Today is Friday, Oct. 14, the 287th day of 2005. There are 78 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 14, 1947, Air Force test pilot Charles E. (“Chuck”) Yeager broke the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
On this date:
In 1066, Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
In 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the presidency, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee. Despite the wound, he went ahead with a scheduled speech.
In 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
In 1960, the idea of a Peace Corps was first suggested by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to an audience of students at the University of Michigan.
In 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1968, the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
In 1980, Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would name a woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. (He later nominated Judge Sandra Day O’Connor of Arizona.)
In 1987, a real-life drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down an abandoned well at a private day care center. (Hundreds of rescuers worked 58 hours to free her.)
In 1990, composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein died in New York at age 72.
Ten years ago: An armed gunman seized a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Moscow’s Red Square (commandos stormed the bus the next day, killing the gunman and freeing four remaining hostages). The Atlanta Braves won the National League pennant by beating the Cincinnati Reds, 6-0, to complete a four-game sweep.
Five years ago: Two hijackers seized a London-bound Saudi Arabian Airlines jetliner carrying more than 100 people, taking it first to Syria and then to Baghdad, Iraq, where they surrendered peacefully. A mudslide caused by heavy rains swept through the Swiss Alpine village of Gondo, destroying buildings and killing 13 people.
One year ago: The Treasury Department announced that the federal deficit had surged to a record $413 billion in 2004. A suicide bomber killed four Americans in the U.S.-guarded “Green Zone” of Baghdad.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is 89. Actor Roger Moore is 78. Movie director Carroll Ballard is 68. Former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 67. Country singer Melba Montgomery is 67. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is 66. Singer Cliff Richard is 65. Actor Udo Kier is 61. Singer-musician Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues) is 59. Actor Harry Anderson is 53. Actor Greg Evigan is 52. TV personality Arleen Sorkin is 49. Golf Hall-of-Famer Beth Daniel is 49. Singer-musician Thomas Dolby is 47. Singer Karyn White is 40. Actor Jon Seda is 35. Country musician Doug Virden is 35. Country singer Natalie Maines (The Dixie Chicks) is 31. Actress-singer Shaznay Lewis (All Saints) is 30. Singer Usher is 27. Actor Jordan Brower is 24.
Thought for Today: “To think is to speak low. To speak is to think aloud.” — F. Max Mueller, German philologist (1823-1900).
