Today in History
Today is Friday, Oct. 29, the 302nd day of 2021. There are 63 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 29, 2018, a new-generation Boeing jet operated by the Indonesian budget airline Lion Air crashed in the Java Sea minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board; it was the first of two deadly crashes involving the 737 Max, causing the plane to be grounded around the world for nearly two years as Boeing worked on software changes to a flight-control system.
On this date:
In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh, the English courtier, military adventurer and poet, was executed in London for treason.
In 1929, “Black Tuesday” descended upon the New York Stock Exchange. Prices collapsed amid panic selling and thousands of investors were wiped out as America’s “Great Depression” began.
In 1956, during the Suez Canal crisis, Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” premiered as NBC’s nightly television newscast.
In 1957, former MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer died in Los Angeles at age 75.
In 1960, a chartered plane carrying the California Polytechnic State University football team crashed on takeoff from Toledo, Ohio, killing 22 of the 48 people on board.
In 1987, following the confirmation defeat of Robert H. Bork to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Ronald Reagan announced his choice of Douglas H. Ginsburg, a nomination that fell apart over revelations of Ginsburg’s previous marijuana use. Jazz great Woody Herman died in Los Angeles at age 74.
In 1994, gunman Francisco Martin Duran fired more than two dozen shots from a semiautomatic rifle at the White House. (Duran was later convicted of trying to assassinate President Bill Clinton and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.)
In 1998, Sen. John Glenn, at age 77, roared back into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, retracing the trail he’d blazed for America’s astronauts 36 years earlier.
In 2004, four days before Election Day in the U.S., Osama bin Laden, in a videotaped statement, directly admitted for the first time that he’d ordered the September 11 attacks and told Americans “the best way to avoid another Manhattan” was to stop threatening Muslims’ security.
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy slammed ashore in New Jersey and slowly marched inland, devastating coastal communities and causing widespread power outages; the storm and its aftermath were blamed for at least 182 deaths in the U.S.
In 2015, Paul Ryan was elected the 54th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 2017, all but 10 members of the Houston Texans took a knee during the national anthem, reacting to a remark from team owner Bob McNair to other NFL owners that “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
Ten years ago: A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into an armored NATO bus on a busy thoroughfare in Kabul, killing 17 people, including 12 Americans. A “white Halloween” storm with record-setting snowfalls brought down trees across the northeastern U.S., knocking out power to millions; 39 deaths were blamed on the weather. Joe Paterno broke Eddie Robinson’s record for victories by a Division I coach with No. 409 in Penn State’s sloppy 10-7 win over Illinois.
Five years ago: Hillary Clinton lashed out at the FBI’s handling of a new email review, leading a chorus of Democratic leaders who declared the bureau’s actions just days before the election were “unprecedented” and “deeply troubling.”
One year ago: The Commerce Department estimated that the U.S. economy grew at a sizzling 33.1% annual rate in the July-September quarter — by far the largest quarterly gain on record — rebounding from an epic plunge in the spring, when the coronavirus closed businesses and threw tens of millions out of work. Six people were dead and millions were without power after Hurricane Zeta tore across the South, leaving shattered buildings and thousands of downed trees as it weakened to a tropical storm. An attacker identified as an Islamic extremist who had recently arrived from Tunisia stabbed three people to death at a church in the French city of Nice before being seriously wounded by police. The Vatican ended Pope Francis’ general audiences with the public amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Italy and a confirmed infection at the previous week’s encounter.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is 83. Country singer Lee Clayton is 79. Rock musician Denny Laine is 77. Singer Melba Moore is 76. Actor Richard Dreyfuss is 74. Actor Kate Jackson is 73. Country musician Steve Kellough (Wild Horses) is 65. Actor Dan Castellaneta (TV: “The Simpsons”) is 64. Comic strip artist Tom Wilson (“Ziggy”) is 64. Actor Finola Hughes is 62. Singer Randy Jackson is 60. Rock musician Peter Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 56. Actor Joely Fisher is 54. Rapper Paris is 54. Actor Rufus Sewell is 54. Actor Grayson McCouch (mih-KOOCH’) is 53. Rock singer SA Martinez (311) is 52. Actor Winona Ryder is 50. Actor Tracee Ellis Ross is 49. Actor Gabrielle Union is 49. Actor Trevor Lissauer is 48. Olympic gold medal bobsledder Vonetta Flowers is 48. Actor Milena Govich is 45. Actor Jon Abrahams is 44. Actor Brendan Fehr is 44. Actor Ben Foster is 41. Rock musician Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend) is 37. Actor Janet Montgomery is 36. Actor India Eisley is 28.
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