Today is Friday, the 28th of October 2016, the 302nd day of the year, with 64 days remaining until the end of the year. 11 days until Election Day!
- Sunrise: 7:32am
- Sunset: 6:15pm
7% of the waning moon may be visible, rising at 5:34am.
Tides at the Golden Gate:
High: 10:59am/11:36pm
Low: 4:24am/5:06pm
Special international celebrations today…
Independence Day - Czech Republic
OHI Day – Cyprus, Greece
It’s also…
Champagne Day
International Bandanna Day
National Bread Sticks Day
National Chocolate Day
National Wild Foods Day
St. Jude's Day
Feast of Simon the Apostle, patron of curriers, sawmen and tanners
On this day in…
1636 - Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts. The original name was Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was the first school of higher education in America.
1776 - The Battle of White Plains took place during the American Revolutionary War.
1793 - Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin.
1886 - The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by U.S. President Cleveland. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 152 feet tall. It was originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World."
1904 - The St. Louis Police Department became the first to use fingerprinting.
1919 - The U.S. Congress enacted the Volstead Act, also known as the National Prohibition Act. Prohibition was repealed in 1933 with the passing of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1922 - Benito Mussolini took control of the Italian government and introduced fascism to Italy.
1936 - The Statue of Liberty was rededicated by U.S. President Roosevelt on its 50th anniversary.
1940 - During World War II, Italy invaded Greece.
1949 - U.S. President Harry Truman swore in Eugenie Moore Anderson as the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. Anderson was the first woman to hold the post of ambassador.
1958 - Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected Pope. He took the name John XXIII.
1962 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the U.S. that he had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1965 - Pope Paul VI issued a decree absolving Jews of collective guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
1965 - The Gateway Arch along the waterfront in St. Louis, MO, was completed.
1976 - John D. Erlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, entered a federal prison camp in Safford, AZ, to begin serving his sentence for Watergate-related convictions.
1982 - Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev condemned the U.S. for arms buildup.
1983 - The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution "deeply deploring" the ongoing U.S.-led invasion of Grenada.
1986 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty was celebrated in New York.
1988 - Roussel Uclaf, a French manufacturer that produces the abortion pill RU486, announced it would resume distribution of the drug after the government of France demanded it do so.
1990 - Iraq announced that it was halting gasoline rationing.
1993 - Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, called for a complete blockade of Haiti to force out the military leaders.
1994 - U.S. President Clinton visited Kuwait and implied that all the troops there would be home by Christmas.
1996 - The Dow Jones Industial Average gained a record 337.17 points (or 5%). The day before the Dow had dropped 554.26 points (or 7%).
Birthday celebrants today include (or included)...
Georges Auguste Escoffier 1846 - French chef
Elsa Lanchester 1902 - Actress
Edith Head 1897 - Costume designer
Jonas Salk 1914 - Medical researcher
Bowie Kuhn 1926 - Lawyer, Major League Baseball commissioner
Cleo Laine 1927 - Singer, actress
Dody Goodman 1914 - Actress
Joan Plowright 1929 - Actress
Bruce Morton 1930 - TV news correspondent (CBS and CNN)
Suzy Parker 1932 - Model, actress
James "Jim" Beatty 1934 - Track and field athlete
Charlie Daniels 1936 - Singer (Charlie Daniels Band)
Marcian E. "Ted" Hoff, Jr. 1937 - An inventor of the microprocessor
Jane Alexander 1939 - Actress, author
Curtis Lee 1941 - Singer
Hank Marvin (Hank B. Marvin) 1941 - Guitarist (Shadows)
Dennis Franz 1944 - Actor ("NYPD Blue")
Wayne Fontana 1945 - Singer (The Mindbenders)
Telma Louise Hopkins 1948 - Singer, actress
Rickie Lee "Risky" Reynolds 1948 - Guitarist (Black Oak Arkansas)
Bruce Jenner 1949 - Track and field athlete, actor ("CHiPs")
Annie Potts 1952 - Actress ("Ghostbusters," "Pretty in Pink")
Bill H. Gates 1955- Inventor, computer programmer, co-founder of Microsoft
Stephen Morris 1957 - Musician (New Order)
Ron Hemby 1958 - Singer, guitar (The Buffalo Club)
William Reid (William Adam Reid) 1958 - Musician (The Jesus & Mary Chain)
Neville Henry 1959 - Saxophonist (The Blow Monkeys)
Daphne Zuniga 1962 - Actress ("Melrose Place," "One Tree Hill")
Lauren Holly 1963 - Actress ("Picket Fences")
Eros Ramazzotti 1963 - Musician, singer, songwriter
Paul Wylie 1964 - Figure skater
Jami Gertz 1965 - Actress ("Sixteen Candles," "Less Than Zero")
Andy Richter 1966 - Actor, comedian, sidekick of Conan O'Brien
Julia Roberts 1967 - Actress ("Pretty Woman," "Conspriracy Theory")
Caitlin Cary 1968 - Musician
Ben Harper 1969 - Singer, musician
Jeremy Davies 1969 - Actor ("Saving Private Ryan," TV:"Justified")
Brad Paisley 1972 - Singer, musician
Terrell Davis 1972 - Football player
Joaquin Phoenix 1974 - Actor
