Wednesday, October 07th
The 280th day of 2009.
There are 85 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
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On Oct. 7, 1985 Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean with more than 400 people aboard. (Go to article.)
On Oct. 7, 1897, Elijah Muhammad, the American leader of the Black Muslim movement from the 1930s to the 1970s, was born. Following his death on Feb. 25, 1975, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On October 7, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the New York state elections. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1765 The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.
1849 Author Edgar Allan Poe died at age 40.
1868 Cornell University was inaugurated in Ithaca, N.Y.
1879 Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein in Yanovka, Ukraine.
1949 The Republic of East Germany was formed.
1954 Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by New York's Metropolitan Opera.
1963 President John F. Kennedy signed the documents of ratification for a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union.
1968 The Motion Picture Association of America adopted a film-rating system.
1982 The musical "Cats" opened on Broadway, beginning its record run of 7,485 performances.
1996 Fox News Channel made its debut.
1998 Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside Laramie, Wyo.; he died five days later. (Two men are serving life sentences for Shepard's murder.)
2001 The United States and Britain launched air strikes against Taliban positions and Osama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan; bin Laden praised God for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a videotaped statement aired on the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera.
2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants wrapped up his record-breaking season with his 73rd homer, while San Diego's Rickey Henderson became the 25th player with 3,000 career hits.
2003 California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him.
2004 Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated because of poor health.
2006 Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had chronicled Russian military abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was found shot to death in Moscow.
2008 The Federal Reserve annouced a radical plan to buy massive amounts of short-term debt, known as commercial paper, to get credit markets moving again.
Current Birthdays
Simon Cowell turns 50 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg TV personality Simon Cowell ("American Idol") turns 50 years old today.
82 Al Martino
Singer
78 Desmond Tutu
Archbishop, Nobel Peace Prize winner
67 Joy Behar
Comedian, TV host ("The View")
66 Oliver North
Former National Security Council aide
64 Kevin Godley
Rock musician (10cc)
62 Jill Larson
Actress ("All My Children")
60 Kieran Kane
Country singer
59 Dick Jauron
Football coach
58 John Mellencamp
Rock singer, musician
58 Ricky Phillips
Rock musician
57 Mary Badham
Actress ("To Kill a Mockingbird")
56 Christopher Norris
Actor
56 Tico Torres
Rock musician (Bon Jovi)
54 Yo-Yo Ma
Cellist
52 Michael W. Smith
Gospel singer
51 Dylan Baker
Actor
50 Charlie Marinkovich
Rock musician (Iron Butterfly)
47 Dale Watson
Country singer
48 Tony Sparano
Football coach
46 Ann Curless
Singer
42 Toni Braxton
R&B singer
41 Thom Yorke
Rock singer, musician (Radiohead)
40 Leeroy Thornhill
Musician, dancer
39 Nicole Ari Parker
Actress
34 Damian Kulash
Rock musician (OK Go)
33 Taylor Hicks
Singer ("American Idol")
33 Charles Woodson
Football player
31 Omar Benson Miller
Actor
24 Evan Longoria
Baseball player
Historic Birthdays
Elijah Muhammad
10/7/1897 - 2/25/1975
American leader of the Nation of Islam (1934-75)
(Go to obit.)
71 William Laud
10/7/1573 - 1/10/1645
English Archbishop of Canterbury (1633-45)
66 James Whitcomb Riley
10/7/1849 - 7/22/1916
American poet
50 George Cram Cook
10/7/1873 - 1/14/1924
American writer
77 Niels Henrik David Bohr
10/7/1885 - 11/18/1962
American scientist
77 Henry Agard Wallace
10/7/1888 - 11/18/1965
American vice president (1941-5); Progressive Party candidate for president (1948)
44 Heinrich Himmler
10/7/1900 - 5/23/1945
German National Socialist politician, administrator and military commander
73 Jo Jones
10/7/1911 - 9/3/1985
American musician
77 Alfred Drake
10/7/1914 - 7/25/1992
American singer
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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