This day in history

[October 20, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2009. There are 72 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 20, 1944, during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2 1/2 years after he'd said, "I shall return."

On this date:

In 1740, Maria Theresa became ruler of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia upon the death of her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.

In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1903, a joint commission ruled in favor of the United States in a boundary dispute between the District of Alaska and Canada.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry.

In 1964, the 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, died in New York at age 90.

In 1967, seven men were convicted in Meridian, Miss., of violating the civil rights of three slain civil rights workers.

In 1968, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

In 1973, in the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre," special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned.

In 1979, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated in Boston.

In 1994, actor Burt Lancaster died in Los Angeles at age 80.

Ten years ago: The government laid out new rules to protect children's privacy on the Internet and to shield them from commercial e-mail. Elizabeth Dole abandoned her Republican bid to become America's first woman president.

Five years ago: A U.S. Army staff sergeant, Ivan "Chip" Frederick, pleaded guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. (Frederick was sentenced to eight years in prison; he was paroled in 2007.) After being just three outs from getting swept in the AL championship series three nights earlier, the Boston Red Sox finally beat the New York Yankees, winning Game 7 in a 10-3 shocker to become the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 postseason series deficit. ABC announced it was dropping the Miss America beauty pageant (it was later picked up by cable country musical network CMT, then cable channel TLC).

One year ago: A rising wave of optimism lifted Wall Street, propelling the Dow Jones industrials up more than 400 points on more signs of a reviving credit market and hints from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the government would take more steps to help the economy. Arkansas TV anchorwoman Anne Pressly was found severely beaten in her Little Rock home; she died several days later. (A suspect, Curtis Vance, faces trial.) Taliban gunmen in Kabul, Afghanistan killed Christian aid worker Gayle Williams, a British-South African national. Sister Emmanuelle, a Belgium-born nun who'd lived for years in Cairo's slums, died in Callian, France at age 99.

Today's birthdays: Actor William Christopher is 77. Japan's Empress Michiko is 75. Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson is 72. Singer Tom Petty is 59. Actor William "Rusty" Russ is 59. Actress Melanie Mayron is 57. Baseball All-Star Keith Hernandez is 56. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is 54. Movie director Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire") is 53. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is 52. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 51. Rock musician Jim Sonefeld (Hootie & The Blowfish) is 45. Rock musician David Ryan is 45. Rock musician Doug Eldridge (Oleander) is 42. Political commentator and blogger Michelle Malkin is 39. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 38. Singer Dannii Minogue is 38. Country musician Jeff Loberg is 33. Actor John Krasinski is 30. Actress Jennifer Nicole Freeman ("My Wife and Kids") is 24.

Thought for today: "Everybody's private motto: It's better to be popular than right." -- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

[Associated Press]

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