Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Oct. 14, the 288th day of 2016. There are 78 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 14, 1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.

On this date:

In 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas.

In 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the White House as the Progressive ("Bull Moose") candidate, went ahead with a speech in Milwaukee after being shot in the chest by New York saloonkeeper John Schrank, declaring, "It takes more than one bullet to kill a bull moose."

In 1926, "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A.A. Milne was first published by Methuen & Co. of London.

In 1939, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the HMS Royal Oak, a British battleship anchored at Scapa Flow in Scotland's Orkney Islands; 833 of the more than 1,200 men aboard were killed.

In 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face trial and certain execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.

In 1947, Air Force test pilot Charles E. ("Chuck") Yeager broke the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell XS-1 (later X-1) rocket plane over Muroc Dry Lake in California.

In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy suggested the idea of a Peace Corps while addressing an audience of students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

In 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev was toppled from power; he was succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and by Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

In 1977, singer Bing Crosby died outside Madrid, Spain, at age 74.

In 1986, Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The International Olympic Committee decided to separate the years of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1994.

In 1987, a 58-hour drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down an abandoned well at a private day care center; she was rescued on Oct. 16.

In 1996, Madonna and her boyfriend, Carlos Leon, became parents as the pop star gave birth to a girl, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 6,000 for the first time, ending the day at 6,010.00.

Ten years ago: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test. The Detroit Tigers swept the American League championship with a 6-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics. A sideline-clearing brawl interrupted the third quarter of Miami's 35-0 victory over Florida International. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress, died in Boston at age 69; singer Freddy Fender died in Corpus Christi, Texas, at age 69.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama cast himself as a savior of the U.S. auto industry as he stood in a once-shuttered Michigan assembly plant with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to boast of a new trade deal and the auto bailout he'd pushed through Congress. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the NL championship series. In Tokyo, Japan's Kohei Uchimura gave the home fans what they wanted, becoming the first man to win three titles at the world gymnastics championships.

One year ago: Hundreds of soldiers fanned out in cities across Israel and authorities erected concrete barriers outside some Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem in a stepped-up effort to counter a monthlong wave of Palestinian violence. The state of Texas executed Licho Escamilla for the fatal 2001 shooting of Christopher Kevin James, a Dallas police officer who was trying to break up a brawl involving Escamilla.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Roger Moore is 89. Classical pianist Gary Graffman is 88. Movie director Carroll Ballard is 79. Former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 78. Country singer Melba Montgomery is 79. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is 77. Singer Sir Cliff Richard is 76. Singer-musician Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues) is 70. Actor Harry Anderson is 64. Actor Greg Evigan is 63. TV personality Arleen Sorkin is 61. World Golf Hall of Famer Beth Daniel is 60. Singer-musician Thomas Dolby is 58. Actress Lori Petty is 53. MLB manager Joe Girardi is 52. Actor Steve Coogan is 51. Singer Karyn White is 51. Actor Edward Kerr is 50. Actor Jon Seda is 46. Country musician Doug Virden is 46. Country singer Natalie Maines (The Dixie Chicks) is 42. Actress-singer Shaznay Lewis (All Saints) is 41. Singer Usher is 38. TV personality Stacy Keibler is 37. Actor Ben Whishaw is 36. Actor Jordan Brower is 35. Director Benh Zeitlin is 34. Actress Skyler Shaye is 30. Actor-comedian Jay Pharoah is 29.

Thought for Today: "Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." -- George Washington Carver, American botanist (1864-1943).