Saturday, October 24th

Today in History

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Oct. 24, the 298th day of 2020. There are 68 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 24, 1972, Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who'd broken Major League Baseball's modern-era color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.

On this date:

In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.

In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.

In 1931, the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York and New Jersey, was officially dedicated (it opened to traffic the next day).

In 1940, the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

In 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.

In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)

In 1962, a naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.

In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-U.S. team to win the World Series as they defeated the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in Game 6.

In 1996, TyRon Lewis, 18, a Black motorist, was shot to death by police during a traffic stop in St. Petersburg, Florida; the incident sparked rioting. (Officer James Knight, who said that Lewis had lurched his car at him several times, knocking him onto the hood, was cleared by a grand jury and the Justice Department.)

In 2002, authorities apprehended John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Maryland, in the Washington-area sniper attacks. (Malvo was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.)

In 2005, civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit at age 92.

In 2018, authorities said they had intercepted pipe bombs packed with shards of glass that had been sent to several prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama; none of the bombs went off, and nobody was hurt. (Cesar Sayoc, a Florida amateur body builder who admitted sending the bombs to Democrats and to CNN, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a judge who concluded that the bombs were not designed to explode.)

Ten years ago: Following the latest release of secret U.S. military documents by WikiLeaks, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told BBC television that allegations of prisoner abuse and civilian killings in Iraq were extremely serious and needed to be investigated. Playwright Joseph Stein, who wrote the book for the classic Broadway musical "Fiddler on the Roof," died in New York at age 98.

Five years ago: A motorist plowed into a crowd during the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, killing four people and injuring dozens more. (Adacia Chambers pleaded no contest to second-degree murder; she was sentenced to life in prison.) In a video released on Facebook, President Barack Obama called for capping standardized testing at 2 percent of classroom time, saying, "Learning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble." Actor Maureen O'Hara, 95, died in Boise, Idaho.

One year ago: Fast-growing fires throughout California forced thousands of people to flee their homes; the dramatic fires and evacuations near Los Angeles and in the wine country of Northern California came amid power shutoffs that utility companies said were needed to stop high winds from blowing debris into power lines and starting fires. Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio dropped out of the presidential race after failing to qualify for debates. Spain exhumed the remains of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco from a grandiose mausoleum outside Madrid and reburied them in a small family crypt north of the capital; the mausoleum had been considered by many Spaniards to be an insult to the hundreds of thousands who died in the country's 1936-39 civil war, and those who were persecuted under his regime.

Today's Birthdays: Rock musician Bill Wyman is 84. Actor F. Murray Abraham is 81. Movie director-screenwriter David S. Ward is 75. Actor Kevin Kline is 73. Congressman and former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume (kwah-EE'-see oom-FOO'-may) is 72. Country musician Billy Thomas (Terry McBride and the Ride) is 67. Actor Doug Davidson is 66. Actor B.D. Wong is 60. Actor Zahn McClarnon is 54. Singer Michael Trent (Americana duo Shovels & Rope) is 43. Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 41. Singer-actor Monica Arnold is 40. Actor-comedian Casey Wilson is 40. R&B singer, actor and "The Real" co-host Adrienne Bailon Houghton is 37. Actor Tim Pocock is 35. R&B singer-rapper-actor Drake is 34. Actor Shenae Grimes is 31. Actor Eliza Taylor is 31. Actor Ashton Sanders (Film: "Moonlight") is 25. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kyla Ross is 24. Actor Hudson Yang is 17.