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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!"
