Sunday, October 30

This Day In History

• 1735   John Adams, the second president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Mass.
  
• 1885   Poet Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho.
  
• 1938   The radio play ''The War of the Worlds,'' starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS. The live drama, which employed fake news reports, panicked some listeners who thought its portrayal of a Martian invasion was true.
  
• 1952   Dr. Albert Schweitzer, missionary surgeon and founder of Lambaréné leper Hospital in République du Gabon, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work. Schweitzer donated his prize to the hospital.
  
• 1953   Gen. George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
  
• 1961   The Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb.
  
• 1961   The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb.
  
• 1975   The New York Daily News ran the headline ''Ford to City: Drop Dead'' a day after President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.
  
• 1989   Mitsubishi Estate Co., a major Japanese real estate concern, announced it was buying 51 percent of Rockefeller Group Inc. of New York.
  
• 1997   A jury in Cambridge, Mass., convicted British au pair Louise Woodward of second-degree murder in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. The judge later reduced the verdict to manslaughter and set Woodward free.
  
• 1998   In Nicaragua, a mudslide caused by Hurricane Mitch killed at least 2,000 people.
  
• 2000   Comedian, TV host, author and composer Steve Allen died at age 78.
  
• 2002   Walter Mondale returned to politics as Minnesota Democrats tapped the former vice president to run for the seat of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone less than a week before the election.
  
• 2002   Rapper Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was killed in a shooting in New York; he was 37.
  

Happy Birthday To

• 1735   John Adams (2nd U.S. President [1797-1801], 1st Vice President; married to Abigail Smith [two sons, three daughters]; nickname: Atlas of Independence; father of John Quincy Adams [6th U.S. President]; died July 4, 1826)
  
• 1882   William ‘Bull’ (Frederick) Halsey Jr. (U.S. Naval Commander and Admiral: WWII: South Pacific arena; his flagship: USS Missouri; died Aug 16, 1959)
  
• 1893   Charles Atlas (Angelo Siciliano) (bodybuilder: 97-lb. weakling who had sand kicked in his face advertisement; died Dec 24, 1972)
  
• 1896   Ruth Gordon (Jones) (Academy Award-winning actress)
  
• 1915   Fred Friendly (broadcast journalist; TV producer: CBS, PBS; died Mar 3, 1998)
  
• 1945   Henry Winkler (actor: Happy Days)