Today in History

Today is Friday, Oct. 4, the 277th day of 2013. There are 88 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. James R. Hoffa was elected president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The family comedy series "Leave It to Beaver" premiered on CBS.

On this date:

In 1777, Gen. George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., resulting in heavy American casualties.

In 1822, the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, was born in Delaware, Ohio.

In 1861, during the Civil War, the United States Navy authorized construction of the first ironclad ship, the USS Monitor.

In 1887, the International Herald Tribune had its beginnings as the Paris Herald, a European edition of the New York Herald.

In 1931, the comic strip "Dick Tracy," created by Chester Gould, made its debut.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps.

In 1958, the first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with flights between London and New York.

In 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 3, a space probe which transmitted images of the far side of the moon.

In 1960, an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-188A Electra crashed on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing all but 10 of the 72 people on board.

In 1970, rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room.

In 1976, agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigned in the wake of a controversy over a joke he'd made about blacks.

In 1980, fire broke out aboard the Dutch cruise vessel Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska, forcing the 520 people aboard to abandon ship; no deaths or serious injury resulted. (The ship capsized and sank a week later.)

In 1991, 26 nations, including the United States, signed the Madrid Protocol, which imposed a 50-year ban on oil exploration and mining in Antarctica.

Ten years ago: A Palestinian woman blew herself up inside a restaurant in Haifa, Israel, killing 21 bystanders.

Five years ago: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in New Delhi, where they lauded but did not sign a new agreement opening up U.S. nuclear trade with India. The U.S. military said it had killed an al-Qaida in Iraq leader (Mahir Ahmad Mahmud al-Zubaydi) suspected of masterminding one of the deadliest attacks in Baghdad, several other recent bombings and the 2006 videotaped killing of a Russian official. A North Korean news agency reported on leader Kim Jong Il's first public appearance in nearly two months.

One year ago: A day after his first debate with Mitt Romney, which had been widely seen as a victory for Romney, President Barack Obama suggested that his Republican rival hadn't been candid about his policy positions during the faceoff. The Nielsen company said an estimated 67.2 million people had watched the debate; it was the biggest TV audience for a presidential debate since 1992.

Today's Birthdays: Country singer Leroy Van Dyke is 84. Actress Felicia Farr is 81. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Sam Huff is 79. Actor Eddie Applegate is 78. Author Jackie Collins is 76. Author Roy Blount Jr. is 72. Author Anne Rice is 72. Actress Lori Saunders ("Petticoat Junction") is 72. Baseball manager Tony La Russa is 69. Actor Clifton Davis is 68. The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, is 67. Actress Susan Sarandon is 67. Blues musician Duke Robillard is 65. Playwright Lee Blessing is 64. Actor Armand Assante is 64. Actor Alan Rosenberg is 63. Actor Christoph Waltz is 57. Actor Bill Fagerbakke is 56. Music producer Russell Simmons is 56. Actress-singer Wendy Makkena is 55. Musician Chris Lowe (The Pet Shop Boys) is 54. Country musician Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (Sawyer Brown) is 53. Actor David W. Harper is 52. Singer Jon Secada is 52. TV personality John Melendez is 48. Actor Liev Schreiber is 46. Actor Abraham Benrubi is 44. Country singer-musician Heidi Newfield is 43. Singer-guitarist M. Ward (She & Him) is 40. Actress Alicia Silverstone is 37. Actor Phillip Glasser is 35. Rock singer-musician Marc Roberge (O.A.R.) is 35. Actor Brandon Barash is 34. Actress Rachael Leigh Cook is 34. Actor Jimmy Workman is 33. Bassist Cubbie Fink (Foster the People) is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jessica Benson (3lw) is 26. Actor Michael Charles Roman is 26. Figure skater Kimmie Meisner is 24. Actress Dakota Johnson is 24. Actress Leigh-Anne Pinnock (Little Mix) is 23. Actor Ryan Scott Lee is 17.

Thought for Today: "Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested." -- Guinean saying.

Copyright 2013, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.