispute. - In 1964 the Soviet Union launched a Voskhod space capsule with a three-man crew; it was the first mission with more than one crew member. - In 1968 the Summer Games of the 19th Olympiad officially opened in Mexico City. - In 1973 President Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president. - In 1997 singer John Denver was killed in the crash of a light aircraft in Monterey Bay, Calif.; he was 53. - Ten years ago the House approved a statutory federal ban on desecration of the American flag. (The Senate defeated the measure a week later.) - Five years ago Panama granted political asylum to ousted Haitian military leader Raoul Cedras. The Magellan space probe ended its four-year mapping mission of Venus, plunging into the planet's atmosphere. - One year ago Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, died five days after he was beaten and lashed to a fence; two men were charged with his murder. (Russell Henderson later pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping; a second suspect, Aaron McKinney, has yet to stand trial.) Three Americans won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for blood vessel research.*Happy Birthday* ----------------- Actress Antonia Rey is 72.- Blues singer Nappy Brown is 70. - Comedian-activist Dick Gregory is 67.- Former Sen. Jake Garn, R.-Utah, is 67. - Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti is 64. - Singer Sam Moore (formerly of Sam and Dave) is 64. - Sportscaster Tony Kubek is 64.- TV reporter Chris Wallace is 52. - Michigan Gov. John Engler is 51.- Actress-singer Susan Anton is 49. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Claude McKnight (Take 6) is 37. - Actor Adam Rich is 31.- Rhythm-and-blues singer Garfield Bright (Shai) is 30. - Country musician Martie Seidel (Dixie Chicks) is 30. - Actor Kirk Cameron is 29.

13 On Oct. 13, 1792, the cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid during a ceremony in Washington. - In A.D. 54 Roman emperor Claudius I died after he was poisoned by his wife, Agrippina. - In 1775 the U.S. Navy came into being as the Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet. - In 1843 the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was founded in New York City. - In 1845 Texas ratified a state constitution. - In 1943 Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner. - In 1944 during World War II, American troops entered Aachen, Germany; British and Greek advance units landed at Piraeus. - In 1960 Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy participated in the third televised debate of their presidential election campaigns. - In 1962 "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" by Edward Albee, opened on Broadway.- In 1974 TV host Ed Sullivan died in New York City at age 72. - Ten years ago the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 190 points, triggering memories of the 1987 crash. - Five years ago pro-British Protestant paramilitaries in Northern Ireland announced a cease-fire matching the Irish Republican Army's six-week-old truce. Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe won the Nobel Prize in literature. - One year ago White House and congressional budget bargainers continued to seek agreement on issues snarling a $500 billion bill for the new fiscal year. Five scientists in the U.S. won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing ways to analyze molecules in chemical reactions and the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering how electrons can change behavior. The NBA suspended the first two weeks of the 1998-99 pro basketball season after collective bargaining talks broke off. The New York Yankees won the American League pennant with a 9-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 6 of their championship series.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Editorial cartoonist Herblock (Herbert Lawrence Block) is 90. - Comedian Nipsey Russell is 75. - Lady Thatcher, former British prime minister, is 74. - Playwright Frank D. Gilroy is 74.- Actor Cliff Gorman is 63. - Gospel singer Shirley Caesar is 61.- Actress Melinda Dillon is 60. - Singer-musician Paul Simon is 58.- Actress Pamela Tiffin is 57. - Musician Robert Lamm (Chicago) is 55.- Actor Demond Wilson is 53. - Country singer Lacy J. Dalton is 53.- Singer-musician Sammy Hagar is 52. - Actor John Lone is 47.- Model Beverly Johnson is 47. - Writer-producer Chris Carter ("The X-Files") is 42. - Singer Marie Osmond is 40.- Actress Kelly Preston is 37. - Country singer John Wiggins is 37.- Actress Tisha Campbell is 31. - Olympic silver-medal figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is 30. - Country singer Rhett Akins is 30. - Rock musician Jan Van Sichem Junior (K's Choice) is 27.

14 On Oct. 14, 1947, Air Force test pilot Charles E. Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell X-One rocket plane over Edwards Air Force Base in California. - In 1066 Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. - In 1890 Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the U.S., was born in Denison, Texas. - In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech. - In 1933 Nazi Germany announced it was withdrawing from the League of Nations. - In 1944 German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler. - In 1960 the idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to a group of students at the University of Michigan. - In 1964 civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. - In 1968 the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo Seven. - In 1977 singer Bing Crosby died outside Madrid, Spain, at age 73. - In 1990 composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein died in New York at age 72. - Ten years ago Colombia extradited three suspected drug traffickers to the U.S. as part of a war on the cocaine cartel. - Five years ago the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Kidnapped Israeli soldier Nachshon Waxman was killed when Israeli commandos raided the hideout of Islamic militants in Jerusalem. - One year ago Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in economics. "Polka king" Frankie Yankovic died in Tampa, Fla., at age 83. Cleveland Amory, animal rights advocate and author, died in New York at age 81. The San Diego Padres won the National League pennant, beating the Atlanta Braves, 5-0, in Game 6 of their championship series.*Happy Birthday* ----------------- Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is 83. - Actor Roger Moore is 72.- Movie director Carroll Ballard is 62. - Former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 61. - Country singer Melba Montgomery is 61.- Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is 60. - Singer Cliff Richard is 59.- Actor Udo Kier is 55. - Singer-musician Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues) is 53. - Actor Harry Anderson is 47.- Actor Greg Evigan is 46. - TV personality Arleen Sorkin is 43.- Golf Hall of Famer Beth Daniel is 43. - Singer-musician Thomas Dolby is 41.- Singer Karyn White is 34. - Actor Jon Seda is 29. - Country musician Doug Virden (Sons of the Desert) is 29. - Country singer Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks) is 25. - Singer Shaznay Lewis (All Saints) is 24.- Singer Usher is 21.

15 On Oct. 15, 1969, peace demonstrators staged activities across the country, including a candlelight march around the White House, seeking a moratorium on the Vietnam War. - In 1914 the Clayton Antitrust Act was passed. - In 1917 Mata Hari, a Dutch dancer who had spied for the Germans, was executed outside Paris by a French firing squad. - In 1928 the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst, N.J., on its first commercial flight across the Atlantic. - In 1939 New York Municipal Airport, later renamed LaGuardia Airport, was dedicated.- In 1945 Pierre Laval, the former premier of Vichy, France, was executed.- In 1946 Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed. - In 1966 President 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 1990 Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. - In 1991 despite sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, the Senate confirmed, 52-48, the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.- Ten years ago South African officials released eight prominent political prisoners, including Walter Sisulu, a leader of the African National Congress. The NHL's Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings surpassed Gordie Howe's scoring record of 1,850 points, in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. - Five years ago Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to his country, three years after being overthrown by army rulers. The U.N. Security Council welcomed Aristide's return by voting to lift stifling trade sanctions imposed against Haiti. - One year ago the White House and congressional leaders struck agreement on a $500 billion spending package, ending a week of election-season budget brinkmanship. The Federal Reserve made surprise cuts in two key interest rates, igniting an explosive rally on Wall Street. President Clinton opened Mideast summit talks in Maryland that resulted in the Wye River land-for-peace agreement. *Happy Birthday*----------------- Economist John Kenneth Galbraith is 91. - Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. is 82. - Actress Jan Miner ("Madge the Manicurist") is 82. - Former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca is 75.- Actress Jean Peters is 73. - Actress Linda Lavin is 62.- Actress-director Penny Marshall is 57. - Rock musician Don Stevenson (Moby Grape) is 57. - Musician Richard Carpenter is 53.- Actor Victor Banerjee is 53. - Tennis player Roscoe Tanner is 48.- Singer Tito Jackson is 46. - Actor Jere Burns is 45.- Actress Tanya Roberts is 44. - Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, is 40. - Rock musician Mark Reznicek (Toadies) is 37.- Singer Ginuwine is 29.

16 On Oct. 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown led about 20 men in a raid on Harper's Ferry. - In 1793 during the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded. - In 1916 Margaret Sanger opened the first birth-control clinic, in New York City.- In 1939 the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner," by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, opened on Broadway. - In 1946 10 Nazi war criminals condemned during the Nuremberg trials were hanged.- In 1962 President Kennedy was informed that reconnaissance photographs had revealed the presence of missile bases in Cuba. - In 1964 China detonated its first atomic bomb. Harold Wilson of the Labor Party assumed office as prime minister of Great Britain, succeeding Conservative Sir Alec Douglas-Home. - In 1969 the New York Mets capped a miraculous season, winning the World Series in Game 5, a 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. - In 1970 Anwar Sadat was elected president of Egypt, succeeding the late Gamal Abdel Nasser. - In 1978 the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyla to be the new pope; he took the name John Paul II. - Ten years ago President Bush signed an order cutting federal programs by $16.1 billion under the Gramm-Rudman budget-reduction law. - Five years ago German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was elected to a fourth term. Heavy rains began drenching southeast Texas, resulting in floods that left 20 dead and forced 14,000 from their homes in 35 counties. - One year ago David Trimble and John Hume were named recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the Northern Ireland peace accord. After receiving a Spanish extradition warrant, British police arrested former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London for questioning about allegations that he had murdered Spanish citizens during his years in power.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Actress Angela Lansbury is 74. - Former presidential adviser Charles W. Colson is 68. - Actor Tony Anthony is 62.- Actor Barry Corbin is 59. - Rock musician C.F. Turner (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 56. - Actress Suzanne Somers is 53. - Rock singer-musician Bob Weir (The Grateful Dead, Ratdog) is 52. - Producer-director David Zucker is 52. - Record company executive Jim Ed Norman is 51.- Actor Daniel Gerroll is 48. - Actor-director Tim Robbins is 41. - Rock musician Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 37. - Singer Wendy Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 30. - Rapper B-Rock (B-Rock and the Bizz) is 28.- Actress Kellie Martin is 24. - Actor Jeremy Jackson ("Baywatch") is 19.

17 On Oct. 17, 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., a turning point of the Revolutionary War. - In 1919 Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was created. - In 1931 mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was released early, in 1939. - In 1933 Albert Einstein arrived in the U.S. as a refugee from Nazi Germany. - In 1939 Frank Capra's comedy-drama "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" premiered in the nation's capital. - In 1945 Col. Juan Peron staged a coup, becoming absolute ruler of Argentina. - In 1957 Albert Camus of France received the Nobel Prize in literature. - In 1977 West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of four hijackers. - In 1978 President Carter signed a bill restoring American citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. - In 1979 Mother Teresa of India received the Nobel Peace Prize. - In 1997 the remains of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara were laid to rest in his adopted Cuba, 30 years after he was executed in Bolivia. - Ten years ago an earthquake in Northern California measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale killed 67 people, injured 2,500 and caused $7 billion in damage. - Five years ago leaders of Israel and Jordan initialed a draft peace treaty. Negotiators for the Angolan government and rebels agreed to a peace treaty to end their 19-year civil war. - One year ago a pipeline explosion and fire in southwest Nigeria killed some 700 people.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Playwright Arthur Miller is 84.- Actress Marsha Hunt is 82. - Actress Beverly Garland is 73.- Actress Julie Adams is 73. - Actor Tom Poston is 72.- Newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin is 69. - Daredevil Evel Knievel is 61.- Singer Jim Seals (Seals & Crofts) is 58. - Country singer Earl Thomas Conley is 58.- Singer Gary Puckett is 57. - Actor Michael McKean is 52.- Actress Margot Kidder is 51. - Actor George Wendt is 51.- Actor Bill Hudson is 50.- Actor Sam Bottoms is 44. - Astronaut Mae Jemison is 43.- Country singer Alan Jackson is 41. - Animator Mike Judge ("King of the Hill") is 37. - Actor-comedian Norm MacDonald is 36.- Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 31. - Singer Chris Kirkpatrick ('N Sync) is 28.- Singer Wyclef Jean is 27.

18 On Oct. 18, 1898, the American flag was raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island. - In 1685 King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had recognized the Huguenots, the nation's Protestant population. - In 1767 the Mason-Dixon Line, the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, was agreed upon. - In 1867 the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. - In 1892 the first long-distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was formally opened. - In 1931 inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84. - In 1944 Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia during World War II. - In 1968 the U.S. Olympic Committee suspended athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a "black power" salute as a protest during a medals ceremony in Mexico City. - In 1969 the federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats. - In 1982 former first lady Bess Truman died at her home in Independence, Mo., at age 97. - In 1997 a monument honoring American servicewomen, past and present, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery. - Ten years ago after 18 years in power, Erich Honecker was ousted as leader of East Germany; he was succeeded by Egon Krenz. The space shuttle Atlantis was launched on a five-day mission that included deployment of the Galileo space probe on a course for Jupiter. - Five years ago Defense Secretary William Perry, nearing the end of a visit to China, said Beijing had agreed to brief the Pentagon on its overall military strategy and defense spending plans. - One year ago Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at the Vatican marking the 20th anniversary of his election to the papacy.*Happy Birthday* ----------------- Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau is 80. - Singer Anita O'Day is 80. - Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., is 78. - Rock 'n' roll performer Chuck Berry is 73.- Sportscaster Keith Jackson is 71. - Actor Peter Boyle is 66.- Football coach Mike Ditka is 60. - Actor Joe Morton is 52.- Playwright Wendy Wasserstein is 49. - Actress Pam Dawber is 48.- Author Terry McMillan is 48. - Tennis player Martina Navratilova is 43.- Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 39. - Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 38.- Actress Erin Moran is 38. - Actor Vincent Spano is 37.- Rock musician Tim Cross (Sponge) is 33. - Tennis player Michael Stich is 31.- Singer Nonchalant is 26. - Rock musician Peter Svenson (The Cardigans) is 25.

19 On Oct. 19, 1781, British troops under Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va., as the American Revolution neared its end. - In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, drew up a declaration of rights and liberties. - In 1812 French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte began their retreat from Moscow.- In 1864 Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early attacked Union forces at Cedar Creek, Va.; Union troops rallied and defeated the Confederates. - In 1944 the Navy announced that blacks would be allowed to become WAVES as members of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. - In 1950 United Nations forces entered the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. - In 1951 President Truman signed an act formally ending the state of war with Germany. - In 1960 the United States imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba covering all commodities except medical supplies and certain food products. - In 1977 the body of West German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer, who had been kidnapped by left-wing extremists, was found in Mulhouse, France. The supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City. - In 1987 the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6% in value. - Ten years ago the Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment barring desecration of the American flag. Camilo Jose Cela of Spain received the Nobel Prize for literature. - Five years ago 22 people were killed as a terrorist bomb shattered a bus in the heart of Tel Aviv's shopping district. Entertainer Martha Raye died in Los Angeles at age 78. - One year ago Israel suspended negotiations with the Palestinians on issues other than security after a bloody attack at an Israeli bus stop. Government lawyers opened their antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. In Miami, the first class-action lawsuit brought by smokers against the tobacco industry went to trial. Jurors later found the nation's largest cigarette makers and industry groups had produced a defective and deadly product.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Robert S. Strauss is 81. - Actress LaWanda Page is 79.- Actor George Nader is 78. - Columnist Jack Anderson is 77.- Author John le Carre is 68. - Artist Peter Max is 62.- Actor Michael Gambon is 59. - Actor John Lithgow is 54. - National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland is 54. - Singer Jeannie C. Riley is 54.- Talk show host Charlie Chase is 47. - Rock singer-musician Karl Wallinger (World Party) is 42. - Singer Jennifer Holliday is 39. - Rock musician Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd, the Monsters) is 34. - Amy Carter is 32.- Rock singer Pras Michel (The Fugees) is 27. - Actor Omar Gooding is 23.- Actor Benjamin Salisbury ("The Nanny") is 19.

20 On Oct. 20, 1973, in the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre," special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned. - In 1803 the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase. - In 1892 the city of Chicago dedicated the World's Columbian Exposition. - In 1903 a joint commission ruled in favor of the U.S. in a boundary dispute between the District of Alaska and Canada. - In 1944 during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, two years after he'd said, "I shall return." - In 1947 the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration within the American motion picture industry. - In 1964 the 31st president of the U.S., Herbert Hoover, died in New York at age 90. - In 1967 seven men were convicted in Meridian, Miss., of violating the civil rights of three murdered civil rights workers. - In 1968 former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy was married to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. - In 1977 three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Miss. - In 1979 the John F. Kennedy Library was dedicated in Boston. - Ten years ago the Senate convicted U.S. District Judge Alcee L. Hastings of perjury and conspiracy and removed him from office. The conviction was overturned and Hastings was later elected to the House of Representatives. Former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, began a visit to Japan sponsored by a media conglomerate. - Five years ago the Pentagon announced that more than 100,000 U.S. troops were being taken off alert for possible movement to the Persian Gulf because the Iraqi threat to Kuwait had abated. Actor Burt Lancaster died in Los Angeles at age 80. - One year ago Jordan's King Hussein joined Mideast peace talks in Maryland at the invitation of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. President Clinton named John Podesta as his chief of staff, replacing Erskine Bowles.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Radio-TV personality Arlene Francis is 91.- Dancer Fayard Nicholas is 85. - Columnist Art Buchwald is 74.- Actor William Christopher is 67. - Actor Jerry Orbach is 64.- Country singer Wanda Jackson is 62. - Actor Earl Hindman is 57.- Singer Tom Petty is 49. - Actress Melanie Mayron is 47.- Baseball All-Star Keith Hernandez is 46. - Actor Viggo Mortensen is 41. - Rock musician Jim Sonefeld (Hootie & The Blowfish) is 35. - Rock musician David Ryan (The Lemonheads) is 35.- Rapper Snoop Dogg is 28.

21 On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. - In 1797 the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, was launched in Boston's harbor. - In 1805 a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed. - In 1917 members of the First Division of the U.S. Army training in Luneville, France, became the first Americans to see action on the front lines of World War I. - In 1944 during World War II, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen. - In 1945 women in France were allowed to vote for the first time. - In 1959 the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened to the public. - In 1960 Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon clashed in their fourth and final presidential debate. - In 1966 more than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in South Wales. - In 1967 tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington, D.C. - In 1971 President Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court. - Ten years ago rescue workers in Oakland, Calif., pulled longshoreman Buck Helm alive from the wreckage of the Nimitz Freeway, part of which had collapsed during the Oct. 17 earthquake. (Helm died less than a month later.) - Five years ago the United States and North Korea signed an agreement requiring the communist nation to halt its nuclear program and agree to inspections. Thirty-two people were killed when a section of bridge collapsed in Seoul, South Korea. - One year ago President Clinton signed a $520 billion spending package that was shipped to him just before the 105th Congress recessed. A radical environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front, claimed responsibility for fires that caused $12 million in damage at the nation's busiest ski resort in Vail, Colo. Dr. Jane Henney was confirmed as FDA commissioner.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Ford is 71.- Rock singer Manfred Mann is 59. - Musician Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MG's) is 58. - Singer Elvin Bishop is 57.- Actor Everett McGill is 54. - Musician Lee Loughnane (Chicago) is 53. - Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 50. - Musician Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Go's) is 46. - Actress-author Carrie Fisher is 43.- Singer Julian Cope is 42. - Rock musician Steve Lukather (Toto) is 42. - Rock musician Che Colovita Lemon (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 29. - Actor Jeremy Miller is 23.- Actor Will Estes is 21.

22 On Oct. 22, 1968, the manned spacecraft Apollo 7 returned safely, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. - In 1746 Princeton University in New Jersey received its charter. - In 1797 French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet. - In 1836 Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas. - In 1928 Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the "American system of rugged individualism" in a speech at New York's Madison Square Garden. - In 1954 West Germany joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. - In 1962 President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island. - In 1973 Pablo Casals, Spanish cellist, conductor and composer, died in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, at age 96. - In 1978 negotiators for Egypt and Israel announced in Washington they had reached tentative agreement on the main points of a peace treaty. - In 1979 the U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment - a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis. - In 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August. - Ten years ago survivors of the Northern California earthquake attended church services as the cleanup and recovery efforts continued. - Five years ago President Clinton, campaigning in San Francisco for California Democrats, demanded that schools expel gun-toting students; he earlier accused Republicans of plotting to gut his education package. - One year ago the government announced one of the biggest toy recalls ever, advising parents to remove batteries from Fisher-Price Power Wheels cars and trucks because of faulty wiring.*Happy Birthday* ----------------- Actress Joan Fontaine is 82.- Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., is 77. - Actor Christopher Lloyd is 61.- Actor Derek Jacobi is 61. - Actor Tony Roberts is 60.- Actress Annette Funicello is 57. - Movie director Jan de Bont is 56.- Actress Catherine Deneuve is 56. - Former Republican national chairman Haley Barbour is 52. - Actor Jeff Goldblum is 47.- Movie writer-producer Todd Graff is 40. - Rock musician Cris Kirkwood (Meat Puppets) is 39. - Singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is 34.- Actress Valeria Golino is 33. - Country singer Shelby Lynne is 31.- Reggae rapper Shaggy is 31. - Rapper Tracey Lee is 29.- Actor Michael Fishman is 19. - Rock musician Zachary Hanson (Hanson) is 14. - Actor Jonathan Lipnicki ("Jerry Maguire") is 9.

23 On Oct. 23, 1983, 241 U.S. Marines and sailors were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers. - In 1864 forces led by Union Gen. Samuel R. Curtis defeated Confederate Gen. Stirling Price's army in Missouri. - In 1915 25,000 women marched in New York City, demanding the right to vote. - In 1942 during World War II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt. - In 1944 the Battle of Leyte Gulf began. - In 1946 the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow. - In 1956 an anti-Stalinist revolt that was subsequently crushed by Soviet troops began in Hungary. - In 1958 Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize in literature. (However, Soviet authorities pressured Pasternak into relinquishing the award.) - In 1973 President Nixon agreed to turn White House tape recordings requested by the Watergate special prosecutor over to Judge John J. Sirica. - In 1978 China and Japan exchanged treaty ratification documents in Tokyo, formally ending four decades of hostility. - In 1987 the U.S. Senate rejected, 58-42, the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork. - Ten years ago 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. Twenty-three people were killed in an explosion at Phillips Petroleum Co.'s chemical complex in Pasadena, Texas. - Five years ago a suicide bomber in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killed 50 people including Gamini Dissanayake, the opposition presidential candidate. - One year ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a breakthrough land-for-peace agreement at the White House. Barnett Slepian, a physician who performed legal abortions, was shot and killed at his home in suburban Buffalo, N.Y. Typhoon Babs pummeled the northern Philippines, killing at least 189.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson is 74. - Zydeco singer-musician Boozoo Chavis is 69. - Movie director Philip Kaufman is 63.- Soccer great Pele is 59. - Author Michael Crichton is 57. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Barbara Ann Hawkins (The Dixie Cups) is 56. - Actor Michael Rupert is 48.- Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 43. - Producer-director Sam Raimi is 40.- Parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic is 40. - Rhythm-and-blues singer David Thomas (Take 6) is 33. - Rock musician Brian Nevin (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 33. - Country singer-musician Junior Bryant (Ricochet) is 31.

24 On Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect. - In 1537 Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI. - In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia ended the 30 Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. - In 1861 the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent as Justice Stephen J. Field of California transmitted a telegram to President Lincoln. - In 1901 Anna Edson Taylor, a 43-year-old widow, became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. - In 1939 nylon stockings were sold publicly for the first time, in Wilmington, Del. Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded their signature theme, "Let's Dance," for Columbia Records in New York. - In 1940 the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. - In 1952 Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict. - In 1962 the U.S. blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis officially began under a proclamation signed by President Kennedy. - In 1987 30 years after it was expelled, the Teamsters union was welcomed back into the AFL-CIO. - Ten years ago former TV evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced by a judge in Charlotte, N.C., to 45 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. (The sentence was later reduced to eight years; it was further reduced to four for good behavior.) - Five years ago the Clinton administration announced that the U.S. budget deficit had fallen to $203 billion in the just-completed fiscal year. Actor Raul Julia died in Manhasset, N.Y., at age 54. - One year ago officials from the U.S., China and North and South Korea seeking a permanent peace for the divided Korean peninsula announced in Geneva they had removed the last obstacles to full-blown talks. *Happy Birthday*----------------- Football Hall-of-Famer Y.A. Tittle is 73. - Rock musician Bill Wyman is 63.- Actor-producer David Nelson is 63. - Actor F. Murray Abraham is 60.- Actor Kevin Kline is 52. - NAACP President Kweisi Mfume is 51.- Actor B.D. Wong is 37. - Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 20.- Singer Monica is 19.

25 On October 25th, 1929, former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall was convicted of accepting a $100,000 bribe in connection with the Elk Hills Naval Oil Reserve in California. - In 1760 Britain's King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II. - In 1812 the U.S. frigate United States captured the British vessel Macedonian during the War of 1812. - In 1854 the Charge of the Light Brigade took place during the Crimean War. - In 1918 the Canadian steamship Princess Sophia foundered off the coast of Alaska; nearly 400 people perished. - In 1939 the drama "The Time of Your Life," by William Saroyan, opened in New York. - In 1951 peace talks aimed at ending the Korean Conflict resumed in Panmunjom after 63 days. - In 1962 U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson presented photographic evidence of Soviet missile bases in Cuba to the U.N. Security Council. - In 1971 the U.N. General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan. - In 1983 a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there. - In 1993 Canadian Liberal leader Jean Chretien became prime minister, succeeding Kim Campbell. - Ten years ago Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev began a three-day visit to Finland. Novelist and critic Mary McCarthy died in New York at age 77.- Five years ago Susan Smith of Union, S.C., claimed that a black carjacker had driven off with her two sons; Smith later confessed to drowning the children in John D. Long Lake, and was convicted of murder. Three defendants were convicted in South Africa of murdering American exchange student Amy Biehl. President Clinton began a five-day trip to the Mideast. - One year ago Vice President Al Gore participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial dedicated to victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. *Happy Birthday*----------------- Jazz musician Chubby Jackson is 81. - Former baseball player Bobby Thomson is 76.- Actor Billy Barty is 75. - Former American League president Dr. Bobby Brown is 75. - Actress Marion Ross is 71.- Actor Tony Franciosa is 71. - Country singer Jeanne Black is 62.- Singer Helen Reddy is 58. - Rock singer Jon Anderson (Yes) is 55. - Singer Taffy Danoff (Starland Vocal Band) is 55. - Rock musician Glen Tipton (Judas Priest) is 51.- Actor Brian Kerwin is 50. - Country singer Mark Miller (Sawyer Brown) is 41. - Rock musician Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 37. - Actress Tracy Nelson is 36.- Actor Michael Boatman is 35. - Singer Speech is 31.- Actor Adam Goldberg is 29. - Rock musician Ed Robertson (Barenaked Ladies) is 29. - Country singer Chely Wright is 29.- Violinist Midori is 28. - Actor Lamont Bentley is 26. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Jerome Jones (Immature) is 18.

26 On Oct. 26, 1949, President Truman signed a measure raising the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour. - In 1774 the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia. - In 1825 the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. - In 1942 the U.S. ship Hornet was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during World War II. - In 1958 Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in eight hours, 41 minutes. - In 1967 the Shah of Iran crowned himself and his queen after 26 years on the Peacock Throne. - In 1972 national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared, "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam. - In 1975 Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian president to pay an official visit to the U.S. - In 1977 the experimental space shuttle Enterprise glided to a bumpy but successful landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. - In 1979 South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot to death by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-kyu. - In 1984 "Baby Fae," a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant in Loma Linda, Calif. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.) - Ten years ago Washington, D.C. attorney Paul Tagliabue was tapped by NFL team owners to be the league's new commissioner, succeeding Pete Rozelle. - Five years ago Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan signed a peace treaty during an extravagant ceremony at the Israeli-Jordanian border attended by President Clinton. - One year ago Russian President Boris Yeltsin was ordered by his doctors to cancel a one-day trip to Austria so he could recuperate from high blood pressure and extreme fatigue. The Education Department reported that the default rate on student loans had fallen into single digits for the first time.*Happy Birthday*---------------- - Singer Neal Matthews (The Jordanaires) is 70.- Actor Bob Hoskins is 57. - TV host Pat Sajak is 53.- First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is 52. - Actress Jaclyn Smith is 52.- Singer Maggie Roche (The Roches) is 48. - Musician Bootsy Collins is 48. - Rock musician Keith Strickland (The B-52's) is 46. - Actor D.W. Moffett ("For Your Love") is 45.- Actor Cary Elwes is 37. - Actor Dylan McDermott is 37.- Singer Natalie Merchant is 36.

27 On Oct. 27, 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the U.S. Constitution, was published in a New York newspaper. - In 1858 the 26th president of the U.S., Theodore Roosevelt, was born in New York City. - In 1880 Theodore Roosevelt married Alice Lee. - In 1904 the first rapid transit subway, the IRT, opened in New York City. - In 1914 author-poet Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales. - In 1938 DuPont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: "nylon." - In 1941 the Chicago Daily Tribune dismissed the possibility of war with Japan, editorializing, "She cannot attack us. That is a military impossibility. Even our base at Hawaii is beyond the effective striking power of her fleet." - In 1947 "You Bet Your Life," starring Groucho Marx, premiered on ABC Radio. (It later became a television show on NBC.) - In 1954 Walt Disney's first TV program, titled "Disneyland" after his yet-to-be completed theme park, premiered on ABC. - In 1967 Expo '67 closed in Montreal, Canada. - In 1978 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord. - Ten years ago the third game of the World Series, delayed by the Northern California earthquake, was played at Candlestick Park. The Oakland A's defeated the San Francisco Giants, 13-7. - Five years ago in the first trip to Syria by an American president in 20 years, President Clinton met with Syrian President Hafez Assad before heading to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli officials. - One year ago Hurricane Mitch cut through the western Caribbean, pummeling coastal Honduras and Belize; the storm caused several thousand deaths in Central America in the days that followed. Serb forces drew back from former Kosovo battlefronts, holding off the immediate threat of NATO airstrikes. *Happy Birthday* ---------------- - Actress Teresa Wright is 81. - Actress Nanette Fabray is 79. - Baseball Hall-of-Famer and sportscaster Ralph Kiner is 77. - Actress Ruby Dee is 75. - Former Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher is 74. - Actor-comedian John Cleese is 60. - Country singer Lee Greenwood is 57. - Actress Carrie Snodgress is 53. - Country singer-musician Jack Daniels (Highway 101) is 50. - Musician Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 50. - Author Fran Lebowitz is 49. - Actress and TV personality Jayne Kennedy is 48. - Actor-director Roberto Benigni is 47. - Actor Peter Firth is 46. - Actor Robert Picardo ("Star Trek: Voyager") is 46. - Singer Simon Le Bon is 41. - Rock singer Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) is 32.

28 On Oct. 28, 1919, Congress enacted the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of Prohibition, over President Wilson's veto. - In 1636 Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts. - In 1793 Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin (the patent was granted the following March). - In 1886 the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. - In 1893 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducted the first public performance of his Symphony No. Six in B minor ("Pathetique") in St. Petersburg, Russia, just nine days before his death. - In 1922 fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the government. - In 1936 President Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary. - In 1940 Italy invaded Greece during World War II. - In 1958 the Roman Catholic patriarch of Venice, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was elected Pope; he took the name John XXIII. - In 1962 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the U.S. that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. - In 1965 Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. - Ten years ago the Oakland A's won the earthquake-interrupted World Series, completing a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants. Twenty people were killed in the crash of a commuter plane on the island of Hawaii. - Five years ago President Clinton visited Kuwait, where he praised U.S. ground forces sent in response to an Iraqi threat, and all but promised the troops they'd be home by Christmas. - One year ago in London, the High Court ruled that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was immune from prosecution in British courts (however, the House of Lords later overturned the decision, saying Pinochet's arrest could stand). *Happy Birthday* ---------------- - Former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn is 73. - Actress Joan Plowright is 70. - Actress Dody Goodman is 70. - Actress Suzy Parker is 66. - Musician-songwriter Charlie Daniels is 63. - Actress Jane Alexander is 60. - Singer Curtis Lee is 58. - Actor Dennis Franz is 55. - Pop singer Wayne Fontana is 54. - Actress Telma Hopkins is 51. - Olympic track and field gold medalist Bruce Jenner is 50. - Actress Annie Potts is 47. - Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is 44. - Rock musician Stephen Morris (New Order) is 42. - Country singer-musician Ron Hemby (The Buffalo Club) is 41. - Rock singer-musician William Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain) is 41. - Actress Daphne Zuniga is 37. - Actress Lauren Holly is 36. - Olympic silver medal figure skater Paul Wylie is 35. - Actress Jami Gertz is 34. - TV personality Andy Richter is 33. - Actress Julia Roberts is 32. - Country singer-musician Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown) is 31. - Actor Jeremy Davies is 30. - Country singer Brad Paisley is 27. - Actor Joaquin (Leaf) Phoenix is 25.

29 On Oct. 29, 1929, Black Tuesday descended upon the New York Stock Exchange. Prices collapsed amid panic selling and thousands of investors were wiped out as America's Great Depression began. - In 1682 the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, landed at what is now Chester, Pa. - In 1901 President McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz, was electrocuted. - In 1911 American newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer died in Charleston, S.C. - In 1923 the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed. - In 1940 Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson drew the first number - 158 - in America's first peacetime military draft. - In 1947 former first lady Frances Cleveland Preston died in Baltimore at age 83. - In 1956 during the Suez Canal crisis, Israel launched an invasion of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. - In 1956 "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" premiered as NBC's nightly television newscast, replacing "The Camel News Caravan." - In 1966 the National Organization for Women was founded. - In 1979 on the 50th anniversary of the great stock market crash, anti-nuclear protesters tried but failed to shut down the New York Stock Exchange. - Ten years ago at least 20,000 East Berliners observed a minute of silence for those killed while attempting to flee over the Berlin Wall, the first such public mourning since Communist Party authorities built the wall in 1961. - Five years ago Francisco Martin Duran of Colorado Springs, Colo., fired more than two dozen shots from a semiautomatic rifle at the White House while standing on Pennsylvania Avenue; Duran was later convicted of trying to assassinate President Clinton and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. - One year ago Sen. John Glenn, at age 77, roared back into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, retracing the trail he'd blazed for America's astronauts 36 years earlier. The government cleared the powerful drug tamoxifen as a way for healthy women at very high risk of breast cancer to cut their odds of getting a tumor. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission condemned both apartheid and violence committed by the African National Congress. Sixty-three people were killed when fire broke out during a disco party in Goteborg, Sweden. *Happy Birthday* ---------------- - Country singer Lee Clayton is 57. - Rock musician Denny Laine is 55. - Singer Melba Moore is 54. - Musician Peter Green is 53. - Actor Richard Dreyfuss is 52. - Actress Kate Jackson is 51. - Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne is 48. - Singer Randy Jackson is 38. - Rock musician Peter Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 34. - Actress Joely Fisher is 32. - Rapper Paris is 32. - Musician Toby Smith (Jamiroquai) is 29. - Actress Winona Ryder is 28.

30 On Oct. 30, 1938, the radio play "The War of the Worlds," starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS. (The live drama, which employed fake news reports, panicked listeners who thought its portrayal of a Martian invasion was true.) - In 1735 the second president of the U.S., John Adams, was born in Braintree, Mass. - In 1885 poet Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho. - In 1944 the Martha Graham ballet "Appalachian Spring," with music by Aaron Copland, premiered at the Library of Congress, with Graham in a leading role. - In 1945 the U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing. - In 1961 the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb with a force estimated at 58 megatons. The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb. - In 1972 45 people were killed when an Illinois Central Gulf commuter train collided with another train in Chicago's South Side. - In 1974 Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain his world heavyweight title. - In 1979 President Carter announced his choice of federal appeals judge Shirley Hufstedler to head the newly created Department of Education. - In 1997 a jury in Cambridge, Mass., convicted British au pair Louise Woodward of second-degree murder in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. (The judge later reduced the verdict to manslaughter and set Woodward free.) - Ten years ago Mitsubishi Estate Co., a major Japanese real estate concern, announced it was buying 51% of Rockefeller Group Inc. of New York. - Five years ago Pope John Paul II named 30 new cardinals, including the archbishops of Baltimore and Detroit and the first-ever from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and two former East-bloc states, Albania and Belarus. - One year ago in Nicaragua, a mudslide caused by Hurricane Mitch killed at least 2,000 people on the slopes of the Casitas volcano in Posoltega. *Happy Birthday* ---------------- - Actor Hamilton Camp is 65. - Movie director Claude Lelouch is 62. - Rock singer Grace Slick is 60. - Songwriter Eddie Holland is 60. - Actor Ed Lauter is 59. - Rhythm-and-blues singer Otis Williams (The Temptations) is 58. - Actor Henry Winkler is 54. - Musician Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles) is 52. - Actor Harry Hamlin is 48. - Actor Charles Martin Smith is 46. - Country singer T. Graham Brown is 45. - Actor Kevin Pollak is 41. - Rock singer Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) is 39. - Rock singer-musician Jerry DeBorg (Jesus Jones) is 36. - Rock singer-musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 32. - Actress Nia Long is 29. - Country singer Kassidy Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 23.

31 On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. - In 1795 English poet John Keats was born in London. - In 1864 Nevada became the 36th state. - In 1926 magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit, suffering complications of a ruptured appendix. - In 1941 the U.S. Navy destroyer "Reuben James" was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Iceland, killing 115, even though the U.S. had not yet entered World War II. - In 1956 Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole. - In 1959 a former U.S. Marine from Fort Worth, Texas, announced in Moscow that he would never return to the U.S. His name: Lee Harvey Oswald. - In 1968 President Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace talks. - In 1980 Iran's Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the late shah, proclaimed himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne. - In 1984 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards. - In 1993 movie director Federico Fellini died in Rome at age 73; actor River Phoenix died in Los Angeles at age 23. - Ten years ago President Bush announced he and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev would hold an early December summit aboard ships in the Mediterranean near Malta. - Five years ago a Chicago-bound American Eagle ATR-72 crashed in northern Indiana, killing all 68 people aboard. - One year ago a genetic study was released suggesting President Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one child by his slave Sally Hemings. Iraq announced it would cut off all dealings with U.N. weapons inspectors, a move condemned by the Security Council. *Happy Birthday* ---------------- - Actress-singer Dale Evans is 87. - Former Attorney General Griffin Bell is 81. - Actress Barbara Bel Geddes is 77. - Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk is 77. - Movie critic Andrew Sarris is 71. - Former astronaut Michael Collins is 69. - Actress Lee Grant is 68. - CBS anchorman Dan Rather is 68. - Actor David Ogden Stiers is 57. - Actress Sally Kirkland is 55. - Singer Kinky Friedman is 55. - Actress Deidre Hall is 51. - NBC anchorwoman Jane Pauley is 49. - Rock musician Larry Mullen is 38. - Actor Dermot Mulroney is 36. - Rock musician Mikkey Dee (Motorhead) is 36. - Actor Rob Schneider is 35. - Rap musician Adrock is 33. - Songwriter Adam Schlesinger ("That Thing You Do!") is 32. - Rap performer Vanilla Ice is 31. - Rock singer Linn Berggren (Ace of Base) is 29.