Today in History: Oct. 20

Today is Sunday, Oct. 20, the 294th day of 2024. There are 72 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 20, 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte in World War II, fulfilling a promise he made after being ordered to evacuate the country two years prior by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Also on this date:

In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry.

In 1967, a jury in Meridian, Mississippi, convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of killed civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner; the seven received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

In 1973, in what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned.

In 1973, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1976, 78 people were killed when the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta rammed the commuter ferry George Prince on the Mississippi River near New Orleans.

In 1977, three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed along with three others in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Mississippi.

In 1990, three members of the rap group 2 Live Crew were acquitted by a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of violating obscenity laws with an adults-only concert in nearby Hollywood the previous June.

In 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte (SURT) and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell.

Today’s Birthdays: Japan’s Empress Michiko is 90. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Wanda Jackson is 87. Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal is 87. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is 84. Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez is 71. Composer Thomas Newman is 69. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is 69. Film director Danny Boyle is 68. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 66. Democratic nominee for president and current Vice President Kamala Harris is 60. Actor William Zabka is 59. Journalist Sunny Hostin (TV: “The View”) is 56. Actor Kenneth Choi is 53. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 53. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is 52. Actor John Krasinski is 45.