Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 17, the 290th day of 2023. There are 75 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 17, 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
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 1910, social reformer and poet Julia Ward Howe, author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” died in Portsmouth, Rhode Island at age 91.
In 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion.
In 1966, 12 New York City firefighters were killed while battling a blaze in lower Manhattan.
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 Jimmy Carter signed a bill restoring U.S. citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
In 1979, Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1989, an earthquake measuring 6.9 in magnitude struck northern California, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion worth of damage.
In 2013, the government reopened its doors hours after President Barack Obama signed a bipartisan congressional measure passed the night before to end a 16-day partial shutdown.
In 2018, residents of the Florida Panhandle community of Mexico Beach who had fled Hurricane Michael a week earlier returned home to find houses, 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.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Gary Puckett is 81. Actor Michael McKean is 76. Actor George Wendt is 75. Actor-singer Bill Hudson is 74. Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker is 68. Astronaut Mae Jemison is 67. Country singer Alan Jackson is 65. Movie critic Richard Roeper is 64. Movie director Rob Marshall is 63. Actor Grant Shaud is 63. Animator Mike Judge is 61. Rock singer-musician Fred LeBlanc (Cowboy Mouth) is 60. Singer Rene’ Dif is 56. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 55. Actor Wood Harris is 54. Singer Wyclef Jean (zhahn) is 54. World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els is 54. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick (’N Sync) is 52. Rapper Eminem is 51. Actor Sharon Leal is 51. Actor Matthew Macfadyen is 49. Actor Felicity Jones is 40. Actor Chris Lowell is 39.
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