On This Day in History - October 19th - Almanac

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 19, the 293rd day of 2016 with 73 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Mercury. Evening stars are Venus, Saturn, Mars, Neptune and Uranus.

Those born on this day are under the sign of Libra. They include English physician and scholar Thomas Browne in 1605 (who also died on this day in 1682); abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay in 1810; motion picture pioneer Louis Lumiere in 1862; baseball Hall of Fame member Mordecai Brown in 1876; historian and city planner Lewis Mumford in 1895; actor LaWanda Page in 1920; newspaper columnist Jack Anderson in 1922; English spy novelist John Le Carre, born David Cornwell, in 1931 (age 85); pop artist Peter Max in 1937 (age 79); actor Michael Gambon in 1940 (age 76); actor John Lithgow, feminist Patricia Ireland and singer Jeannie C. Riley, all in 1945 (age 71); British writer Philip Pullman in 1946 (age 70); U.S. political figure Grover Norquist in 1956 (age 60); singer Jennifer Holliday in 1960 (age 56); former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield in 1962 (age 54); television personality Ty Pennington in 1965 (age 52); film director Jon Favreau in 1966 (age 50); Amy Carter, daughter of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in 1967 (age 49); and Canadian director Jason Reitman (age 39).

On this date in history:

In 1781, Britain's Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered with more than 7,000 troops to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Va., effectively ending the American War of Independence and guaranteeing the colonialists freedom from the Crown.

In 1789, John Jay, one of the founding fathers and president of the Continental Congress, was sworn in as first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

In 1812, Napoleon's beaten French army began its long, disastrous retreat from Moscow.

In 1964, under the leadership of new Communist Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev, the Kremlin moved toward patching up its grievances with Red China.

In 1973, the Israeli military was pitched in a two-front battle against Arab forces, in the south against Egypt, and in the north against the armies of Syria, Iraq and Jordan. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia threatened a total cutoff of oil shipments to the United States unless they halted all military aid to Israel. This standoff would lead to the 1973 oil crisis.

In 1982, carmaker John DeLorean was arrested in Los Angeles and charged in a $24 million cocaine scheme aimed at salvaging his bankrupt sports car company. He was tried and acquitted.

In 1994, a terrorist bombing killed more than 20 people on a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel.

In 2005, a defiant Saddam Hussein pleaded innocent as he went on trial in Baghdad on charges of murder and torture during his reign as president of Iraq. Saddam was executed Dec. 30, 2006.

In 2008, two weeks before Election Day, Colin Powell, a Republican and former secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president.

In 2009, the U.S. government announced it would no longer prosecute people who use or sell marijuana for medicinal purposes if they are complying with state laws.

In 2012, Big Tex, the 52-foot statue that welcomes visitors to the Texas State Fair for 60 years, burned to the ground. Authorities said the fire apparently was caused by an electrical short in Tex's motorized boot. The giant was replaced with a new structure the following year.

In 2013, a violin played by the musical conductor of the Titanic as the ship sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic in 1912 sold for more than $1.7 million at an auction in London.

A thought for the day: "Youngsters of Little League can survive under-coaching a lot better than over-coaching." -- baseball Hall of Fame member Willie Mays.