Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Oct. 7, the 281st day of 2016. There are 85 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 7, 1916, in the most lopsided victory in college football history, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in Atlanta.

On this date:

In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.

In 1849, author Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore at age 40.

In 1858, the fifth debate between Illinois senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in Galesburg.

In 1929, former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, one of the main figures of the Teapot Dome scandal, went on trial, charged with accepting a bribe from oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny. (Fall was found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison; he served nine months. Doheny was acquitted at his own trial of offering the bribe Fall was convicted of taking.)

In 1949, the Republic of East Germany was formed.

In 1954, Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.

In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent Richard Nixon held their second televised debate, this one in Washington D.C.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II concluded his week-long tour of the United States with a Mass on the Washington Mall.

In 1982, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical "Cats" opened on Broadway.

In 1985, Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean. (The hijackers killed Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish-American tourist, before surrendering on Oct. 9.)

In 1991, University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him; Thomas denied Hill's allegations.

In 1996, Fox News Channel made its debut.

Ten years ago: Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who'd chronicled Russian military abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was found shot to death in Moscow. (In 2014, a Russian court sentenced two men to life in prison and three others to terms ranging from 12 to 20 years for murdering Politkovskaya, but it remains unclear who ordered the killing.) The Bush family christened the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, named after the 41st president, in Newport News, Virginia.

Five years ago: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman, who began pushing for change in Yemen long before the Arab Spring. The Minnesota Lynx completed a near-perfect postseason by beating the Atlanta Dream 73-67 to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA championship series.

One year ago: President Barack Obama apologized to Doctors Without Borders for the American air attack that killed 42 people at its hospital in Afghanistan, and said the U.S. would examine military procedures to look for better ways to prevent such incidents. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the federal government ran a budget deficit of $435 billion in the just-completed budget year, the smallest shortfall since 2007. Tomas Lindahl of Sweden, American Paul Modrich and Turkish-American scientist Aziz Sanca won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for showing how cells repaired damaged DNA work that inspired the development of new cancer treatments.

Today's Birthdays: Retired South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu is 85. Author Thomas Keneally is 81. Comedian Joy Behar is 74. Former National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North (ret.) is 73. Rock musician Kevin Godley (10cc) is 71. Actress Jill Larson is 69. Country singer Kieran Kane is 67. Singer John Mellencamp is 65. Rock musician Ricky Phillips is 65. Actress Mary Badham (Film: "To Kill a Mockingbird") is 64. Rock musician Tico Torres (Bon Jovi) is 63. Actress Christopher Norris is 61. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 61. Gospel singer Michael W. Smith is 59. Olympic gold medal ice dancer Jayne Torvill is 59. Actor Dylan Baker is 58. Recording executive and TV personality Simon Cowell is 57. Rock musician Charlie Marinkovich (Iron Butterfly) is 57. Country singer Dale Watson is 54. Pop singer Ann Curless (Expose) is 53. Rhythm-and-blues singer Toni Braxton is 49. Rock singer-musician Thom Yorke (Radiohead) is 48. Rock musician-dancer Leeroy Thornhill is 47. Actress Nicole Ari Parker is 46. Actress Allison Munn is 42. Rock singer-musician Damian Kulash is 41. Singer Taylor Hicks is 40. Actor Omar Benson Miller is 38. Neo-soul singer Nathaniel Rateliff (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats) is 38. Actor Shawn Ashmore is 37. Actor Jake McLaughlin is 34. Electronic musician Flying Lotus (AKA Stephen Ellison) is 33. MLB player Evan Longoria is 31. Actress Holland Roden is 30. Actress Amber Stevens is 30. Actress Lulu Wilson is 11.

Thought for Today: "If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life." -- James Michener, American author (1907-1997).