This day in history

[October 03, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Oct. 3, the 277th day of 2008. There are 89 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 3, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving Day.

On this date:

In 1226, St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, died; he was canonized in 1228.

In 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes formally changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1941, Adolf Hitler declared in a speech in Berlin that Russia had been "broken" and would "never rise again."

In 1951, the New York Giants captured the National League pennant as Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca in the "shot heard 'round the world."

In 1952, Britain conducted its first atomic test as it detonated a 25-kiloton device in the Monte Bello Islands off Australia.

In 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Sigma 7 on a nine-hour flight.

In 1968, American Independent Party presidential candidate George Wallace tapped retired Air Force Gen. Curtis E. LeMay to be his running mate.

In 1968, the Howard Sackler play "The Great White Hope," starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander, opened on Broadway.

In 1988, Lebanese kidnappers released Indian educator Mithileshwar Singh, who'd been held captive with three Americans for more than 20 months.

In 1995, the jury in the O.J. Simpson murder trial found the former football star not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. (However, Simpson was later found liable in a civil trial).

Ten years ago: Australian Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government narrowly won re-election. Pope John Paul II beatified Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, the World War II archbishop of Zagreb, a controversial figure because many Serbs and Jews had accused him of sympathizing with the Nazis.

Five years ago: A tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of duo "Siegfried & Roy" during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving the superstar illusionist in critical condition on his 59th birthday. Illustrator and children's book author William Steig died in Boston at age 95.

One year ago: North Korea agreed to provide a complete list of its nuclear programs and disable its facilities at its main reactor complex by Dec. 31, 2007. (However, North Korea has since said it would move to restore its nuclear reactor, saying the United States had failed to follow through with promised incentives.) President Bush vetoed expansion of a children's health insurance program.

Today's birthdays: Author Gore Vidal is 83. Composer Steve Reich is 72. Singer Alan O'Day is 68. Rock 'n' roll star Chubby Checker is 67. Actor Alan Rachins is 66. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is 65. Magician Roy Horn is 64. Singer Lindsey Buckingham is 59. Jazz musician Ronnie Laws is 58. Blues singer Keb' Mo' is 57. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield is 57. Actor Hart Bochner is 52. Actor Peter Frechette is 52. Actor Jack Wagner is 49. Rock musician Tommy Lee is 46. Actor Clive Owen is 44. Actress Janel Moloney is 39. Singer Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) is 39. Pop singer Kevin Richardson is 37. Rock singer G. Love is 36. Actress Keiko Agena is 35. Actress Neve Campbell is 35. Singer India.Arie is 33. Rapper Talib Kweli is 33. Actress Alanna Ubach is 33. Actor Seann William Scott is 32. Actress Shannyn Sossamon is 30. Actor Seth Gabel is 27. Actor Erik Von Detten is 26. Actress-singer Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is 24.

Thought for today: "The worst disease in the world is the plague of vengeance." -- Dr. Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (1893-1990)

[Associated Press]

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