Today is Monday, Oct. 28, the 302nd day of 2024. There are 64 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Oct. 28, 2016, the FBI dropped what amounted to a political bomb on the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton when it announced it was investigating whether emails on a device belonging to disgraced ex-congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of Clinton’s closest aides, Huma Abedin, might contain classified information.
Also on this date:
In 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a legislative act establishing Harvard College.
In 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first New York store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan.
In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.
In 1919, Congress enacted the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of Prohibition, over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto.
In 1922, fascism came to Italy as Benito Mussolini took control of the government.
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary.
In 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of missile bases in Cuba; in return, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from U.S. installations in Turkey.
In 1991, what became known as “The Perfect Storm” began forming hundreds of miles east of Nova Scotia; lost at sea during the storm were the six crew members of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts.
In 2001, the families of people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack gathered in New York for a memorial service filled with prayer and song.
In 2012, the San Francisco Giants won their second World Series title in three years, beating the Detroit Tigers to complete a four-game sweep.
In 2018, The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series in five games.
In 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company was rebranding itself as Meta, an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future, while keeping the same name for the social network itself.
In 2022, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took control of Twitter for $44 billion after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty.
In 2022, Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked and severely beaten by an assailant with a hammer who broke into their San Francisco home.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Jazz singer Cleo Laine is 97.
- Actor Joan Plowright is 95.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens is 87.
- Actor Jane Alexander is 85.
- Actor Dennis Franz is 80.
- Actor-singer Telma Hopkins is 76.
- TV personality and Olympic gold medal decathlete Caitlyn Jenner is 75.
- Actor Annie Potts is 72.
- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is 69.
- Actor Daphne Zuniga (ZOO’-nih-guh) is 62.
- Actor Lauren Holly is 61.
- Talk show host-comedian Sheryl Underwood is 61.
- Football Hall of Famer Steve Atwater is 58.
- Actor-comedian Andy Richter is 58.
- Actor Julia Roberts is 57.
- Actor Jeremy Davies is 56.
- Singer Ben Harper is 55.
- Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis is 52.
- Country singer Brad Paisley is 52.
- Actor Joaquin Phoenix is 50.
- Actor Gwendoline Christie is 46.
- Actor Matt Smith is 42.
- Actor Troian Bellisario is 39.
- Singer-songwriter Frank Ocean is 37.
- Tennis player Taylor Fritz is 27.
- Actor Nolan Gould is 26.