Today In History

Today in History: Friday, October  28, 2016
AP Highlight in History:
On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.

AP Photo/AIP

On this date in:
1636 Harvard College was founded.
1793 Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the cotton gin.
1858 Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first New York store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan.
1919 Congress enacted the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of Prohibition, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto.
1922 Fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the government.

AP Photo

1958 The Roman Catholic patriarch of Venice, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was elected pope, taking the name John XXIII.
1962 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1965 Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
1980 Republican nominee Ronald Reagan asked voters during a debate with President Jimmy Carter in Cleveland “are you better off than you were four years ago?”
2005 Vice President Dick Cheney’s top adviser, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, resigned after he was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements in the CIA leak investigation. (Libby was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison. President George W. Bush commuted his sentence.)
2006 Hall of Fame basketball coach Red Auerbach died at age 89.
2007 Cristina Fernandez was elected Argentina’s first woman president.
2009 Angela Merkel was sworn in for a second term as German chancellor.
Today’s Birthdays:
Actress Julia Roberts turns 49 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

Name Profession Age
Joan Plowright Actress 87
Charlie Daniels Country musician 80
Lenny Wilkens Hall of Fame basketball coach 79
Dennis Franz Actor (“NYPD Blue”) 72
Wayne Fontana Singer 71
Bruce Jenner Olympic track and field gold medalist 67
Annie Potts Actress (“Designing Women”) 64
Bill Gates Microsoft Corp. Chairman 61
Daphne Zuniga Actress (“Melrose Place”) 54
Lauren Holly Actress 53
Jami Gertz Actress 51
Andy Richter Actor, comedian 50
Ben Harper Rock singer 47
Brad Paisley Country singer 44
Joaquin Phoenix Actor (“Walk the Line”) 42
Frank Ocean R&B singer, rapper 29
Actor Jeremy Davies (“Lost”) turns 47 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

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