TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 19, the 292nd day of 2021. There are 73 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 19, 2001, U.S. special forces began operations on the ground in Afghanistan, opening a significant new phase of the assault against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

On this date:

In 1781, British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, as the American Revolution neared its end.

In 1789, John Jay was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States.

In 1944, the U.S. Navy began accepting Black women into WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).

In 1950, during the Korean Conflict, United Nations forces entered the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

In 1953, the Ray Bradbury novel “Fahrenheit 451,” set in a dystopian future where books are banned and burned by the government, was first published by Ballantine Books.

In 1960, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-down protest at a lunch counter in Atlanta. (Sent to prison for a parole violation over a traffic offense, King was released after three days following an appeal by Robert F. Kennedy.)

In 1977, the supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City.

In 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value (its biggest daily percentage loss), to close at 1,738.74 in what came to be known as “Black Monday.”

In 2002, in York, Pa., former mayor Charlie Robertson was acquitted and two other men were convicted in the shotgun slaying of Lillie Belle Allen, a young Black woman, during race riots that tore the city apart in 1969.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.

Today’s Birthdays: Artist Peter Max is 84. Actor John Lithgow is 76. Singer Jeannie C. Riley is 76.Talk show host Charlie Chase is 69. Singer Jennifer Holliday is 61. Retired boxer Evander Holyfield is 59. Host Ty Pennington (TV: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) is 57. Amy Carter is 54. “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker is 52.

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