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Saturday, October 11, 2008

This day in history

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[October 11, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, Oct. 11, the 285th day of 2008. There are 81 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.

On this date:

In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, fighting for American independence, died two days after being wounded during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga.

In 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, D.C.

In 1908, the Chicago Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the World Series, defeating the visiting Detroit Tigers 6-1 at the West Side Grounds.

In 1948, the musical comedy "Where's Charley?," starring Ray Bolger and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway.

Exterminator

In 1958, the lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far out as planned, fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere.

In 1962, Pope John XXIII convened the first session of the Roman Catholic Church's Second Ecumenical Council, also known as "Vatican 2."

In 1968, the government of Panama was overthrown in a military coup.

In 1983, the last full-fledged hand-cranked telephone system in the United States went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial service.

In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.

In 1991, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a "high-tech lynching."

Ten years ago: Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

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Five years ago: A team of 18 doctors at Children's Medical Center Dallas began complicated separation surgery for 2-year-old conjoined twins from Egypt; the operation was completed in 34 hours. Clerks for three major supermarket chains in Southern California began a 4 1/2-month strike after negotiations with store officials broke off. Ivan A. Getting, a Cold War scientist who conceived the Global Positioning Satellite system, died in Coronado, Calif., at age 91.

One year ago: The Bush administration reported that the federal budget deficit had fallen to $162.8 billion in the just-completed budget year, the lowest amount of red ink in five years. Cold medicines for babies and toddlers were pulled off shelves amid concerns about unintentional overdoses. Briton Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature. Werner von Trapp, a member of the family made famous by the musical "The Sound of Music," died in Waitsfield, Vt., at age 91.

Today's Birthdays: Author Elmore Leonard is 83. Actor Earle Hyman is 82. Actor Ron Leibman is 71. Country singer Gene Watson is 65. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is 58. Rhythm-and-blues musician Andrew Woolfolk is 58. Actress-director Catlin Adams is 58. Actor David Morse is 55. Country singer Paulette Carlson is 55. Actor Stephen Spinella is 52. Football Hall of Fame player Steve Young is 47. Actress Joan Cusack is 46. Rock musician Scott Johnson (Gin Blossoms) is 46. Comedy writer and TV host Michael J. Nelson is 44. Actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 43. Actor Luke Perry is 42. Country singer-songwriter Todd Snider is 42. Actress Jane Krakowski is 40. Rapper U-God (Wu-Tang Clan) is 38. Rapper MC Lyte is 37. Singer NeeNa Lee is 33. Actress Emily Deschanel is 32. Actress Michelle Trachtenberg is 23. Golfer Michelle Wie is 19.

Thought for Today: "When a friend speaks to me, whatever he says is interesting." - Jean Renoir, French movie director (1894-1979).

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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