Today in History: Oct. 9

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 9, the 283rd day of 2024. There are 83 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 9, 2009, President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Also on this date:

In 1910, a coal dust explosion at the Starkville Mine in Colorado left 56 miners dead.

In 1962, Uganda won autonomy from British rule.

In 1963, a mega-tsunami triggered by a landslide at Vajont Dam in northern Italy destroyed villages and caused approximately 2,000 deaths.

In 1967, Marxist revolutionary guerrilla leader Che Guevara, 39, was executed by the Bolivian army a day after his capture.

In 1985, Strawberry Fields in New York’s Central Park, a memorial to former Beatle John Lennon, was dedicated.

In 2010, a drill broke through into an underground chamber where 33 Chilean miners had been trapped for more than two months.

In 2012, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to 30 to 60 years in prison following his conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse of boys.

Today’s Birthdays: Musician Nona Hendryx is 80. Musician Jackson Browne is 76. Actor Robert Wuhl is 73. TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 72. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 71. Actor Scott Bakula is 70. Actor-TV host John O’Hurley is 70. Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary is 66. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 64. Film director Guillermo del Toro is 60. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is 58. Singer P.J. Harvey is 55. Film director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) is 55. Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam is 54. Musician Sean Lennon is 49. Actor Brandon Routh is 45. Author-TV presenter Marie Kondo is 40. Comedian Melissa Villasenor is 37. Actor Tyler James Williams is 32. NFL tight end George Kittle is 31. Country singer Scotty McCreery (TV: “American Idol”) is 31. Model Bella Hadid is 28. Actor Jharrel Jerome is 27. Tennis player Ben Shelton is 22.

– Associated Press