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Today is Friday, October 18, the 292nd day of 2024. There are 74 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On October 18, 1968, American Bob Beamon shattered the previous long jump world record by almost two feet with a jump of 8.90 meters at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Also on this date:
In 1867, the United States officially took possession of Alaska from Russia.
The American flag was first flown in Puerto Rico in 1898, shortly before Spain formally transferred control of the island to the US.
In 1931, inventor Thomas Alva Edison died at the age of 84 at his home in West Orange, New Jersey.
In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.
In 1962, James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were honored with the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding President Richard Nixon’s veto.
In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 victory and a 4-2 Series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers; his success in the Fall Classic earned him the nickname “Mr. October.” Also in 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa airliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 87 hostages and four crew members and killing three of the four hijackers.
In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to close the US border with Mexico if authorities could not stop a caravan of migrants heading from Central America.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka is 85.
- Composer Howard Shore is 78.
- Actor Joe Morton is 77.
- Author Terry McMillan is 73.
- Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is 68.
- Boxing Hall Famer Thomas Hearns is 66.
- Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 64.
- Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 63.
- Musician Ne-Yo is 45.
- Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn is 40.
- Jazz singer-musician Esperanza Spalding is 40.
- Actor Freida Pinto is 40.
- Actor Zac Efron is 37.
- WNBA center Brittney Griner is 34.
- Actor Tyler Posey is 33.
- Actor Barry Keoghan is 32.