Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Oct. 30, the 304th day of 2020. There are 62 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 30, 2005, the body of Rosa Parks arrived at the U.S. Capitol, where the civil rights icon became the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda; President George W. Bush and congressional leaders paused to lay wreaths by her casket.

On this date:

In 1735 (New Style calendar), the second president of the United States, John Adams, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts.

In 1885, poet Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho.

In 1912, Vice President James S. Sherman, running for a second term of office with President William Howard Taft, died six days before Election Day. (Sherman was replaced with Nicholas Murray Butler, but Taft, the Republican candidate, ended up losing in an Electoral College landslide to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.)

In 1921, the silent film classic “The Sheik,” starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered in Los Angeles.

In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb, the “Tsar Bomba,” with a force estimated at about 50 megatons. The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin’s body from Lenin’s tomb.

In 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire (zah-EER’), known as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” to regain his world heavyweight title.

In 1975, the New York Daily News ran the headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead” a day after President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.

In 1984, police in Poland found the body of kidnapped pro-Solidarity priest Father Jerzy Popieluszko (YEHR’-zee pah-pee-WOOSH’-goh), whose death was blamed on security officers.

In 1985, schoolteacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe witnessed the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, the same craft that would carry her and six other crew members to their deaths in Jan. 1986.

In 1995, by a razor-thin vote of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, Federalists prevailed over separatists in a Quebec secession referendum.

In 2001, Ukraine destroyed its last nuclear missile silo, fulfilling a pledge to give up the vast nuclear arsenal it had inherited after the breakup of the former Soviet Union.

In 2002, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell), a rapper with the hip-hop group Run-DMC, was killed in a shooting in New York. He was 37.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama implored voters to resist a Republican tide, warning that if the GOP prevailed in midterm elections, all the progress of his first two years in office could be “rolled back.” Comedians Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart headlined a “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” in Washington attended by tens of thousands. The Texas Rangers beat San Francisco 4-2, cutting the Giants’ World Series edge to 2-1.

Five years ago: The United States escalated its fight against the Islamic State in Syria, pledging the first open deployment of military boots on the ground. A fire broke out at a nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, killing 64 people. Character actor Al Molinaro, 96, died in Glendale, California. The New York Mets defeated the Kansas City Royals, 9-3, in Game 3 of the World Series, cutting the Royals’ lead to 2-1.

One year ago: The Washington Nationals won the first World Series title in franchise history, capturing Game 7 over the Houston Astros by a score of 6-2; the team had rallied from behind to win five elimination games in the post-season and had achieved all four of their wins in the World Series in Houston’s ballpark. Reacting to growing concern about the spread of misinformation on social media, Twitter banned all political advertising from its service. New York City lawmakers passed a bill banning restaurants and grocery stores from selling foie gras, the fattened liver of a duck or goose; animal welfare activists said the methods used to produce it were cruel.

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Claude Lelouch is 83. Rock singer Grace Slick is 81. Songwriter Eddie Holland is 81. Rhythm-and-blues singer Otis Williams (The Temptations) is 79. Actor Joanna Shimkus is 77. Actor Henry Winkler is 75. Broadcast journalist Andrea Mitchell is 74. Rock musician Chris Slade (Asia) is 74. Country/rock musician Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles) is 73. Actor Leon Rippy is 71. Actor Harry Hamlin is 69. Actor Charles Martin Smith is 67. Country singer T. Graham Brown is 66. Actor Kevin Pollak is 63. Rock singer-musician Jerry De Borg (Jesus Jones) is 60. Actor Michael Beach is 57. Rock singer-musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 55. Actor Jack Plotnick is 52. Comedian Ben Bailey is 50. Actor Billy Brown is 50. Actor Nia Long is 50. Country singer Kassidy Osborn (SHeDAISY) (sh-DAY’-zee) is 44. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal is 42. Actor Matthew Morrison is 42. Business executive and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump is 39. Actor Fiona Dourif is 39. Actor Shaun Sipos (SEE’-pohs) is 39. Actor Tasso Feldman is 37. Actor Janel (juh-NEHL’) Parrish is 32. Actor Tequan Richmond is 28. Actor Kennedy McMann is 24.