This day in history

[October 15, 2013]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Oct. 15, the 288th day of 2013. There are 77 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 15, 1917, Dutch dancer Mata Hari, convicted of spying for the Germans, was executed by a French firing squad outside Paris.

On this date:

In 1858, the seventh and final debate between senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in Alton, Ill.

In 1860, 11-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y., wrote a letter to presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he could improve his appearance by growing a beard.

In 1928, the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst, N.J., completing its first commercial flight across the Atlantic.

In 1937, the Ernest Hemingway novel "To Have and Have Not" was first published by Charles Scribner's Sons.

In 1945, the former premier of Vichy France, Pierre Laval, was executed for treason.

In 1946, Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering (GEH'-reeng) fatally poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.

In 1951, the classic sitcom "I Love Lucy" premiered on CBS with the episode "The Girls Want to Go to the Nightclub."

In 1964, it was announced that Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev (KROOSH'-chef) had been removed from office.

In 1969, peace demonstrators staged activities across the country as part of a "moratorium" against the Vietnam War.

In 1976, in the first debate of its kind between vice presidential nominees, Democrat Walter F. Mondale and Republican Bob Dole faced off in Houston.

In 1991, despite sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, the Senate narrowly confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, 52-48.

In 1997, British Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green twice drove a jet-powered car in the Nevada desert faster than the speed of sound, officially shattering the world's land-speed record. NASA's plutonium-powered Cassini spacecraft rocketed flawlessly toward Saturn.

Ten years ago: Eleven people were killed when a Staten Island ferry slammed into a maintenance pier. (The ferry's pilot, who'd blacked out at the controls, later pleaded guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter.) Doctors in Florida removed the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo (SHY'-voh), a severely brain-damaged woman at the center of a right-to-die battle. (The tube was reinserted, then removed again, as the legal battle played out, ending with Schiavo's death in March 2005.) An explosion ripped apart a U.S. diplomatic vehicle in the Gaza Strip, killing three Americans. China launched its first manned space mission. The Florida Marlins won the National League championship with a 9-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Game 7.

Five years ago: Republican John McCain repeatedly assailed Democrat Barack Obama's character and campaign positions on taxes, abortion and more in a debate at Hofstra University; Obama parried each accusation, and leveled a few of his own, saying "100 percent" of McCain's campaign ads were negative. The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 to win the NL championship series 4-1 for its first pennant since 1993. Pop star Madonna and movie director Guy Ritchie announced they were divorcing after nearly eight years of marriage. Actress-singer Edie Adams died in Los Angeles at age 81. Longtime game show host Jack Narz died in Los Angeles at age 85.

One year ago: In interviews with CNN and Fox News, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took responsibility for security at the U.S. consulate in Libya, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed in a Sept. 11, 2012, attack. The San Francisco Giants evened the National League Championship series 1-1 with a 7-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Today's birthdays: Former auto executive Lee Iacocca is 89. Jazz musician Freddy Cole is 82. Singer Barry McGuire is 78. Actress Linda Lavin is 76. Rock musician Don Stevenson (Moby Grape) is 71. Actress-director Penny Marshall is 70. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer is 68. Singer-musician Richard Carpenter is 67. Actor Victor Banerjee is 67. Tennis player Roscoe Tanner is 62. Singer Tito Jackson is 60. Actor-comedian Larry Miller is 60. Actor Jere Burns is 59. Actress Tanya Roberts is 58. Movie director Mira Nair is 56. Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, is 54. Chef Emeril Lagasse is 54. Rock musician Mark Reznicek (REHZ'-nih-chehk) is 51. Singer Eric Benet is 47. Actress Vanessa Marcil is 45. Singer-actress-TV host Paige Davis is 44. Country singer Kimberly Schlapman is 44. Actor Dominic West is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ginuwine is 43. Actor Chris Olivero is 34. Christian singer-actress Jaci (JAK'-ee) Velasquez is 34. Actor Brandon Jay McLaren is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Keyshia Cole is 32. Tennis player Elena Dementieva is 32. Actor Vincent Martella ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 21. Actress Bailee Madison ("Trophy Wife") is 14.

Thought for today: "The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking." -- John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-born American economist (1908-2006)

[Associated Press]

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