Today is Tuesday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2005. There are 67 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 25, 1854, the “Charge of the Light Brigade” took place during the Crimean War as an English brigade of more than 600 men, facing hopeless odds, charged the Russian army during the Battle of Balaclava and suffered heavy losses.
On this date:
In 1400, author Geoffrey Chaucer died in London.
In 1760, Britain’s King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II.
In 1918, the Canadian steamship Princess Sophia foundered off the coast of Alaska; nearly 400 people perished.
In 1929, former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall was convicted of accepting a $100,000 bribe in connection with the Elk Hills Naval Oil Reserve in California.
In 1951, peace talks aimed at ending the Korean Conflict resumed in Panmunjom after 63 days.
In 1962, U.S. ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson presented photographic evidence of Soviet missile bases in Cuba to the U.N. Security Council.
In 1971, the U.N. General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.
In 1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there.
In 1999, golfer Payne Stewart and five others were killed when their Learjet flew uncontrolled for four hours before crashing in South Dakota; Stewart was 42.
In 2002, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota 11 days before the election.
Ten years ago: A commuter train slammed into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Ill., killing seven students. John J. Sweeney was elected AFL-CIO president. The Atlanta Braves defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-2, taking a 3-1 lead in the World Series. Tennis hustler Bobby Riggs died in Leucadia, Calif., at age 77.
Five years ago: Laboring in the frigid murk of the Barents Sea, divers found and removed the first bodies from the wreckage of the nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank on Aug. 12, 2000, with the loss of all 118 sailors aboard.
One year ago: The U.S. Supreme Court announced that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist had thyroid cancer. At least 85 Muslim detainees suffocated or were crushed to death in southern Thailand after the police rounded up 1,300 people and packed them into trucks following a riot.
Today’s Birthdays: Former baseball player Bobby Thomson is 82. Former American League president Dr. Bobby Brown is 81. Actress Jeanne Cooper is 77. Actress Marion Ross is 77. Actor Tony Franciosa is 77. Country singer Jeanne Black is 68. Singer Helen Reddy is 64. Rock singer Jon Anderson (Yes) is 61. Singer Taffy Danoff (Starland Vocal Band) is 61. Rock musician Glen Tipton (Judas Priest) is 57. Actor Brian Kerwin is 56. Rock musician Matthias Jabs is 49. Actress Nancy Cartwright (“The Simpsons”) is 48. Country singer Mark Miller (Sawyer Brown) is 47. Rock musician Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 43. Actress Tracy Nelson is 42. Actor Michael Boatman is 41. Singer Speech is 37. Actor Adam Goldberg is 35. Rock musician Ed Robertson (Barenaked Ladies) is 35. Country singer Chely Wright is 35. Violinist Midori is 34. Actor Mehcad Brooks (“Desperate Housewives”) is 25. Actor Ben Gould is 25. Rhythm-and-blues singer Young Rome is 24. Singer Ciara is 20. Actress Conchita Campbell (“The 4400”) is 10.
Thought for Today: “Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.” — Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman (1804-1881).