Wednesday, October 28th
The 301st day of 2009.
There are 64 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. (Go to article.)
On Oct. 28, 1914, Dr. Jonas Edward Salk, the American medical researcher who developed the first vaccine against polio, was born. Following his death on June 23, 1995, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On October 28, 1865, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about outdoor advertisements marring the beauty of the landscape. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1636 Harvard College was founded.
1793 Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the cotton gin.
1919 Congress enacted the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of Prohibition, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.
1922 Fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the government.
1940 Italy invaded Greece during World War II.
1958 The Roman Catholic patriarch of Venice, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was elected pope, taking the name John XXIII.
1962 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1965 Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
1976 Former Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman entered a federal prison camp in Safford, Ariz., to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions.
1980 Republican nominee Ronald Reagan asked voters during a debate with President Jimmy Carter in Cleveland "are you better off than you were four years ago?"
2005 Vice President Dick Cheney's top adviser, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, resigned after he was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation. (Libby was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison. President George W. Bush commuted his sentence.)
2006 Hall of Fame basketball coach Red Auerbach died at age 89.
2007 Argentina's first lady, Cristina Fernandez, claimed victory in the country's presidential election, becoming the first woman elected to the post.
2008 Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to four months in jail for his part in a sex-and-text scandal.
Current Birthdays
Bill Gates turns 54 years old today.
AP Photo/Bernat Armangue Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates turns 54 years old today.
82 Cleo Laine
Jazz singer
80 Joan Plowright
Actress
73 Charlie Daniels
Country musician
72 Lenny Wilkens
Hall of Fame basketball coach
70 Jane Alexander
Actress
68 Curtis Lee
Singer
65 Dennis Franz
Actor ("NYPD Blue")
64 Wayne Fontana
Singer
61 Telma Hopkins
Actress
60 Bruce Jenner
Olympic track and field gold medalist
57 Annie Potts
Actress ("Designing Women")
52 Stephen Morris
Rock musician (New Order)
51 Ron Hemby
Country musician (The Buffalo Club)
51 William Reid
Rock musician (The Jesus & Mary Chain)
49 Mark Derwin
Actor
47 Daphne Zuniga
Actress ("Melrose Place")
46 Lauren Holly
Actress
44 Jami Gertz
Actress
43 Chris Bauer
Actor
43 Andy Richter
Actor, comedian
41 Caitlin Cary
Country musician
40 Jeremy Davies
Actor
40 Ben Harper
Rock singer
37 Terrell Davis
Football player
37 Brad Paisley
Country singer
35 Joaquin Phoenix
Actor ("Walk the Line")
31 Justin Guarini
Singer ("American Idol")
30 Brett Dennen
Singer
30 Dave Tirio
Rock musician (Plain White T's)
Historic Birthdays
Dr. Jonas Edward Salk
10/28/1914 - 6/23/1995
American physician and researcher; developed polio vaccine
(Go to obit.)
38 Henry III
10/28/1017 - 10/5/1056
King of Holy Romam Empire and Germany (1046-56)
69 Desiderius Erasmus
10/28/1466 - 7/12/1536
Dutch scholar
52 Cornelius Otto Jansen
10/28/1585 - 5/6/1638
Flemish Roman Catholic reform leader
67 Eliphalet Remington
10/28/1793 - 8/12/1861
American firearms manufacturer and inventor
88 Georges Auguste Escoffier
10/28/1846 - 2/12/1935
French culinary artist
90 Gilbert H. Grosvenor
10/28/1875 - 2/4/1966
American geographer; president of National Geographic Society (1920-54)
84 Howard Hanson
10/28/1896 - 2/26/1981
American composer and conductor
83 Edith Head
10/28/1897 - 10/24/1981
American motion-picture costume designer
62 Evelyn Waugh
10/28/1903 - 4/10/1966
English writer
82 Francis Bacon
10/28/1909 - 4/28/1992
British painter
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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