This day in history

[October 09, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Oct. 9, the 283rd day of 2008. There are 83 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

Fifty years ago, on Oct. 9, 1958, Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy. (He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.)

On this date:

In 1446, the Korean alphabet, created under the aegis of King Sejong, was first published.

In 1701, the Collegiate School of Connecticut - later Yale University - was chartered.

In 1776, a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.

In 1888, the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.

In 1919, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, defeating the Chicago White Sox 10-5 at Comiskey Park. (The victory turned hollow amid charges eight of the White Sox had thrown the Series in what became known as the "Black Sox" scandal.)

In 1930, Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.

In 1946, the Eugene O'Neill drama "The Iceman Cometh" opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York.

In 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed while attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia.

In 1968, the new military government of Peru seized the country's oil fields.

In 1975, Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ten years ago: Ariel Sharon returned to the center of power in Israel as the country's new foreign minister.

Five years ago: A suicide car bombing at a Baghdad police station killed eight people; Spanish military attache Jose Antonio Bernal Gomez was shot to death in Baghdad.

One year ago: Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani clashed over tax and spending cuts, each claiming greater commitment than the other in a debate in Dearborn, Mich. Two Armenian Christian women were shot to death in Baghdad by security contractors working for Australian-owned Unity Resources Group. France's Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg won the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics for a discovery that lets computers, iPods and other digital devices store reams of data on ever-shrinking hard disks. Actress Carol Bruce died in Woodland Hills, Calif., at age 87.

Today's birthdays: Actor Fyvush Finkel is 86. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 67. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nona Hendryx is 64. Singer Jackson Browne is 60. Actor Gary Frank is 58. Actor Richard Chaves is 57. Actor Robert Wuhl is 57. Actress-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 56. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 55. Actor Scott Bakula is 54. Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 54. Actor John O'Hurley is 54. Actor Michael Pare is 50. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 48. Rock singer-musician Kurt Neumann (The BoDeans) is 47. Country singer Gary Bennett is 44. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is 44. Singer P.J. Harvey is 39. Golfer Annika Sorenstam is 38. Country singer Tommy Shane Steiner is 35. Actor Steve Burns is 35. Sean Lennon is 33. Actor Randy Spelling is 30. Actor Brandon Routh is 29. Actor Zachery Ty Bryan is 27. Actor Tyler James Williams ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 16.

Thought for today: "All generalizations are dangerous, even this one." -- Attributed to Alexandre Dumas fils, French author (1824-1895)

[Associated Press]

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