On This Day in History - October 3rd - Almanac

Today is Monday, Oct. 3, the 277th day of 2016 with 89 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Cherokee Chief John Ross, who led opposition to the forced move of his people to what is now Oklahoma, in 1790; historian George Bancroft in 1800; actor Warner Oland ("Charlie Chan") in 1879; German pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Cal von Ossietzky in 1889; writers Thomas Wolfe in 1900, James Herriot in 1916 and Gore Vidal in 1925; hockey Hall of Fame member Glenn Hall in 1931 (age 85); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Eddie Cochran in 1938; rock 'n' roll singer Chubby Checker in 1941 (age 75); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Lindsey Buckingham in 1949 (age 67); musician Keb' Mo' in 1951 (age 65); activist Rev. Al Sharpton (age 62) and guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, both in 1954; golf Hall of Fame member Fred Couples and actor/singer Jack Wagner, both in 1959 (age 57); rock drummer Tommy Lee in 1962 (age 54); actors Clive Owen in 1964 (age 52), Lena Headey in 1973 (age 43) and Neve Campbell in 1973 (age 43); singers Gwen Stefani in 1969 (age 47), India.Arie in 1975 (age 41) and Ashlee Simpson in 1984 (age 32); rappers Black Thought (The Roots) in 1971 (age 45), Talib Kweli in 1975 (age 41) and ASAP Rocky in 1988 (age 28) ; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Josh Klinghoffer (Red Hot Chili Peppers) in 1979 (age 37); NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin in 1980 (age 36); Swedish soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 1981 (age 35).

On this date in history:

In 1919, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Dolf Luque becomes the first Latino player to appear in a World Series. Luque was born in Havana, Cuba on Aug. 4, 1890.

In 1922, Rebecca Felton, a Georgia Democrat, was chosen to become the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate following the premature death of Senator Thomas E. Watson.

In 1932, following 17 years of British rule, Iraq gained its independence from the United Kingdom and was admitted to the League of Nations.

In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, starting the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, a fellow member of the League of Nations, exposed the ineffectiveness of the League, and its inability to exert control over member nations when violating its own statutes.

In 1952, Britain successfully tested its first atomic bomb, becoming the world's third nuclear power.

In 1955, the children's TV show Captain Kangaroo with Bob Keeshan in the title role was broadcast for the first time.

In 1967, folksinger and songwriter Woody Guthrie died at the age of 55.

In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko signed strategic arms limitation agreements, putting the first restrictions on the two countries' nuclear weapons.

In 1990, formerly communist East Germany merged with West Germany, ending 45 years of post-war division.

In 1992, Bill Gates, the college-dropout founder of Microsoft Corp., headed the Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest Americans, with a net worth of $6.3 billion.

In 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of charges that he killed his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. The trial, which had intense media coverage, lasted more than eight months. (In 2008, Simpson was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison in a Nevada robbery/kidnapping case.)

In 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have increased funding of the State Children's Health Insurance Program to provide health coverage to more than 10 million children. Bush said the proposal was a move toward universal healthcare, which he opposed.

In 2009, General Motors announced it was closing its Saturn line of cars.

In 2012, U.S. President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney engaged in the first of three debates. The consensus among political analysts, focus group participants and snap polls was that Romney gave the better performance in the debate in Denver.

In 2013, a woman who led police on a car chase from the White House to the U.S. Capitol was shot to death by officers. Authorities said a young child in the back seat of the car was unharmed.

A thought for the day: "It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." -- Babe Ruth