Today in History

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Oct. 17, the 290th day of 2019. There are 75 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 17, 1979, Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

On this date:

In 1610, French King Louis XIII, age nine, was crowned at Reims, five months after the assassination of his father, Henry IV.

In 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, New York, in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

In 1807, Britain declared it would continue to reclaim British-born sailors from American ships and ports regardless of whether they held U.S. citizenship.

In 1907, Guglielmo Marconi began offering limited commercial wireless telegraph service between Nova Scotia and Ireland.

In 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone was released in 1939.)

In 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

In 1939, Frank Capra's comedy-drama "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," starring James Stewart as an idealistic junior U.S. senator, had its premiere in the nation's capital.

In 1966, 12 New York City firefighters were killed while battling a blaze in lower Manhattan. The TV game show "The Hollywood Squares" premiered on NBC.

In 1967, Puyi, the last emperor of China, died in Beijing at age 61.

In 1973, Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974.

In 1978, President Carter signed a bill restoring U.S. citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

In 1989, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck northern California, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion worth of damage.

Ten years ago: Pakistani soldiers attacked militant bases in the main al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border. Songwriter Vic Mizzy, 93, who'd composed the catchy themes for the 1960s sit-coms "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres," died in Bel Air, California.

Five years ago: The World Health Organization acknowledged it had botched attempts to stop the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, blaming factors including incompetent staff, lack of information and budget cuts. Riot police cleared an offshoot Hong Kong pro-democracy protest zone in a dawn raid, taking down barricades, tents and canopies that had blocked key streets for more than two weeks, but leaving the city's main thoroughfare still in the hands of the activists. Sixteen people watching an outdoor pop concert in Seongnam, South Korea, fell 60 feet to their deaths when a ventilation grate they were standing on collapsed.

One year ago: Residents of the Florida Panhandle community of Mexico Beach who had fled Hurricane Michael a week earlier returned home to find homes, businesses and campers ripped to shreds; the storm had killed at least 59 people and caused more than $25 billion in damage in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Canada became the world's largest legal marijuana marketplace; customers stood in long lines for hours and then lit up and celebrated on sidewalks. Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who had played Big Bird on "Sesame Street," announced his retirement after nearly 50 years on the show.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Marsha Hunt is 102. Singer Jim Seals (Seals & Crofts) is 77. Singer Gary Puckett is 77. Actor Michael McKean is 72. Actor George Wendt is 71. Actor-singer Bill Hudson is 70. Astronaut Mae Jemison is 63. Country singer Alan Jackson is 61. Movie critic Richard Roeper is 60. Movie director Rob Marshall is 59. Actor Grant Shaud is 59. Animator Mike Judge is 57. Rock singer-musician Fred LeBlanc (Cowboy Mouth) is 56. Actor-comedian Norm Macdonald is 56. Singer Rene' Dif is 52. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 51. Actor Wood Harris is 50. Singer Wyclef Jean is 50. World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els is 50. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick ('N Sync) is 48. Rapper Eminem is 47. Actress Sharon Leal is 47. Actor Matthew Macfadyen is 45. Rock musician Sergio Andrade is 42. Actress Felicity Jones is 36. Actor Chris Lowell is 35. Actor Dee Jay Daniels is 31.

Thought for Today: "If you believe that life is worth living then your belief will create the fact." -- Arthur Miller (1915-2005).

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.