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UPI Almanac for Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016

On Oct. 29, 1998, Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who in 1962 became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery. At 77, he became the oldest person to travel in space.

By United Press International
Astronaut John Glenn waves to well-wishers at the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center on October 27, 1998, prior to final preparations for launch of the space shuttle Discovery on October 29. NASA/UPI
Astronaut John Glenn waves to well-wishers at the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center on October 27, 1998, prior to final preparations for launch of the space shuttle Discovery on October 29. NASA/UPI | License Photo

Today is Saturday, Oct. 29, the 303rd day of 2016 with 63 to follow.

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

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Scottish biographer James Boswell in 1740; singer/composer Daniel Decatur Emmett, who wrote the words and music for "Dixie," in 1815; comedian/singer Fanny Brice in 1891; Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels in 1897; political cartoonist Bill Mauldin in 1921; Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 1938 (age 78); English rock musician Denny Laine in 1944 (age 72); singer Melba Moore in 1945 (age 71); actors Richard Dreyfuss in 1947 (age 69), Kate Jackson in 1948 (age 68), Dan Castellaneta in 1957 (age 59); Finola Hughes in 1959 (age 57), Joely Fisher in 1967 (age 49) and Winona Ryder in 1971 (age 45); journalist David Remnick in 1958 (age 58); and Rock and Roll Hall of fame member Randy Jackson in 1961 (age 55).

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On this date in history:

In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in London. He had been accused of plotting against King James I.

In 1787, "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, had its first performance.

In 1901, Leon Czolgosz was electrocuted for the assassination of President William McKinley inside the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

In 1923, following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, was proclaimed from the capitol city of Ankara.

In 1923, the musical "Runnin' Wild," which introduced the Charleston, opened on Broadway.

In 1929, the sale of 16 million shares marked the collapse of the stock market, setting the stage for the Great Depression. This day became known as "Black Tuesday."

In 1946, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin responds to United Press questions, says Churchill greatest threat to peace, denies tension growing with America.

In 1956, Israeli forces, in a plan later found to have been coordinated with Britain and France, invade the Sinai Peninsula, pushing Egyptian forces back to the Suez Canal. The Suez Crisis, which lasted just over a week, would keep the waterway closed from Oct. 1956 until March 1957.

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In 1969, the first connection on what would become the Internet was made when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute.

In 1994, a Colorado man was arrested after he sprayed the White House with bullets from an assault rifle. U.S. President Bill Clinton was inside at the time but no one was injured. The gunman was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In 1998, U.S. Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who in 1962 became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery. At 77, he became the oldest person to travel in space.

In 2004, Osama bin Laden, in a videotape to the American people, said he ordered the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

In 2006, a Boeing 737 crashed near Nigeria's Abuja airport, killing 96 of the 104 people aboard. Officials said the pilot took off after disobeying an air traffic controller and the plane crashed moments later.

In 2011, Michael D. Higgins, a 70-year-old poet and longtime member of Ireland's Parliament, was elected the country's president with 39.6 percent of the vote.

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In 2012, the storm that began as Hurricane Sandy, which had hit several Caribbean countries, made landfall in New Jersey -- after being reclassified as a still-powerful post-tropical cyclone -- and continued on a destructive path in the Northeast. Differing death tolls were reported in subsequent days. Eventually, the National Hurricane Center reported 72 deaths in the United States, 54 in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, three in the Dominican Republic, two in the Bahamas, two at sea and one each in Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Canada.

In 2013, the Marmaray rail tunnel that partly runs under the Bosphorus Strait was opened in Turkey, creating a link between the Asia and Europe sides of Istanbul. It's the first undersea tunnel connecting two continents. About 1 mile of the 8.5-mile-long tunnel is under the strait.


A thought for the day: "All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." -- U.S. President Harry S. Truman

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