Wednesday, October 21st
The 294th day of 2009.
There are 71 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Oct. 21, 1879, Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. (Go to article.)
On Oct. 21, 1917, Dizzy Gillespie, the American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader, was born. Following his death on Jan. 6, 1993, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On October 21, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Charles Francis Adams and the Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 1876. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1797 The U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, was launched in Boston Harbor.
1805 A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French and Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson was killed in the battle.
1917 American soldiers first saw action in World War I on the front lines in France.
1967 Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington, D.C.
1971 President Richard M. Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1975 Boston Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk hit a ball that struck the left field foul pole in Boston's Fenway Park for a home run, giving the Red Sox a 7-6 victory in 12 innings over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 6 of the World Series.
1988 Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, were indicted in New York on charges of fraud and racketeering.
2002 A car packed with explosives blew up next to a bus in northern Israel during rush hour; 14 people were killed in addition to two suicide attackers.
2003 Invoking a hastily-passed law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted into Terry Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman at the center of a bitter right-to-die battle.
2003 The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding that Israel tear down a barrier jutting into the West Bank.
Current Birthdays
Benjamin Netanyahu turns 60 years old today.
AP Photo/Jason DeCrow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turns 60 years old today.
81 Whitey Ford
Baseball Hall of Famer
69 Manfred Mann
Rock musician
68 Steve Cropper
Rock musician (Booker T. & the MG's)
67 Elvin Bishop
Singer
67 Judy Sheindlin
TV personality ("Judge Judy")
64 Everett McGill
Actor
63 Lee Loughnane
Rock musician (Chicago)
56 Charlotte Caffey
Rock musician (The Go Go's)
54 Catherine Hardwicke
Director ("Twilight")
53 Carrie Fisher
Actress, author
52 Julian Cope
Rock singer
52 Steve Lukather
Rock musician (Toto)
50 Ken Watanabe
Actor ("Letters from Iwo Jima")
49 Melora Walters
Actress ("Big Love")
39 Che Colovita Lemon
Rock musician
38 Nick Oliveri
Rock musician
36 Charlie Lowell
Rock musician (Jars of Clay)
33 Jeremy Miller
Actor ("Growing Pains")
31 Will Estes
Actor ("American Dreams")
31 Michael McMillian
Actor ("True Blood")
29 Kim Kardashian
TV personality
28 Willis McGahee
Football player
27 Matt Dallas
Actor ("Kyle XY")
Historic Birthdays
Dizzy Gillespie
10/21/1917 - 1/6/1993
American jazz musician
(Go to obit.)
61 Samuel Taylor Coleridge
10/21/1772 - 7/25/1834
English poet
? Samuel F. Smith
10/21/1808 - 11/16/1895
Boston-born Baptist minister and hymn writer ("America" (My Country 'Tis of Thee"))
64 Georg von Dollmann
10/21/1830 - 3/31/1895
German architect
63 Alfred Bernhard Nobel
10/21/1833 - 12/10/1896
Swedish chemist
58 Giuseppe Giacosa
10/21/1847 - 9/1/1906
Italian dramatist
85 Jay Norwood Darling
10/21/1876 - 2/12/1962
American political cartoonist
80 Ted Shawn
10/21/1891 - 1/9/1972
American dancer
62 Edna Purviance
10/21/1895 - 1/13/1958
American silent film-era actress
84 Sir George Solti
10/21/1912 - 9/5/1997
Hungarian conductor
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
Front Page Image Provided by UMI
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
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