This day in history

[October 30, 2008]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Oct. 30, the 304th day of 2008. There are 62 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 30, 1938, the radio play "The War of the Worlds," starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS. (The live drama, which employed fake breaking news reports, panicked some listeners who thought the portrayal of a Martian invasion was real.)

On this date:

In 1735, the second president of the United States, John Adams, was born in Braintree, Mass.

In 1885, poet Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho.

In 1944, the Martha Graham ballet "Appalachian Spring," with music by Aaron Copland, premiered at the Library of Congress in Washington, with Graham in a leading role.

In 1945, the U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing, effective at midnight.

In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb, the "Tsar Bomba," with a force estimated at about 50 megatons.

In 1961, the Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb.

In 1975, the New York Daily News ran the headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead" a day after President Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.

In 1979, President Carter announced his choice of federal appeals judge Shirley Hufstedler to head the newly created Department of Education.

In 1984, police in Poland found the body of kidnapped pro-Solidarity priest Father Jerzy Popieluszko, whose death was blamed on security officers.

In 1995, by a razor-thin vote of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, Federalists prevailed over separatists in a Quebec secession referendum.

Ten years ago: In Nicaragua, a mudslide caused by Hurricane Mitch killed at least 2,000 people on the slopes of the Casitas volcano in Posoltega.

Five years ago: The House approved an $87.5 billion package for Iraq and Afghanistan. Four construction workers were killed when an Atlantic City, N.J., casino parking garage collapsed.

One year ago: Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards sharply challenged Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's candor, consistency and judgment in a televised debate in Philadelphia. Singer-actor Robert Goulet died at a Los Angeles hospital at age 73.

Today's birthdays: Actor Dick Gautier is 71. Movie director Claude Lelouch is 71. Rock singer Grace Slick is 69. Songwriter Eddie Holland is 69. Actor Ed Lauter is 68. Rhythm-and-blues singer Otis Williams (The Temptations) is 67. Actor Henry Winkler is 63. Rock musician Chris Slade (Asia) is 62. Musician Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles) is 61. Actor Leon Rippy is 59. Actor Harry Hamlin is 57. Actor Charles Martin Smith is 55. Country singer T. Graham Brown is 54. Actor Kevin Pollak is 51. Actor Michael Beach is 45. Rock singer-musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 41. Comedian Ben Bailey is 38. Actress Nia Long is 38. Country singer Kassidy Osborn (SHeDAISY) is 32. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal is 30. Actor Tequan Richmond ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 16.

Thought for today: "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." -- Marie Curie, Polish Nobel Prize-winning chemist (1867-1934)

[Associated Press]

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