Today in History

Today in History

Today is Sunday, Oct. 23, the 297th day of 2016. There are 69 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 23, 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungary's Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, and the uprising was put down within weeks.

On this date:

In 1864, forces led by Union Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis repelled Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's army in the Civil War Battle of Westport in Missouri.

In 1915, tens of thousands of women paraded up Fifth Avenue in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

In 1935, mobster Dutch Schultz, 34, was shot and mortally wounded with three other men during a gangland hit at the Palace Chophouse in Newark, New Jersey. (Schultz died the following day.)

In 1941, the Walt Disney animated feature "Dumbo," about a young circus elephant who learns how to fly, premiered in New York.

In 1942, during World War II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein in Egypt, resulting in an Allied victory.

In 1944, the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf began, resulting in a major Allied victory against Japanese forces.

In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow.

In 1963, the Neil Simon comedy "Barefoot in the Park," starring Elizabeth Ashley and Robert Redford, opened on Broadway.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon agreed to turn over White House tape recordings subpoenaed by the Watergate special prosecutor to Judge John J. Sirica.

In 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers. NBC News reporter and anchorwoman Jessica Savitch, 36, and New York Post executive Martin Fischbein, 34, died in a car accident in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

In 1991, Cambodia's warring factions and representatives of 18 other nations signed a peace treaty in Paris.

In 2001, the nation's anthrax scare hit the White House with the discovery of a small concentration of spores at an offsite mail processing center.

Ten years ago: Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced by a federal judge in Houston to 24 years, four months for his role in the company's collapse. (In 2013, a federal judge shaved a decade off the sentence.) Police in Budapest clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations coinciding with Hungary's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its uprising against Soviet rule.

Five years ago: Libya's interim rulers declared the country liberated, formally marking the end of Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year tyranny. A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, killing some 600 people. The Texas Rangers evened the World Series at two games apiece, shutting out the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0.

One year ago: Hurricane Patricia roared ashore in a sparsely populated area of southwestern Mexico as a Category 5 storm, then quickly abated to a tropical storm. A bus carrying retirees on a day trip through southwest France's wine region hit a truck and went up in flames, killing 43 people. The Justice Department announced that neither Lois Lerner nor any other IRS official would face criminal charges in the political controversy over the processing of applications for tax-exempt status. The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in Game 6 of the AL championship, earning their second straight trip to the World Series.

Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer and former U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, R-Ky., is 85. Movie director Philip Kaufman is 80. Soccer great Pele is 76. Rhythm-and-blues singer Barbara Ann Hawkins (The Dixie Cups) is 73. ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross is 68. Actor Michael Rupert is 65. Movie director Ang Lee is 62. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is 60. Country singer Dwight Yoakam is 60. Community activist Martin Luther King III is 59. Movie director Sam Raimi is 57. Parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic is 57. Rock musician Robert Trujillo (Metallica) is 52. Christian/jazz singer David Thomas (Take 6) is 50. Rock musician Brian Nevin (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 50. Country singer-musician Junior Bryant is 48. Actor Jon Huertas is 47. Movie director Chris Weitz is 47. CNN medical reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta is 47. Bluegrass musician Eric Gibson (The Gibson Brothers) is 46. Country singer Jimmy Wayne is 44. Actress Vivian Bang is 43. Rock musician Eric Bass (Shinedown) is 42. TV personality and host Cat Deeley is 40. Actor Ryan Reynolds is 40. Rock singer Matthew Shultz (Cage the Elephant) is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Miguel is 31. Actress Masiela Lusha is 31. Actress Emilia Clarke is 30. Actress Briana Evigan is 30. Actress Jessica Stroup is 30. Neo-soul musician Allen Branstetter (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 26. Actress Amandla Stenberg is 18.

Thought for Today: "Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind." -- Bertrand Russell, English philosopher (1872-1970).