Today is Monday, October 20th, day 293 of 2024. There are 72 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur went ashore on his way back to the Philippines against Japanese forces in World War II, fulfilling a promise he had made (“I will return”) after President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered him to evacuate the country in 1942.
Also on this day:
In 1803, the US Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged communist influence in the US film industry.
In 1967, a jury in Meridian, Mississippi, found seven men guilty of violating the civil rights of slain civil rights leaders James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner; seven received prison sentences ranging from three to 10 years.
In 1973, in what became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard M. Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson to fire Watergate special 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 band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, died along with three others in a charter plane crash 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 during an adults-only concert in nearby Hollywood the previous June.
In 2011, 69-year-old Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's dictator for 42 years, was killed when revolutionary militants overran his hometown of Sirte and captured the last major resistance stronghold two months after the fall of his regime.
In 2022, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after just 49 days in office as her billion-dollar tax cut plan rocked financial markets and hit the value of the pound; Truss also resigned as head of the Conservative Party.
Today's birthdays: Empress Michiko of Japan 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. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, MD, 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”) – 57. Actor Kenneth Choi – 54. Rapper Snoop Dogg – 54. Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, – 53. Actor John Krasinski – 46. Rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again 26.
