This day in history

[October 09, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Oct. 9, the 282nd day of 2009. There are 83 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 9, 1919, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, 5-3, 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.)

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 1859, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus, the focal point of the Dreyfus Affair, was born in Mulhouse.

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

In 1930, Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, on New York's Long Island, to Glendale, Calif.

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

In 1958, Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy. (He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.)

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

In 1974, businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving about 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, died in Frankfurt, West Germany. (At his request, he was buried in Jerusalem.)

Ten years ago: The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, hours after a handful of workers walked off the job when a strike deadline passed. In boxing's first sanctioned battle of the sexes, Margaret MacGregor defeated Loi Chow by winning all four rounds on all three judges' cards in a promotion held in Seattle.

Five years ago: A tour bus from the Chicago area flipped in Arkansas, killing 15 people headed to a Mississippi casino. Afghanistan's first direct presidential election began. (Interim president Hamid Karzai emerged the winner.) Australian Prime Minister John Howard won a historic fourth term in national elections.

One year ago: Calm gave way to fear in financial markets, turning a relatively steady day into a rout that pushed the Dow Jones industrials below 9,000 -- to 8,579.19 -- for the first time in five years. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio of France won the Nobel Prize in literature.

Today's birthdays: Actor Fyvush Finkel is 87. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 68. R&B singer Nona Hendryx is 65. Singer Jackson Browne is 61. Actor Gary Frank is 59. Actor Richard Chaves is 58. Actor Robert Wuhl is 58. Actress-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 57. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 56. Actor Scott Bakula is 55. Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 55. Actor John O'Hurley is 55. Writer-producer-director-actor Linwood Boomer is 54. San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary is 51. Actor Michael Pare is 51. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 49. Rock singer-musician Kurt Neumann (The BoDeans) is 48. Country singer Gary Bennett is 45. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is 45. Singer P.J. Harvey is 40. Retired golfer Annika Sorenstam is 39. Country singer Tommy Shane Steiner is 36. Actor Steve Burns is 36. Sean Lennon is 34. Actor Randy Spelling is 31. Actor Brandon Routh is 30. Actor Zachery Ty Bryan is 28. Actress Spencer Grammer is 26. Actor Tyler James Williams ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 17.

Thought for today: "The world is divided into people who think they are right." -- Anonymous

[Associated Press]

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