Today in history

Today is Thursday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2019. There are 82 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On Oct. 10, 2001, U.S. jets pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul. President George W. Bush unveiled a list of 22 most-wanted terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.

On this date:

In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1913, the Panama Canal was effectively completed as President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph, setting off explosives that destroyed a section of the Gamboa dike.

In 1938, Nazi Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.

In 1943, Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after the official was refused seating in a Howard Johnson’s restaurant near Dover, Delaware.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy, responding to the Thalidomide birth defects crisis, signed an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requiring pharmaceutical companies to prove that their products were safe and effective prior to marketing.

In 1964, the first Summer Olympics to be held in Asia were opened in Tokyo by Japanese Emperor Hirohito. Entertainer Eddie Cantor, 72, died in Beverly Hills, California.

In 1967, the Outer Space Treaty, prohibiting the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the moon or elsewhere in space, entered into force.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office.

In 1985, U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. Actor-director Orson Welles died in Los Angeles at age 70; actor Yul Brynner died in New York at age 65.

In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams, were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2004, Christopher Reeve, the “Superman” of celluloid who became a quadriplegic after a May 1995 horse riding accident, died in Mount Kisco, New York, at age 52.

Ten years ago: Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark agreement to establish diplomatic relations and open their sealed border after a century of enmity. President Barack Obama, addressing the Human Rights Campaign, restated his campaign pledge to allow homosexual men and women to serve openly in the military.

Five years ago: Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Pakistani girl, and Kailash Satyarthi, a 60-year-old Indian man, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives for the right of children to receive an education and to live free from abuse.

One year ago: Stocks plunged as investors feared that rising interest rates and trade tensions could hurt company profits; the Dow industrials fell 831 points, the worst loss for the index in eight months. President Donald Trump, reacting to the market turmoil, said the Federal Reserve was “making a mistake” with its campaign of rate increases. Trump demanded answers from Saudi Arabia about the fate of missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, as lawmakers pushed for sanctions. Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle with winds of 155 miles per hour, splintering homes and submerging neighborhoods, before continuing into south Georgia as a Category 3 hurricane.

Today’s birthdays: Former Illinois Sen. Adlai Stevenson III is 89. Actor Peter Coyote is 78. Entertainer Ben Vereen is 73. Singer John Prine is 73. Actor Charles Dance is 73. Rock singer-musician Cyril Neville (The Neville Brothers) is 71. Actress Jessica Harper is 70. Author Nora Roberts (aka “J.D. Robb”) is 69. Singer-musician Midge Ure is 66. Rock singer David Lee Roth is 65. Actor J. Eddie Peck is 61. Country singer Tanya Tucker is 61. Actress Julia Sweeney is 60. Actor Bradley Whitford is 60. Musician Martin Kemp is 58. Actress Jodi Benson is 58. Rock musician Jim Glennie (James) is 56. Actress Rebecca Pidgeon is 54. Rock musician Mike Malinin (Goo Goo Dolls) is 52. Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre is 50. Actor Manu Bennett is 50. Actress Joelle Carter is 50. Actress Wendi McLendon-Covey is 50. Actor/TV host Mario Lopez is 46. Retired race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 45. Actress Jodi Lyn O’Keefe is 41. Singer Mya is 40. Actor Dan Stevens is 37. Singer Cherie is 35. MLB outfielder Andrew McCutchen is 33. Actress Rose McIver is 31. Actress Aimee Teegarden is 30.

Thought for today: “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.” — Orson Welles (1915-1985).

— Associated Press