Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2017. There are 82 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty, prohibiting the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the moon or elsewhere in space, entered into force.

On this date:

In A.D. 19, Roman general Germanicus Julius Caesar, 33, died in Antioch under mysterious circumstances, possibly from poisoning.

In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1913, the Panama Canal was effectively completed as President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph, setting off explosives that destroyed a section of the Gamboa dike.

In 1917, legendary jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

In 1935, the George Gershwin opera "Porgy and Bess," featuring an all-black cast, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 124 performances.

In 1938, Nazi Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

In 1943, Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after the official was refused seating in a Howard Johnson's restaurant near Dover, Delaware. The Milwaukee Braves won the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7, 5-0. The TV series "Zorro," starring Guy Williams as the masked hero, debuted on ABC.

In 1966, the Beach Boys' single "Good Vibrations" by Brian Wilson and Mike Love was released by Capitol Records.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office.

In 1985, U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. Actor-director Orson Welles died in Los Angeles at age 70; actor Yul Brynner died in New York at age 65.

In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams, were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ten years ago: A 14-year-old suspended student opened fire in a Cleveland high school, wounding two teachers and two classmates before killing himself. The United Auto Workers tentatively agreed on a contract with Chrysler. (UAW members ratified the accord, but with significant dissent.) A Russian spacecraft blasted off for the international space station, carrying Malaysia's first astronaut (Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor) and Peggy Whitson, an American who became the first woman to command the orbital outpost. German Gerhard Ertl won the 2007 Nobel Prize in chemistry on his 71st birthday.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama conceded he did poorly the previous week in his first debate with Republican rival Mitt Romney, telling ABC he'd "had a bad night"; Romney, meanwhile, barnstormed battleground state Ohio and released a new commercial pledging not to raise taxes. Football star-turned-actor Alex Karras died in Los Angeles at age 77.

One year ago: Amid controversy over Donald Trump's past sexual comments about women, House Speaker Paul Ryan effectively abandoned his party's nominee, telling anxious fellow lawmakers he would not campaign for or defend Trump in the election's closing weeks; pro-Trump members rebelled in anger, accusing Ryan of conceding the election to Hillary Clinton. British-born Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom of Finland won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Today's Birthdays: Former Illinois Sen. Adlai Stevenson III is 87. Actor Peter Coyote is 76. Entertainer Ben Vereen is 71. Singer John Prine is 71. Actor Charles Dance is 71. Rock singer-musician Cyril Neville (The Neville Brothers) is 69. Actress Jessica Harper is 68. Author Nora Roberts (aka "J.D. Robb") is 67. Singer-musician Midge Ure is 64. Rock singer David Lee Roth is 63. Actor J. Eddie Peck is 59. Country singer Tanya Tucker is 59. Actress Julia Sweeney is 58. Actor Bradley Whitford is 58. Musician Martin Kemp is 56. Actress Jodi Benson is 56. Rock musician Jim Glennie (James) is 54. Actress Rebecca Pidgeon is 52. Rock musician Mike Malinin (Goo Goo Dolls) is 50. Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre is 48. Actor Manu Bennett is 48. Actress Joelle Carter is 48. Actress Wendi McLendon-Covey is 48. Actor/TV host Mario Lopez is 44. Race driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 43. Actress Jodi Lyn O'Keefe is 39. Singer Mya is 38. Actor Dan Stevens is 35. Singer Cherie is 33. Actress Rose McIver is 29. Actress Aimee Teegarden is 28.

Thought for Today: "The imperceptible process of age has a point which, once passed, cannot be retraced. I knew I had passed that point and was getting old the day I noticed that all the cops looked so young." -- Harry Lewis Golden, American author, editor and publisher (1903-1981).