Today is Monday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2024. There are 72 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Oct. 20, 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence in the U.S. motion picture industry.
Also on this date:
In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore in his return to the Philippines against Japanese forces in World War II, fulfilling a promise he made (“I shall return”) after being ordered to evacuate the country in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1967, a jury in Meridian, Mississippi, convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of killed civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner; the seven received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.
In 1973, in what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard M. Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox; Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus also refused to fire Cox and resigned. Acting Attorney General Robert Bork fired Cox.
In 1973, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1976, 78 people were killed when the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta rammed the commuter ferry George Prince on the Mississippi River near New Orleans.
In 1977, three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed along with three others in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Mississippi.
In 1990, three members of the rap group 2 Live Crew were acquitted by a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of violating obscenity laws with an adults-only concert in nearby Hollywood the previous June.
In 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell.
In 2022, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after just 49 days in office when her plan for billions in tax cuts rocked financial markets and battered the value of the pound; Truss also resigned as head of the Conservative Party.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Japan’s Empress Michiko is 91.
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Wanda Jackson is 88.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal is 88.
- Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is 85.
- Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez is 72.
- Composer Thomas Newman is 70.
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is 70.
- Film director Danny Boyle is 69.
- Actor Viggo Mortensen is 67.
- Former Vice President Kamala Harris is 61.
- Actor William Zabka is 60.
- Journalist Sunny Hostin (TV: “The View”) is 57.
- Actor Kenneth Choi is 54.
- Rapper Snoop Dogg is 54.
- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is 53.
- Actor John Krasinski is 46.
- Rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again is 26.
