OCTOBER 19TH

Today is Sunday, Oct. 19, the 293rd day of 2008.
There are 73 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Oct. 19, 1781, British troops under General Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va., as the American Revolution neared its end.

On this date:

• 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.; the Union troops were able to rally and defeat the Confederates.
• In 1936, H.R. Ekins of the New York World-Telegram beat out Dorothy Kilgallen of the New York Journal and Leo Kieran of The New York Times in a round-the-world race on commercial flights that lasted 18 1/2 days.
• In 1944, the play "I Remember Mama," by John van Druten, opened at the Music Box Theater on Broadway.
• In 1951, President Truman signed an act formally ending the state of war with Germany.
• In 1960, President Eisenhower imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba covering all commodities except medical supplies and certain food products.
• In 1967, the U.S. space probe Mariner 5 flew past Venus.
• In 1977, 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 percent in value.

Ten years ago:

• 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.)
• Mike Tyson got his boxing license back after pleading with the Nevada Athletic Commission not to "torture" him anymore for biting Evander Holyfield's ears in the ring 15 months earlier.

Five years ago:

• Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa during a ceremony in Rome's St. Peter's Square.
• Former Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic died in Sarajevo at age 78.
• The New York Yankees defeated the Florida Marlins 6-1 to even the World Series at one game apiece.
• New York magician David Blaine emerged from 44 days of isolation in a clear plastic box suspended over London.

One year ago:

• A three-year global manhunt for a Canadian schoolteacher suspected of sexually abusing Asian boys ended when police in northeastern Thailand arrested Christopher Paul Neil. (Neil later pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy and was sentenced to three years and three months in jail; he faces other charges involving the victim's younger brother.)

Today's Birthdays:

• Former ambassador to Russia Robert S. Strauss is 90.
• Author John le Carre is 77.
• Artist Peter Max is 71.
• Actor Michael Gambon is 68.
• Actor John Lithgow is 63.
• Former National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland is 63.
• Singer Jeannie C. Riley is 63.
• Talk show host Charlie Chase is 56.
• Rock singer-musician Karl Wallinger (World Party) is 51.
• Singer Jennifer Holliday is 48.
• TV host Ty Pennington ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition") is 44.
• Rock singer-musician Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 43.
• Actor Jon Favreau is 42.
• Amy Carter is 41.
• "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker is 39.
• Comedian Chris Kattan is 38.
• Rock singer Pras Michel (The Fugees) is 36.
• Actor Omar Gooding is 32.
• Country singer Cyndi Thomson is 32.
• Writer-director Jason Reitman is 31.
• Actor Benjamin Salisbury is 28.

Thought for Today:

"Religion without humanity is a poor human stuff."
Sojourner Truth, American abolitionist (c.1797-1883).

"Let's all be careful out there!"