 Today's
highlight in history:On Oct. 18, 1962, Dr. James D. Watson of the United States and Drs. Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins of Britain were named winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
On this date:
In 1648, Boston shoemakers were authorized to form a guild to protect their interests; it's the first American labor organization on record.
In 1685, King Louis the XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes that had established legal toleration of France's Protestant population, the Huguenots. (The French Parliament recorded the new edict four days later.)
In 1867, the U.S. took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.
In 1892, the first long-distance telephone line between New York and Chicago was officially opened (it could only handle one call at a time).
In 1898, the American flag was raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S.
In 1931, inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.
In 1944, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia during World War II.
In 1969, the federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers.
In 1982, former first lady Bess Truman died at her home in Independence, Mo., at age 97.
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 Ten years ago: A monument honoring American servicewomen, past and present, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery. The Florida Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians 7-4 in Game 1 of the World Series.
Five years ago: The Vatican demanded that America's Roman Catholic bishops revise their hard-line crackdown policy on sexually abusive priests.
One year ago: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visiting Tokyo, said the U.S. was willing to use its full military might to defend Japan in light of North Korea's nuclear test. The Dow Jones industrial average passed 12,000 for the first time before pulling back to close at 11,992.68.
Today's birthdays: Former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., is 86. Rock-and-roll performer Chuck Berry is 81. Sportscaster Keith Jackson is 79. Football Hall-of-Famer Mike Ditka is 68. Actor Joe Morton is 60. Actress Pam Dawber is 56. Author Terry McMillan is 56. Gospel singer Vickie Winans is 54. Tennis player Martina Navratilova is 51. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 47. Actress Erin Moran is 47. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 46. Actor Vincent Spano is 45. Rock musician Tim Cross (Sponge) is 41. Tennis player Michael Stich is 39. Singer Nonchalant is 34. Rock musician Peter Svensson (The Cardigans) is 33. Actor Wesley Jonathan is 29. Country singer Josh Gracin is 27. Country musician Jesse Littleton (Marshall Dyllon) is 26. Actor Zac Efron is 20. Actress Joy Lauren is 18. Actor Tyler Posey is 16.
Thought for Today: "Only those ideas that are least truly ours can be adequately expressed in words."
-- Henri Bergson, French philosopher (1859-1941).
[Associated
Press]
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