October tenth

Today's Highlight in History:
On October tenth, 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office.

On this date:
In 1845, the US Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland.

In 1886, the tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, New York.

In 1911, revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China's Manchu dynasty.

In 1935, George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess" opened on Broadway.

In 1938, Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

In 1943, Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.

In 1970, Quebec Labor Minister Pierre Laporte was kidnapped by the Quebec Liberation Front, a militant separatist group. (Laporte's body was found about a week later.)

In 1970, Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule.

In 1978, President Carter signed a bill authorizing the Susan B. Anthony dollar.

In 1985, US fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship "Achille Lauro" to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody.

Ten years ago: The space shuttle "Discovery" landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending a virtually flawless four-day mission. The Oakland A's swept to the American League pennant and their third straight World Series by defeating the Boston Red Sox, 3-to-1.

Five years ago: University of Chicago professor Robert E. Lucas won the Nobel Prize in economics for demonstrating how people's fears and expectations can frustrate policymakers' efforts to shape the economy. World chess champion Garry Kasparov won a month-long championship match against Viswanathan Anand.

One year ago: Portugal's governing Socialist Party was returned to power by a comfortable margin in a general election. Six college students getting out of their cars or walking along a highway on their way to a fraternity party at Texas A-and-M University were struck and killed by a pickup truck whose driver who had fallen asleep.

"The truth (is) that there is only one terminal dignity -- love. And the story of a love is not important -- what is important is that one is capable of love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity."

-- Helen Hayes, American actress (1900-1993).