This day in history

[October 09, 2013]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Oct. 9, the 282nd day of 2013. There are 83 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Oct. 9, 1813, Giuseppe Verdi, the composer of such classic operas as "Aida," "La Traviata," "Rigoletto" and "Il Trovatore," was born in the Italian village of Le Roncole. (There is some dispute over Verdi's date of birth, with numerous sources saying he was actually born on Oct. 10.)

On this date:

In 1446, the Korean alphabet, created under the aegis of King Sejong, was first published.

In 1776, a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.

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

In 1910, a coal dust explosion at the Starkville Mine in Colorado left 56 miners dead.

In 1930, Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.

In 1936, the first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.

In 1940, rock and roll legend John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England.

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 1962, Uganda won autonomy from British rule.

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).

In 1987, author, politician and diplomat Clare Boothe Luce died in Washington at age 84.

Ten years ago: A suicide car bombing at a Baghdad police station killed eight people; Spanish military attache Jose Antonio Bernal Gomez was shot to death in Baghdad.

Five years 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.

One year ago: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison following his July conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse of boys. The producers of "Sesame Street" asked President Barack Obama's re-election campaign to take down an ad featuring Big Bird, saying the Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan nonprofit and does not participate in political campaigns. The ad mocked Mitt Romney's vow to end federal funding for public broadcasting.

Today's birthdays: Actor Fyvush Finkel is 91. Retired MLB All-Star Joe Pepitone is 73. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 72. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nona Hendryx is 69. Singer Jackson Browne is 65. Actor Gary Frank is 63. Actor Richard Chaves is 62. Actor Robert Wuhl is 62. Actress-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 61. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 60. Actor Scott Bakula is 59. Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 59. Actor John O'Hurley is 59. Writer-producer-director-actor Linwood Boomer is 58. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary is 55. Actor Michael Pare is 55. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 53. Rock singer-musician Kurt Neumann (The BoDeans) is 52. Country singer Gary Bennett is 49. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is 49. British Prime Minister David Cameron is 47. Singer P.J. Harvey is 44. World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam is 43. Country singer Tommy Shane Steiner is 40. Actor Steve Burns is 40. Sean Lennon is 38. Actor Randy Spelling is 35. Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae is 34. Actor Brandon Routh is 34. Actor Zachery Ty Bryan is 32. Actress Spencer Grammer is 30. Actor Tyler James Williams ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 21. Country singer Scotty McCreery (TV: "American Idol" winner) is 20.

Thought for today: "There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference." -- Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987)

[Associated Press]

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