2005: The Chicago White Sox win the World Series. Chicago swept the Houston Astros in four games, clinching the title with a 1-0 win in Houston. It was the franchise's first championship since 1917, ending a drought of 88 years.
2001: President George W. Bush signs the USA PATRIOT Act into law. Congress passed the measure about six weeks after the September 11 attacks. It widened the search and surveillance powers of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and it has been debated over civil liberties ever since.
1984:The Terminator opens in U.S. theaters. Arnold Schwarzenegger played a cyborg assassin sent back in time, with Linda Hamilton as his target, Sarah Connor. The low-budget hit made Schwarzenegger a major star and established James Cameron as a director studios would trust with big films.
1979: South Korean President Park Chung Hee is assassinated. He was shot at a private dinner in Seoul by Kim Jae Kyu, his longtime friend and the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. Park had ruled since seizing power in a 1961 military coup, and Kim was later sentenced to death.
1970: Muhammad Ali returns to the boxing ring. Fighting in Atlanta after more than three years away, he beat Jerry Quarry when the bout was stopped after three rounds. Ali had been barred from boxing for refusing induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
1958: The Boeing 707 enters passenger service with Pan Am. The first American jet airliner flew its inaugural Pan American World Airways route from New York to Paris. The 707 helped open the jet age, making long-distance air travel faster and more common.
1955: Austria declares its permanent neutrality. The constitutional law was enacted after the Allied occupation that followed World War II came to an end. Austrians now mark October 26 as their National Day.
1918: German General Erich Ludendorff is forced to resign. Emperor William II removed him on the advice of Chancellor Prince Maximilian of Baden, who was trying to arrange an armistice. Ludendorff had largely directed Germany's war effort alongside Paul von Hindenburg, and the war ended about two weeks later.
1905: Workers in St. Petersburg form a soviet. The workers' council was created amid a general strike during the Russian Revolution of 1905, with Leon Trotsky among its leaders. Authorities broke it up later that year, but it served as a model for the soviets of 1917.
1881: The gunfight at the O.K. Corral breaks out in Tombstone. Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday faced the Clanton and McLaury brothers and their allies in the Arizona Territory town. The shootout lasted about 30 seconds and left Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury dead, becoming the most famous gunfight of the Old West.
1825: The Erie Canal officially opens. Built over roughly eight years and championed by New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, it linked the Great Lakes at Buffalo with the Hudson River at Albany and on to New York City. The waterway helped make New York City the nation's leading commercial center and set off a wave of canal building across the country.
1813: British and Canadian forces win the Battle of Châteauguay. During the War of 1812, a smaller force led by Charles de Salaberry turned back an American army advancing toward Montreal. The defeat helped end the U.S. campaign against Montreal that year.
1795: France's National Convention is dissolved. The assembly had governed France through the most radical years of the French Revolution, including the founding of the republic and the trial of Louis XVI. It was replaced by a new government called the Directory.
Born on This Day
1986: Schoolboy Q, American rapper Turns 40. Los Angeles rapper and Top Dawg Entertainment artist known for the album Oxymoron.
1983: Francisco Liriano, Dominican baseball pitcher Minnesota connection: he pitched for the Minnesota Twins, was AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2010, and threw a no-hitter in 2011.
1978: CM Punk, American professional wrestler Turns 48. Former WWE champion famous for his 2011 “pipe bomb” promo.
1977: Jon Heder, American actor Turns 49. Played the title role in Napoleon Dynamite.
1973: Seth MacFarlane, American animator, actor and singer Turns 53. Creator and voice of Family Guy and creator of The Orville.
1967: Keith Urban, Australian-American country singer Turns 59. Country hitmaker behind “Somebody Like You” and a former American Idol judge.
1963: Natalie Merchant, American singer-songwriter Former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs who went solo with hits like “Carnival.”
1963: Tom Cavanagh, Canadian actor Starred in the TV series Ed and played Harrison Wells on The Flash.
1962: Cary Elwes, English actor Turns 64. Played Westley in The Princess Bride.
1961: Dylan McDermott, American actor Turns 65. Starred in The Practice and American Horror Story.
1956: Rita Wilson, American actress and singer Turns 70. Known for Sleepless in Seattle and producing My Big Fat Greek Wedding; married to Tom Hanks.
1954: James Pickens Jr., American actor Plays Dr. Richard Webber on Grey's Anatomy.
1951: Bootsy Collins, American funk bassist and singer Funk legend who played with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic before leading Bootsy's Rubber Band.
1947: Hillary Rodham Clinton, American politician Turns 79. Former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, and the first woman to win a major party's presidential nomination.
1946: Pat Sajak, American game show host Turns 80. Hosted Wheel of Fortune for more than four decades.
1945: Jaclyn Smith, American actress One of the original stars of Charlie's Angels.
1945: Pat Conroy, American author Wrote The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini.
1942: Bob Hoskins, English actor Starred in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mona Lisa.
1914: Jackie Coogan, American actor Child star of Charlie Chaplin's The Kid who later played Uncle Fester on The Addams Family.
1911: Mahalia Jackson, American gospel singer Known as the Queen of Gospel, she sang at the 1963 March on Washington.
