Today in History

Today is Monday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2021. There are 81 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra (shih-RAH'), Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

On this date:

In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, fighting for American independence, died two days after being wounded during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Georgia.

In 1884, American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City.

In 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education ordered the city's Asian students segregated in a purely "Oriental" school. (The order was later rescinded at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, who promised to curb future Japanese immigration to the United States.)

In 1968, the government of Panama was overthrown in a military coup.

In 1975, Bill Clinton and Hillary Diane Rodham were married in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "NBC Saturday Night" (later "Saturday Night Live") made its debut with guest host George Carlin.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks in Reykjavik, Iceland, concerning arms control and human rights.

In 1991, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas re-appeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a "high-tech lynching."

In 2001, in his first prime-time news conference since taking office, President George W. Bush said "it may take a year or two" to track down Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network in Afghanistan, but he asserted that after a five-day aerial bombardment, "we've got them on the run."

In 2002, former President Jimmy Carter was named the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it had finished pumping out the New Orleans metropolitan area, which was flooded by Hurricane Katrina six weeks earlier and then was swamped again by Hurricane Rita.

In 2006, the charge of treason was used for the first time in the U.S. war on terrorism, filed against Adam Yehiye Gadahn, also known as "Azzam the American," who'd appeared in propaganda videos for al-Qaida. (Gadahn was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in Jan. 2015.)

In 2014, customs and health officials began taking the temperatures of passengers arriving at New York's Kennedy International Airport from three West African countries in a stepped-up screening effort meant to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

Ten years ago: Presidential challenger Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of failing to lead in a time of economic peril but sounded less conservative than his Republican rivals in their debate in Hanover, New Hampshire, defending the 2008-2009 Wall Street bailout and declaring he could work with "good" Democrats. The U.S. women rolled to their third title at the world gymnastics championships held in Tokyo.

Five years ago: Samsung Electronics said it was stopping production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones permanently, a day after halting global sales of the ill-fated devices amid reports that batteries were catching fire.

One year ago: President Donald Trump declared he was healthy enough to return to the campaign trail after treatment for the coronavirus. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat 106-93 to win the NBA finals in six games; LeBron James scored 28 points as the NBA wrapped up a season that sent players to a "bubble" at Walt Disney World in Florida for three months because of the pandemic. Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in the French Open final to win his 20th Grand Slam title, tying Roger Federer's record for most major tennis championships by a man. Joe Morgan, the Hall of Fame second baseman who was the sparkplug of Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" teams in the 1970s, died at 77. The NFL juggled its regular-season schedule due to coronavirus outbreaks with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots; nine teams were affected.

Today's Birthdays: Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is 94. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is 79. Country singer Gene Watson is 78. Singer Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates) is 75. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is 71. R&B musician Andrew Woolfolk is 71. Actor-director Catlin Adams is 71. Country singer Paulette Carlson is 70. Original MTV VJ Mark Goodman is 69. Actor David Morse is 68. Actor Stephen Spinella is 65. Actor-writer-comedian Dawn French is 64. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Steve Young is 60. Actor Joan Cusack is 59. Rock musician Scott Johnson (Gin Blossoms) is 59. Comedy writer and TV host Michael J. Nelson is 57. Actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 56. Actor Lennie James is 56. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL player Chris Spielman is 56. Country singer-songwriter Todd Snider is 55. Actor-comedian Artie Lange is 54. Actor Jane Krakowski is 53. Actor Andrea Navedo is 52. Actor Constance Zimmer is 51. Rapper MC Lyte is 51. Bluegrass musician Leigh Gibson (The Gibson Brothers) is 50. Figure skater Kyoko Ina is 49. Actor Darien Sills-Evans is 47. Actor/writer Nat Faxon is 46. Actor Emily Deschanel is 45. Actor Matt Bomer is 44. Actor Trevor Donovan is 43. Actor Robert Christopher Riley is 41. Actor Michelle Trachtenberg is 36. Actor Lucy Griffiths is 35. Golfer Michelle Wie is 32. Rapper Cardi B is 29.