Today in History - Oct. 3
2007-10-03 00:00:00
The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 3, the 276th day of 2007. There are 89 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Oct. 3, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day.
On this date:
In 1226, St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, died; he was canonized in 1228.
In 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes formally changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
In 1941, Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been "broken" and would "never rise again."
In 1951, the New York Giants captured the National League pennant as Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca in the "shot heard 'round the world."
In 1952, Britain conducted its first atomic test as it detonated a 25-kiloton device in the Monte Bello Islands off Australia.
In 1957, the comedy series "The Real McCoys" premiered on ABC-TV.
In 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard the Sigma 7 on a nine-hour flight.
In 1967, folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie died in New York at age 55.
In 1981, Irish nationalists at the Maze Prison near Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended seven months of hunger strikes that had claimed ten lives.
In 1995, the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial announced its verdicts, finding the former football star not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman (however, Simpson was later found liable in a civil trial).
Ten years ago: Attorney General Janet Reno said Justice Department investigators had no evidence President Clinton had violated the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors. However, Reno did extend a probe of Vice President Al Gore's telephone fundraising.
Five years ago: Five people were shot to death in the Washington, D.C., area within a 14-hour period, sparking the hunt for the "Beltway Sniper." Hurricane Lili gave Louisiana's coast a 100 mph battering.
One year ago: North Korea triggered global alarm by saying it would conduct a nuclear test, but the North also said it was committed to nuclear disarmament, suggesting a willingness to negotiate. A Turkish man hijacked a jetliner traveling from Albania to Istanbul, forcing it to land in southern Italy, where he surrendered and released all the passengers unharmed. Americans John C. Mather and George F. Smoot won the Nobel Prize in physics.
Today's Birthdays: Author Gore Vidal is 82. Composer Steve Reich is 71. Singer Alan O'Day is 67. Rock 'n' roll star Chubby Checker is 66. Actor Alan Rachins is 65. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is 64. Magician Roy Horn is 63. Singer Lindsey Buckingham is 58. Jazz musician Ronnie Laws is 57. Blues singer Keb' Mo' is 56. Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield is 56. Actor Hart Bochner is 51. Actor Peter Frechette is 51. Actor Jack Wagner is 48. Rock musician Tommy Lee is 45. Actor Clive Owen is 43. Actress Janel Moloney is 38. Singer Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) is 38. Pop singer Kevin Richardson is 36. Rock singer G. Love is 35. Actress Keiko Agena is 34. Actress Neve Campbell is 34. Singer India.Arie is 32. Rapper Talib Kweli is 32. Actress Alanna Ubach is 32. Actor Seann William Scott is 31. Actress Shannyn Sossamon is 29. Actor Erik Von Detten is 25. Actress-singer Ashlee Simpson is 23.
Thought for Today: "Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it." — Woody Guthrie, American folk singer-songwriter (1912-1967).
Subject: Today in History - Oct. 3 
Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:31 am
