more events on October 29
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2012
Hurricane Sandy devastates much of the East Coast of the US; nearly 300 die directly or indirectly from the storm.
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2008
Delta and Northwest airlines merge, forming the world’s largest airline.
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2004
For the first time, Osama bin Laden admits direct responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US; his comments are part of a video broadcast by the Al Jazeera network.
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1998
The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record up to that time, Hurricane Mitch, makes landfall in Honduras (in 2005 Hurricane Wilma surpassed it); nearly 11,000 people died and approximately the same number were missing.
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John Glenn, at age 77, becomes the oldest person to go into outer space. He is part of the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-95.
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South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports condemns both sides on the Apartheid issue for committing atrocities.
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1986
The last stretch of Britain’s M25 motorway opens.
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1983
More than 500,000 people protest in The Hague, The Netherlands, against cruise missiles.
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1972
Palestinian guerrillas kill an airport employee and hijack a plane, carrying 27 passengers, to Cuba. They force West Germany to release 3 terrorists who were involved in the Munich Massacre.
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1971
Winona Ryder, actress, producer (Beetlejuice; Girl, Interrupted).
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1969
First computer-to-computer link; the link is accomplished through ARPANET, forerunner of the Internet.
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The U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation, superseding the previous “with all deliberate speed” ruling.
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1964
Thieves steal a jewel collection–including the world’s largest sapphire, the 565-carat “Star of India,” and the 100-carat DeLong ruby–from the Museum of Natural History in New York. The thieves were caught and most of the jewels recovered.
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1958
David Remnick, journals, author, magazine editor (The New Yorker); won Pulitzer Prize for Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire (1994).
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1954
Lee Child, author; creator of the Jack Reacher novel series.
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1952
French forces launch Operation Lorraine against Viet Minh supply bases in Indochina.
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1949
Alonzo G. Moron of the Virgin Islands becomes the first African-American president of Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia.
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1948
Kate Jackson, actress, director, producer (original Charlie’s Angels TV series, Scarecrow and Mrs. King TV series).
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1947
Richard Dreyfuss, actor (American Graffiti, Jaws; won Academy Award for Best Actor for 1977’s The Goodbye Girl).
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1946
Peter Green, guitarist, songwriter, founder of the band Fleetwood Mac; regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
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1945
Melba Moore, disco and R&B singer, actress (“You Stepped into My Life,” “Lean on Me”).
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The first ball-point pen goes is sold by Gimbell’s department store in New York for a price of $12.
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1943
Don Simpson, film producer, screenwriter, actor; (co-producer Flashdance, 1985; Top Gun, 1986).
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1938
Ralph Bakshi, Palestinian-American director of live films and animated full-length films for adults including 1972’s Fritz the Cat (first animated film to be rated X by the Motion Picture Association of America), Wizards (1977) and The Lord of the Rings (1978).
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1929
Black Tuesday–the most catastrophic day in stock market history, the herald of the Great Depression. 16 million shares were sold at declining prices. By mid-November $30 billion of the $80 billion worth of stocks listed in September will have been wiped out.
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1927
Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff apparently uncovers the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert, a claim still in dispute.
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1921
Bill Mauldin, American cartoonist whose GI characters “Willie” and “Joe” appeared in Stars and Stripes newspapers during World War II.
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1910
A. J. Ayer, English philosopher.
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1905
Henry Green, novelist (Living, Party Going).
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1901
Leon Czolgosz is electrocuted for the assassination of US President William McKinley. Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot McKinley on September 6 during a public reception at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, N.Y. Despite early hopes of recovery, McKinley died September 14, in Buffalo, NY.
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1897
Joseph G. Göbbels, German Nazi Propaganda Minister who committed suicide in Hitler’s bunker.
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1891
Fanny Brice, comedian, singer and actress.
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1882
Jean Giraudoux, French dramatist, novelist and diplomat, famous for his book Tiger at the Gates.
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1814
The Demologos, the first steam-powered warship, launched in New York City.
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1787
Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni opens in Prague.
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1618
Sir Walter Raleigh is executed. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, Raleigh’s enemies spread rumors that he was opposed the accession of King James.