World/news trivia: The week of Oct. 20-26

Oct. 20:

1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

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.

1973, in what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned.

2011, Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte (SURT) and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell.

Oct. 21:

1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” was christened in Boston’s harbor.

1944, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen — the first German city to fall to American forces in World War II.

2021, Actor Alec Baldwin was pointing a gun on a movie set in New Mexico when it went off and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. Charges of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin were dropped in July 2024.

Oct. 22:

1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.

1962, in a nationally broadcast address, President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a naval blockade of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation.

2014, a gunman shot and killed a soldier standing guard at a war memorial in Ottawa, then stormed the Canadian Parliament building before he himself was shot and killed.

2016, the Chicago Cubs won their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. (The Cubs would go on to beat Cleveland in the World Series in seven games.)

Oct. 23:

1915, an estimated 25,000 women marched on Fifth Avenue in New York City in support of women’s suffrage.

1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began; the largest naval battle of World War II resulted in a major Allied victory against Japanese forces.

1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps barracks at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon, while a near-simultaneous attack on French barracks in Beirut killed 58 paratroopers.

2001, Apple released the iPod. An estimated 450 million iPod devices were sold before the line was discontinued in 2022.

Oct. 24:

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.

1929, a massive sell-off at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange led to chaos as stockbrokers couldn’t keep up with trade requests. Though the market recovered some loses by the end of the day, “Black Thursday” marked the beginning of the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

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. Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.)

2012, Hurricane Sandy roared across Jamaica and headed toward Cuba on its way to the eastern United States.

Oct. 25:

1859, radical abolitionist John Brown went on trial in Charles Town, Virginia, for his failed raid at Harpers Ferry. (He was convicted and later hanged.)

1962, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba. Stevenson then presented photographic evidence of the bases to the council.

1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there.

1999, golfer Payne Stewart and five others were killed when their Learjet crashed in a field in South Dakota; Stewart was 42.

Oct. 26:

1881, four lawmen, including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, exchanged gunfire with five outlaws, killing three of them, at the “Shootout at the O.K. Corral” in Tombstone, Arizona.

1861, the legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph. (The last run of the Pony Express was completed the following month.)

1984, “Baby Fae,” a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant in Loma Linda, California. (She lived 21 days with the animal heart.)

2001, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.

– Associated Press