This day in history

[October 21, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Oct. 21, the 294th day of 2009. There are 71 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 21, 1959, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened to the public in New York.

On this date:

In 1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides," was christened in Boston's harbor.

In 1805, a British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed.

In 1879, Thomas Edison perfected a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.

In 1917, members of the 1st Division of the U.S. Army training in Luneville, France, became the first Americans to see action on the front lines of World War I.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen.

In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon clashed in their fourth and final presidential debate in New York.

In 1966, more than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in Aberfan, Wales.

In 1967, the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat was sunk by Egyptian missile boats near Port Said; 47 Israeli crew members were lost.

In 1969, beat poet and author Jack Kerouac died in St. Petersburg, Fla., at age 47.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago: France's highest court upheld the conviction of Maurice Papon, the former Vichy official who'd fled France rather than face prison for his role in sending Jews to Nazi death camps; Papon was captured in Switzerland and deported the following day. (Papon ended up serving three years of a 10-year sentence; he died in 2007.)

Five years ago: An Associated Press poll found President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry locked in a statistical tie for the popular vote. Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove, 21, died hours after being shot in the eye with a pepper-spray pellet fired by police trying to control a raucous crowd outside Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox had won the American League championship. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Houston Astros 5-2 to take Game 7 of the National League championship series.

One year ago: Dozens of members of the Mongol motorcycle gang were arrested by federal agents in six states on a variety of charges following a three-year investigation in which undercover agents infiltrated the group. Iraq's Cabinet decided to ask the United States for changes to the draft agreement that would keep American troops there for three more years. The former prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, was convicted in absentia of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison.

Today's birthdays: Actress Joyce Randolph is 85. Author Ursula K. Le Guin is 80. Rock singer Manfred Mann is 69. Musician Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MG's) is 68. Singer Elvin Bishop is 67. TV's Judge Judy Sheindlin is 67. Actor Everett McGill is 64. Musician Lee Loughnane (Chicago) is 63. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 60. Musician Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Go's) is 56. Movie director Catherine Hardwicke is 54. Actress-author Carrie Fisher is 53. Singer Julian Cope is 52. Rock musician Steve Lukather (Toto) is 52. Actor Ken Watanabe is 50. Actress Melora Walters is 49. Rock musician Che Colovita Lemon is 39. Rock singer-musician Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator) is 38. Christian rock musician Charlie Lowell (Jars of Clay) is 36. Actor Jeremy Miller is 33. Actor Will Estes is 31. Actor Michael McMillian is 31. Personality Kim Kardashian is 29. Actor Matt Dallas is 27.

Thought for today: "A man is what he thinks about all day long." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, poet and philosopher (1803-1882)

[Associated Press]

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