Today in History

By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 28, the 301st day of 2015. There are 64 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 28, 1965, Pope Paul VI issued a Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions which, among other things, absolved Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

On this date:

In 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a legislative act establishing Harvard College.

In 1776, the Battle of White Plains was fought during the Revolutionary War, resulting in a limited British victory.

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.

In 1914, Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, sparked World War I, was sentenced in Sarajevo to 20 years' imprisonment. (He died in 1918.)

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.

In 1940, Italy invaded Greece during World War II.

In 1958, the Roman Catholic patriarch of Venice, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was elected Pope; he took the name John XXIII. The Samuel Beckett play "Krapp's Last Tape" premiered in London.

In 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of missile bases in Cuba; in return, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from U.S. installations in Turkey.

In 1964, the "T.A.M.I. Show," a two-day rock concert filmed for theatrical release, opened in Santa Monica, California.

In 1976, former Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman entered a federal prison camp in Safford, Arizona, to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions (he was released in April 1978).

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter and Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan faced off in a nationally broadcast, 90-minute debate in Cleveland.

In 1991, what became known as "The Perfect Storm" began forming hundreds of miles east of Nova Scotia; lost at sea during the storm were the six crew members of the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Ten years ago: Vice President Dick Cheney's top adviser, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, resigned after he was indicted on charges of obstructing a grand jury investigation and lying about his actions that blew the CIA cover of an Iraq war critic's wife. (Libby was convicted of most of the counts brought against him, but had his 30-month prison sentence commuted by President George W. Bush.) More than a million demonstrators flooded the streets of Tehran and other major cities in Iran to back President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel.

Five years ago: Investigators with the president's oil spill commission said tests performed before the deadly blowout of BP's oil well in the Gulf of Mexico should have raised doubts about the cement used to seal the well, but that the company and its cementing contractor used it anyway. (The cement mix's failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been cited by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident.) Caroline Wozniacki wrapped up the year-end No. 1 ranking after rallying to beat Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar. Stage and screen actor James MacArthur, who played "Danno" in the original version of television's "Hawaii Five-0," died in Jacksonville, Florida, at age 72.

One year ago: An unmanned commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff, with debris falling in flames over the launch site in Virginia. A video was posted online by a group called Hollaback! showing actress Shoshana Roberts being verbally accosted by men as she silently walked through Manhattan over a 10-hour period; the video "went viral," spurring outrage and sparking discussions about the pervasiveness of street harassment that women face. The World Series was evened at three games each as the Kansas City Royals routed the San Francisco Giants 10-0.

Today's Birthdays: Jazz singer Cleo Laine is 88. Actress Joan Plowright is 86. Musician-songwriter Charlie Daniels is 79. Actress Jane Alexander is 76. Actor Dennis Franz is 71. Pop singer Wayne Fontana is 70. Actress Telma Hopkins is 67. Olympic track and field gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner is 66. Actress Annie Potts is 63. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is 60. The former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is 59. Rock musician Stephen Morris (New Order) is 58. Country/gospel singer-musician Ron Hemby (The Buffalo Club) is 57. Rock singer-musician William Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain) is 57. Actor Mark Derwin is 55. Actress Daphne Zuniga is 53. Actress Lauren Holly is 52. Talk show host-comedian-actress Sheryl Underwood is 52. Actress Jami Gertz is 50. Actor Chris Bauer is 49. Actor-comedian Andy Richter is 49. Actress Julia Roberts is 48. Country singer-musician Caitlin Cary is 47. Actor Jeremy Davies is 46. Singer Ben Harper is 46. Country singer Brad Paisley is 43. Actor Joaquin Phoenix is 41. Singer Justin Guarini (TV: "American Idol") is 37. Pop singer Brett Dennen is 36. Rock musician Dave Tirio (Plain White T's) is 36. Actor Finn Wittrock is 31. Actress Troian Bellisario is 30. Singer/rapper Frank Ocean is 28. Actor Nolan Gould is 17.

Thought for Today: "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." -- George Orwell (Eric Blair), English author (1903-1950).