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On This Day: Ernesto 'Che' Guevara executed

On Oct. 9, 1967, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, a leading figure in the 1959 Cuban revolution, was executed by the Bolivian military.

By UPI Staff
Ernesto "Che" Guevara's body is prepared for public display following his capture and execution by Bolivian troops in 1967. File Photo by Freddy Alborta/UPI
1 of 5 | Ernesto "Che" Guevara's body is prepared for public display following his capture and execution by Bolivian troops in 1967. File Photo by Freddy Alborta/UPI

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1888, 40 years after construction began, the Washington Monument opens to the public. Work on the obelisk was halted from 1854 to 1877 due to a lack of funds, internal squabbling within the Washington National Monument Society, and the American Civil War.

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In 1919, the Cincinnati Reds win the World Series defeating the Chicago White Sox. Eight members of the White Sox would be accused of intentionally losing games in exchange for money from gamblers in what would become known as the Black Sox Scandal. The players were later found not guilty, though all were banned from the sport for life.

In 1931, gangster Al Capone's Florida spending told at tax evasion trial. The government's contention was that if Mr. Capone was "rich enough to be a moviesque Florida Play-boy, then he certainly must have an income worthy of taxation."

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

In 1931, the Japanese government endorses military action against Manchuria. The invasion was one of a series of battles and skirmishes which took place in the run-up to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

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In 1934, King Alexander of Yugoslavia was assassinated by a Croatian terrorist during a state visit to France.

In 1967, one day after being captured in the jungles of Bolivia where he was waging a guerrilla war, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, a leading figure in the 1959 Cuban revolution, is executed by the Bolivian military.

In 1974, Oskar Schindler, the German businessman credited with saving 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust, died at the age of 66.

In 1975, Andrei Sakharov, father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, became the first Soviet citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1983, James Watt, facing U.S. Senate condemnation for a racially insensitive remark, resigned as U.S. President Ronald Reagan's interior secretary.

File Photo by Mike Hill/UPI

In 1992, NASA announced that the unmanned Pioneer spacecraft was apparently lost after orbiting Venus for 14 years.

In 1997, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned after Communist members of Parliament withdrew their support for his coalition government. Prodi was also PM from May 2006 until January 2008.

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In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

In 2012, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report said Transportation Security Administration screeners routinely failed to check bags for explosives at Honolulu International Airport. It said inspectors found "a lack of effective and consistent supervision of TSA screeners by their managers, as well as inconsistent adherence to operating procedures."

In 2012, Malala Yousafzai, an advocate for girls' education in Pakistan, survived being shot three times as she attempted to board a bus to school.

In 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Janet L. Yellen to lead the Federal Reserve System. She officially became Fed chairwoman in early 2014.

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

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