This day in history

[October 17, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Oct. 17, the 291st day of 2008. There are 75 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 17, 1777, British forces under General John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

On this date:

In 1807, Britain declared it would continue to reclaim British-born sailors from American ships and ports regardless of whether they held U.S. citizenship.

In 1907, Guglielmo Marconi began offering limited commercial wireless telegraph service between Nova Scotia and Ireland.

In 1919, the Radio Corporation of America was chartered.

In 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone was released in 1939.)

In 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

In 1941, the U.S. destroyer Kearny was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Iceland; 11 people died.

In 1958, the special "An Evening with Fred Astaire," the first major TV program produced on color videotape, aired on NBC.

In 1973, Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974.

In 1978, President Carter signed a bill restoring U.S. citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

In 1989, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck Northern California, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion in damage.

Ten years ago: A pipeline explosion and fire in southwest Nigeria killed some 700 people. The New York Yankees won Game 1 of the World Series, defeating the San Diego Padres 9-6.

Five years ago: Fire killed six people in a high-rise county building in Chicago. The House and Senate voted to spend some $87 billion earmarked for securing peace and eliminating terrorist threats in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned; Vice President Carlos Mesa replaced him.

One year ago: President Bush, raising Beijing's ire, presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal and urged Chinese leaders to welcome the monk to Beijing. Comedian Joey Bishop, the last of Sinatra's Rat Pack, died in Newport Beach, Calif., at age 89. Singer Teresa Brewer died in New Rochelle, N.Y., at age 76.

Today's birthdays: Actress Marsha Hunt is 91. Actress Beverly Garland is 82. Actress Julie Adams is 82. Country singer Earl Thomas Conley is 67. Singer Jim Seals (Seals & Crofts) is 66. Singer Gary Puckett is 66. Actor Michael McKean is 61. Actress Margot Kidder is 60. Actor George Wendt is 60. Actor Sam Bottoms is 53. Astronaut Mae Jemison is 52. Country singer Alan Jackson is 50. Movie director Rob Marshall is 48. Animator Mike Judge is 46. Rock singer-musician Fred LeBlanc (Cowboy Mouth) is 45. Actor-comedian Norm Macdonald is 45. Singer Rene' Dif is 41. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 40. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick ('N Sync) is 37. Rapper Eminem is 36. Singer Wyclef Jean is 36. Actress Sharon Leal is 36. Actor Matthew Macfadyen is 34. Rock musician Sergio Andrade is 31.

Thought for today: "The thinking of a genius does not proceed logically. It leaps with great ellipses. It pulls knowledge from God knows where." -- Dorothy Thompson, American journalist (1894-1961)

[Associated Press]

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