Today in History

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2017. There are 68 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 24, 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit, “I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)

On this date:

In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.

In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia (west-FAY’-lee-uh) ended the Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.

In 1931, the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York and New Jersey, was officially dedicated (it opened to traffic the next day).

In 1936, the short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet was published in The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1939, DuPont began publicly selling its nylon stockings in Wilmington, Delaware. Benny Goodman and His Orchestra recorded their signature theme, “Let’s Dance,” for Columbia Records in New York.

In 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.

In 1962, a naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.

In 1972, Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who’d broken Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.

In 1980, the merchant freighter SS Poet departed Philadelphia, bound for Port Said (sah-EED’), Egypt, with a crew of 34 and a cargo of grain; it disappeared en route and has not been heard from since.

In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first baseball team based outside the U.S. to win the World Series as they defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in Game 6.

In 2002, authorities apprehended Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Maryland, in the Washington-area sniper attacks. (Malvo was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.)

Ten years ago: Rapidly rising Internet star Facebook Inc. sold a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from online search leader Google Inc. The Boston Red Sox flattened the Colorado Rockies in their World Series opener at Fenway, 13-1.

Five years ago: Less than two weeks before Election Day, President Barack Obama set out on a 40-hour campaign marathon through battleground states; Republican Mitt Romney looked to the Midwest for a breakthrough in a close race shadowed by a weak economy. Hurricane Sandy roared across Jamaica and headed toward Cuba, before taking aim at the eastern United States. The San Francisco Giants took the first game of the World Series, 8-3, over the Detroit Tigers, as Pablo Sandoval became the fourth player to hit three home runs in a World Series game.

One year ago: Campaigning in battleground Florida, a defiant Donald Trump blamed his campaign struggles on “phony polls” from the “disgusting” media. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren pounded Trump, accusing him of disrespecting women and denigrating U.S. troops assisting Iraqis in their push to retake the city of Mosul. Pop idol Bobby Vee, 73, died in Rogers, Minnesota.

Today’s Birthdays: Rock musician Bill Wyman is 81. Actor F. Murray Abraham is 78. Movie director-screenwriter David S. Ward is 72. Actor Kevin Kline is 70. Former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume (kwah-EE’-see oom-FOO’-may) is 69. Country musician Billy Thomas (Terry McBride and the Ride) is 64. Actor Doug Davidson is 63. Actor B.D. Wong is 57. Actor Zahn McClarnon is 51. Singer Michael Trent (Americana duo Shovels & Rope) is 40. Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 38. Singer-actress Monica Arnold is 37. Actress-comedian Casey Wilson is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Adrienne Bailon (3lw) is 34. Actor Tim Pocock is 32. R&B singer-rapper-actor Drake is 31. Actress Shenae Grimes is 28. Actress Eliza Taylor is 28. Actor Ashton Sanders (Film: “Moonlight”) is 22. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kyla Ross is 21. Actor Hudson Yang is 14.

Thought for Today: “Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” — Napoleon Hill, American writer (1883-1970).