TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Saturday, Oct. 17, the 291st day of 2020. There are 75 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 17, 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

On this date:

In 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, New York, in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

In 1814, the London Beer Flood inundated the St. Giles district of the British capital as vats of beer ruptured, sending more than 320,000 gallons of liquid into the streets; up to nine people were reported killed.

In 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone was released in 1939.)

In 1939, Frank Capra’s comedy-drama “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” starring James Stewart as an idealistic junior U.S. senator, had its premiere in the nation’s capital.

In 1973, Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974.

In 1979, Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1989, an earthquake measuring 6.9 in magnitude struck northern California, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion worth of damage.

In 2007, President George W. Bush, raising Beijing’s ire, presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal and urged Chinese leaders to welcome the monk to Beijing.

In 2018, residents of the Florida Panhandle community of Mexico Beach who had fled Hurricane Michael a week earlier returned home to find homes, businesses and campers ripped to shreds; the storm had killed at least 59 people and caused more than $25 billion in damage in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Marsha Hunt is 103. Singer Jim Seals (Seals & Crofts) is 78. Singer Gary Puckett is 78. Actor Michael McKean is 73. Actor George Wendt is 72. Actor-singer Bill Hudson is 71. Astronaut Mae Jemison is 64. Country singer Alan Jackson is 62. Actor-comedian Norm Macdonald is 57. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 52. Actor Wood Harris is 51. Singer Wyclef Jean is 51. World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els is 51. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick (‘N Sync) is 49. Rapper Eminem is 48.

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