Today in History

Today is Saturday, Oct. 13, the 287th day of 2012. There are 79 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 13, 1962, Edward Albee's searing four-character drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opened on Broadway with Arthur Hill as George, Uta Hagen as Martha, George Grizzard as Nick and Melinda Dillon (whose 23rd birthday it was) as Honey.

On this date:

In A.D. 54, Roman Emperor Claudius I died, poisoned apparently at the behest of his wife, Agrippina.

In 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Knights Templar on charges of heresy.

In 1775, the United States Navy had its origins as the Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet.

In 1792, the cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.

In 1843, the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was founded in New York City.

In 1845, Texas voters ratified a state constitution.

In 1932, President Herbert Hoover and Chief Justice Charles Evan Hughes laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington.

In 1944, American troops entered Aachen, Germany, during World War II.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon held the third televised debate of their presidential campaign (Nixon was in Los Angeles, Kennedy in New York).

In 1972, a Uruguayan chartered flight carrying 45 people crashed in the Andes; 16 survivors who resorted to feeding off the remains of some of the dead in order to stay alive were rescued more than two months later.

In 1981, voters in Egypt participated in a referendum to elect Vice President Hosni Mubarak the new president, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.

In 2010, rescuers in Chile using a missile-like escape capsule pulled 33 men one by one to fresh air and freedom 69 days after they were trapped in a collapsed mine a half-mile underground.

Ten years ago: Serbia's first presidential elections since the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic failed because of a low voter turnout. The Anaheim Angels routed the Minnesota Twins 13-5 to win the American League Championship Series in five games. Best-selling historian Stephen E. Ambrose died in Bay St. Louis, Miss., at age 66.

Five years ago: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after meeting with human-rights activists in Moscow, told reporters the Russian government under Vladimir Putin had amassed so much central authority that the power-grab could undermine its commitment to democracy.

One year ago: Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund billionaire at the center of the biggest insider-trading case in U.S. history, was sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 11 years behind bars. American drone-fired missiles killed a ranking member of the militant Haqqani network in northwestern Pakistan. The Detroit Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the AL championship series, defeating the Texas Rangers 7-5. The Milwaukee Brewers tied the NL championship series at two games apiece with a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. American Jordyn Wieber won another gold medal, beating Russia's Viktoria Komova for the all-around title at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo.

Today's Birthdays: Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is 87. Playwright Frank D. Gilroy is 87. Gospel singer Shirley Caesar is 74. Actress Melinda Dillon is 73. Singer-musician Paul Simon is 71. Actress Pamela Tiffin is 70. Musician Robert Lamm (Chicago) is 68. Country singer Lacy J. Dalton is 66. Actor Demond Wilson is 66. Singer-musician Sammy Hagar is 65. Actor John Lone is 60. Model Beverly Johnson is 60. Producer-writer Chris Carter is 56. Actor Reggie Theus is 55. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is 54. Singer Marie Osmond is 53. Rock singer Joey Belladonna is 52. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer is 52. NBA coach Doc Rivers is 51. Actress T'Keyah Crystal Keymah is 50. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is 50. Actress Kelly Preston is 50. Country singer John Wiggins is 50. Actor Christopher Judge is 48. Actress Kate Walsh is 45. Rhythm-and-blues musician Jeff Allen (Mint Condition) is 44. Actress Tisha Campbell-Martin is 44. Classical singer Carlos Marin (Il Divo) is 44. Olympic silver-medal figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is 43. Country singer Rhett Akins is 43. Classical crossover singer Paul Potts (TV: "Britain's Got Talent") is 42. TV personality Billy Bush is 41. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen is 41. Rock musician Jan Van Sichem Jr. (K's Choice) is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singers Brandon and Brian Casey (Jagged Edge) are 37. Actress Kiele Sanchez is 36. NBA All-Star Paul Pierce is 35. Singer Ashanti is 32. Christian rock singer Jon Micah Sumrall (Kutless) is 32. Olympic gold medal swimmer Ian Thorpe is 30.

Thought for Today: "There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction. One has to go abroad in order to find the home one has lost." -- Franz Kafka, Austrian author (1883-1924).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.