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Today is Thursday, October 7, the 280th day of 2021. There are 85 days left in the year.
The highlight of today’s history:
On October 7, 2001, the war in Afghanistan began when the United States and Britain launched airstrikes against military targets and Osama bin Laden’s training camps in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
To this date :
In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met in New York to formulate colonial grievances against England.
In 1849, the writer Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore at the age of 40.
In 1910, a major forest fire devastated the northern Minnesota towns of Spooner and Baudette, charring at least 300,000 acres; around 40 people are believed to have died.
In 1949, the Republic of East Germany was formed.
In 1954, Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York.
In 1985, Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro (ah-KEE’-leh LOW’-roh) in the Mediterranean. (The hijackers shot dead Leon Klinghoffer, an American Jewish tourist in a wheelchair, and pushed him overboard, before surrendering on October 9.)
In 1991, Anita Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma, publicly accused Supreme Court candidate Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments while working for him; Thomas has denied Hill’s allegations.
In 1992, trade officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico initialed the North American Free Trade Agreement at a ceremony in San Antonio, Texas, attended by President George HW Bush, the Prime Minister Canadian Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO’-nee) and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
In 1996, Fox News Channel debuted.
In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay student, was beaten and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie, Wyoming; he died five days later. (Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney are serving life sentences for the murder of Shepard.)
In 2003, California voters recalled Governor Gray Davis and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger their new governor.
In 2004, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney admitted that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction as they tried to shift the debate on the Iraq war to a new issue, arguing that Saddam was abusing a UN oil-for-food program. .
Ten years ago: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman, who began pushing for change in Yemen long before the Arab Spring.
Five years ago: The United States accused Russia of hacking American political sites and email accounts in order to interfere with the upcoming presidential election and also directly accused Russia of war crimes in Syria; Moscow has rejected the allegations. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, receiving a big boost in his efforts to salvage a deal to end the half-century conflict in his country.
A year ago: President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office for the first time since being diagnosed with COVID-19; he attributed an experimental drug treatment to his recovery. Debating behind plexiglass shields, Vice President Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris focused on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Harris calling it “the biggest failure of any presidential administration” while Pence defended the overall response. President Donald Trump tweeted that the remaining US troops in Afghanistan are expected to return home by Christmas. (Military officials said they were not given any orders to speed up a more gradual pullout.) The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd posted bail and was released from detention. state prison, which led the Governor of Minnesota to activate the National Guard to help keep the peace during protests.
Today’s Birthdays: Retired South African Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu is 90 years old. Author Thomas Keneally is 86 years old. Comedian Joy Behar is 79 years old. Former National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North (retired) is 78 years old. Rock musician Kevin Godley (10cc) is 76 years old. Actor Jill Larson is 74 years old. Country singer Kieran Kane is 72 years old. Singer John Mellencamp is 70 years old. Rock musician Ricky Phillips is 70 years old. Russian President Vladimir Putin is 69 years old. Actor Mary Badham (Movie: “To Kill a Mockingbird”) is 69 years old. Rock musician Tico Torres (Bon Jovi) is 68 years old. Actor Christopher Norris is 66 years old. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 66 years old. Gospel singer Michael W. Smith is 64 years old. Jayne Torvill, Olympic gold medalist ice dancer, is 64 years old. Actor Dylan Baker is 63 years old. Actress Judy Landers is 63 years old. Simon Cowell, recording director and television personality, is 62. Rock musician Charlie Marinkovich (formerly Iron Butterfly) is 62 years old. Actress Paula Newsome is 60 years old. Country singer Dale Watson is 59. Pop singer Ann Curless (Expose) is 58 years old. R&B singer Toni Braxton is 54 years old. Rock sin Musician-ger Thom Yorke (Radiohead) is 53 years old. Rock musician-dancer Leeroy Thornhill is 52 years old. Actress Nicole Ari Parker is 51 years old. Actress Allison Munn is 47 years old. Rock singer-musician Damian Kulash (KOO’-lahsh) is 46 years old. Hicks is 45 years old. Actor Omar Miller is 43 years old. Neo-soul singer Nathaniel Rateliff (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats) is 43 years old. Actor Shawn Ashmore is 42 years old. Actor Jake McLaughlin is 39 years old. Electronic musician Flying Lotus (AKA Steve Ellison) is 38 years old. MLB player Evan Longoria is 36 years old. Actor Holland Roden is 35 years old. Actress Amber Stevens is 35 years old. MLB outfielder Mookie Betts is 29. Actor Lulu Wilson is 16.
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