OCTOBER 11TH

Today is Saturday, Oct. 11, the 285th day of 2008.
There are 81 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.

On this date:

• In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, fighting for American independence, died two days after being wounded during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga.
• In 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, D.C.
• In 1908, the Chicago Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the World Series, defeating the visiting Detroit Tigers 6-1 at the West Side Grounds.
• 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 to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere.
• In 1962, Pope John XXIII convened the first session of the Roman Catholic Church's Second Ecumenical Council, also known as "Vatican 2."
• In 1968, the government of Panama was overthrown in a military coup.
• In 1983, the last full-fledged hand-cranked telephone system in the United States went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial service.
• In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.
• In 1991, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a "high-tech lynching."

Ten years ago:

• Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Five years ago:

• A team of 18 doctors at Children's Medical Center Dallas began complicated separation surgery for 2-year-old conjoined twins from Egypt; the operation was completed in 34 hours.
• Clerks for three major supermarket chains in Southern California began a 4 1/2-month strike after negotiations with store officials broke off.
• Ivan A. Getting, a Cold War scientist who conceived the Global Positioning Satellite system, died in Coronado, Calif., at age 91.

One year ago:

• The Bush administration reported that the federal budget deficit had fallen to $162.8 billion in the just-completed budget year, the lowest amount of red ink in five years.
• Cold medicines for babies and toddlers were pulled off shelves amid concerns about unintentional overdoses.
• Briton Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature.
• Werner von Trapp, a member of the family made famous by the musical "The Sound of Music," died in Waitsfield, Vt., at age 91.

Today's Birthdays:

• Author Elmore Leonard is 83.
• Actor Earle Hyman is 82.
• Actor Ron Leibman is 71.
• Country singer Gene Watson is 65.
• Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is 58.
• Rhythm-and-blues musician Andrew Woolfolk is 58.
• Actress-director Catlin Adams is 58.
• Actor David Morse is 55.
• Country singer Paulette Carlson is 55.
• Actor Stephen Spinella is 52.
• Football Hall of Fame player Steve Young is 47.
• Actress Joan Cusack is 46.
• Rock musician Scott Johnson (Gin Blossoms) is 46.
• Comedy writer and TV host Michael J. Nelson is 44.
• Actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 43.
• Actor Luke Perry is 42.
• Country singer-songwriter Todd Snider is 42.
• Actress Jane Krakowski is 40.
• Rapper U-God (Wu-Tang Clan) is 38.
• Rapper MC Lyte is 37. Singer NeeNa Lee is 33.
• Actress Emily Deschanel is 32.
• Actress Michelle Trachtenberg is 23.
• Golfer Michelle Wie is 19.

Thought for Today:

"When a friend speaks to me, whatever he says is interesting."
Jean Renoir, French movie director (1894-1979).

"Let's all be careful out there!"