Today in History: October 18, 2026

• 2019: NASA astronauts carry out the first all-woman spacewalk.
  Christina Koch and Jessica Meir worked outside the International Space Station for about seven hours to replace a failed power control unit. Every earlier spacewalk had included at least one man.
• 2007: Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan and survives a deadly bombing.
  The former prime minister came home after eight years in exile, and two blasts struck her welcome motorcade in Karachi, killing well over 100 people. She escaped unhurt but was assassinated at a rally in Rawalpindi that December.
• 1988: Roseanne premieres on ABC.
  Roseanne Barr and John Goodman starred as the heads of the working-class Conner family, and the sitcom drew praise for tackling money troubles and other touchy subjects with humor. It ran for nine seasons and later returned with a revival and the spinoff The Conners.
• 1963: A French cat named Félicette becomes the first cat in space.
  She rode a sounding rocket launched from the Sahara on a short suborbital flight and was recovered alive. She remains the only cat known to have survived a trip to space.
• 1961: The film West Side Story opens in U.S. theaters.
  Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and starring Natalie Wood, the movie version of the Broadway musical set Romeo and Juliet among rival New York gangs. It won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
• 1931: Inventor Thomas Edison dies at 84.
  He died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison held more than 1,000 patents and gave the world the phonograph, a practical electric light bulb, and early motion picture equipment, helping launch the electric age.
• 1931: Gangster Al Capone is convicted of tax evasion.
  Federal prosecutors who could not pin the Chicago mob boss on violent crimes got him for failing to pay income taxes. He was sentenced to 11 years and served part of it at Alcatraz.
• 1922: The British Broadcasting Company is founded.
  The private company was formed to run Britain's new radio service, with John Reith as its first general manager. In 1927 it was replaced by the publicly chartered British Broadcasting Corporation, today's BBC.
• 1898: Spain hands Puerto Rico over to the United States.
  The American flag was raised in San Juan after the Spanish-American War, and the island became a U.S. territory. The transfer was made official by the Treaty of Paris that December.
• 1867: The United States formally takes possession of Alaska from Russia.
  The U.S. paid about $7.2 million for the territory in a deal arranged by Secretary of State William Seward, and the American flag went up at Sitka. Critics mocked the purchase as Seward's Folly, but the date is still celebrated as Alaska Day.
• 1854: The Ostend Manifesto calls for the U.S. to take Cuba from Spain.
  Three American diplomats, including future president James Buchanan, sent the message to Secretary of State William Marcy urging the U.S. to buy Cuba or seize it by force. When it became public it caused an uproar, especially among opponents of slavery, and the plan was dropped.
• 1851: Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published in London.
  The novel about Captain Ahab's obsessive hunt for a white whale first appeared in Britain under the title The Whale. It sold poorly in Melville's lifetime but is now considered one of the great American novels.
• 1685: King Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes.
  The French king cancelled the limited religious freedoms that Protestant Huguenots had held since 1598. Persecution followed, and hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled to England, the Netherlands, Prussia and the American colonies.
• 1469: Isabella of Castile marries Ferdinand of Aragon.
  The wedding took place in Valladolid and joined the heirs of two Spanish kingdoms, laying the groundwork for a unified Spain. As monarchs they later sponsored Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage.

Born on This Day

• 1990: Brittney Griner, American basketball player
  Turns 36. WNBA star, league champion and Olympic gold medalist.
• 1988: Riley Green, American country singer
  Turns 38. Country hitmaker known for “There Was This Girl” and “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.”
• 1987: Zac Efron, American actor and singer
  Turns 39. Rose to fame in High School Musical and later starred in Neighbors and The Greatest Showman.
• 1984: Lindsey Vonn, American skier
  Turns 42. Olympic gold medalist and one of the winningest ski racers ever, born in St. Paul and raised in Burnsville, Minnesota.
• 1979: Ne-Yo, American R&B singer and songwriter
  Turns 47. Known for hits like “So Sick” and “Miss Independent.”
• 1961: Wynton Marsalis, American jazz trumpeter and composer
  Turns 65. Pulitzer Prize winner and longtime artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
• 1960: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor and martial artist
  Turns 66. Action star of Bloodsport, Kickboxer and Timecop.
• 1960: Erin Moran, American actress
  Played Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi.
• 1958: Thomas Hearns, American boxer
  Turns 68. The “Hitman,” a champion in multiple weight classes famous for his fights with Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler.
• 1956: Martina Navratilova, Czech-American tennis player
  Turns 70. Won a record nine Wimbledon singles titles.
• 1952: Chuck Lorre, American TV producer and writer
  Turns 74. Creator of The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Mom.
• 1951: Pam Dawber, American actress
  Turns 75. Played Mindy opposite Robin Williams on Mork & Mindy.
• 1947: Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter
  Wrote hits for others including “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Eli's Coming.”
• 1947: Joe Morton, American actor
  Turns 79. Known for Terminator 2 and as Rowan Pope on Scandal.
• 1939: Mike Ditka, American football player and coach
  Hall of Fame tight end who coached the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl XX title.
• 1938: Dawn Wells, American actress
  Played Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island.
• 1935: Peter Boyle, American actor
  Played the monster in Young Frankenstein and Frank Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond.
• 1928: Keith Jackson, American sportscaster
  Legendary voice of college football on ABC, famous for his “Whoa, Nelly!”
• 1927: George C. Scott, American actor
  Won the Best Actor Oscar for Patton and also starred in Dr. Strangelove.
• 1926: Chuck Berry, American rock and roll pioneer
  Wrote and recorded “Johnny B. Goode,” “Maybellene” and “Roll Over Beethoven.”