This day in history

[October 02, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Oct. 2, the 275th day of 2009. There are 90 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 2, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke at the White House that left him paralyzed on his left side.

On this date:

In 1780, British spy John Andre was hanged in Tappan, N.Y., during the Revolutionary War.

In 1835, the first battle of the Texas Revolution took place as American settlers fought Mexican soldiers near the Guadalupe River; the Mexicans ended up withdrawing.

In 1869, political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India.

In 1944, Nazi troops crushed the two-month-old Warsaw Uprising, during which a quarter of a million people were killed.

In 1950, the comic strip "Peanuts," created by Charles M. Schulz, was syndicated to seven newspapers.

In 1958, the former French colony of Guinea in West Africa proclaimed its independence.

In 1959, Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" made its debut on CBS-TV with the episode "Where Is Everybody?" starring Earl Holliman.

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court as the court opened its new term.

In 1985, actor Rock Hudson died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. at age 59 after battling AIDS.

In 2006, an armed milk truck driver took a group of girls hostage in an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., killing five of them and wounding five others before committing suicide.

Ten years ago: The Brooklyn Museum of Art opened its much-hyped "Sensation" exhibit which had drawn controversy because of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's move to cut off city funding to the museum. (Giuliani objected to some of the artwork, which included a portrait of the Virgin Mary decorated with elephant dung.)

Five years ago: Suspected separatist rebels began four days of attacks in India's Nagaland and Assam states that killed 73 people.

One year ago: Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden sparred over taxes, energy policy and the Iraq war in a high-profile vice-presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, in which Palin sought to reclaim her identity as a feisty reformer and Biden tried to undercut the maverick image of GOP presidential hopeful John McCain. More than a year after millionaire adventure Steve Fossett vanished on a solo flight over California's rugged Sierra Nevada, searchers found the wreckage of his plane but no body inside. (Fossett's remains were discovered in late October 2008.)

Today's birthdays: Country singer-musician Leon Rausch (Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys) is 82. Retired MLB All-Star Maury Wills is 77. Movie critic Rex Reed is 71. Singer-songwriter Don McLean is 64. Cajun/country singer Jo-el Sonnier is 63. Actor Avery Brooks is 61. Fashion designer Donna Karan is 61. Photographer Annie Leibovitz is 60. Rock musician Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike & the Mechanics) is 59. Singer-actor Sting is 58. Actress Lorraine Bracco is 55. Country musician Greg Jennings (Restless Heart) is 55. Rock singer Phil Oakey (The Human League) is 54. Rhythm-and-blues singer Freddie Jackson is 51. Singer-producer Robbie Nevil is 51. Retro-soul singer James Hunter is 47. Rock musician Bud Gaugh (Sublime, Eyes Adrift) is 42. Folk-country singer Gillian Welch is 42. Country singer Kelly Willis is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Dion Allen (Az Yet) is 39. Actress-talk show host Kelly Ripa is 39. Singer Tiffany is 38. Rock singer Lene Nystrom is 36. Actor Efren Ramirez is 36. Rhythm-and-blues singer LaTocha Scott (Xscape) is 36. Gospel singer Mandisa (TV: "American Idol") is 33. Rock musician Mike Rodden (Hinder) is 27.

Thought for today: "If you want to prove that God is not dead, first prove that man is alive." -- Rod Serling, American screenwriter, producer and actor (1924-1975)

[Associated Press]

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