Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Oct. 23. A suicide terrorist attack on American forces took place in Beirut, Lebanon, on this date in 1983. A truck loaded with TNT was driven into the U.S. military headquarters and blown up, killing 241 U.S. Marines. A similar attack the same day on French troops killed 58 French soldiers. The event was a big reason why the United States ended its military presence in Lebanon. Advertisement It was on this date in 1942 that the British Eighth Army launched an offensive on occupying German forces at El Alamein in Egypt. The World War II battle eventually swept the Nazis out of North Africa. On a more peaceful note: following nine days of tense negotiations and marathon talks at the Wye Conference Center in Queenstown, Md., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on this date in 1998 signed an agreement to revive the stalled Middle East peace process. The British Parliament met for the first time on this date in 1707. Hungary formally declared an end to 40 years of communist rule and proclaimed itself a republic on this date in 1989, 33 years after Russian troops crushed a popular revolt against Soviet rule. Acting head of state Matyas Szuros made the announcement --- setting the stage for creation of a Western-style democracy -- from the same balcony overlooking Parliament Square which Imre Nagy stood on to address the rebels in 1956. Nagy was hanged for treason. Szuros's fate was much, much better. Advertisement And Jackie Robinson became the first black baseball player hired by a major league team on this date in 1945, when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and sent to their Montreal farm team. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
