Today's Highlight in History:
In Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect. (On this date in 1949, construction began on the U.N. headquarters in New York.)
On this date:
In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.
In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent as Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California transmitted a telegram to President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1901, widow Anna Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
In 1931, the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York and New Jersey, was officially dedicated (it opened to traffic the next day).
In 1939, Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded their signature theme, "Let's Dance," for Columbia Records in New York. Nylon stockings were sold publicly for the first time, in Wilmington, Del.
In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit, "I shall go to Korea" as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)
In 1980, the merchant freighter SS Poet departed Philadelphia bound for Port Said, Egypt, with a crew of 34 and a cargo of grain; it disappeared en route and has not been heard from since.
In 1989, former television evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced by a judge in Charlotte, N.C., to 45 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. (The sentence was later reduced to eight years; it was further reduced to four for good behavior.)
In 2002, authorities arrested Army veteran John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Md., in connection with the Washington-area sniper attacks.
Ten years ago: An Israeli court sentenced American teenager Samuel Sheinbein to 24 years in prison for killing an acquaintance in Maryland in 1997. Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., died at Bethesda Naval Hospital at age 77. The New York Yankees took Game 2 of the World Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves, 7-2.
