2015: China announces it is ending its one-child policy. The government said couples would be allowed to have two children beginning in 2016. The rule, in place since around 1980, was relaxed amid worries about an aging population and a shrinking workforce.
1998: Hurricane Mitch makes landfall in northern Honduras. The storm, which had earlier reached Category 5 strength, stalled over Central America and unleashed catastrophic flooding and mudslides, especially in Honduras and Nicaragua. About 11,000 people died, making it one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
1998: John Glenn returns to space at age 77 aboard the shuttle Discovery. The former Ohio senator, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit Earth, flew on mission STS-95. The flight made him the oldest person to travel into space at the time.
1995: Screenwriter Terry Southern dies at 71. He earned Academy Award nominations for co-writing Dr. Strangelove with Stanley Kubrick and for Easy Rider. He was also known for the satirical novel Candy.
1969: The first message is sent over ARPANET, forerunner of the internet. Researchers at UCLA linked to a computer at the Stanford Research Institute. The system crashed after the first two letters of the word “login,” but the link was soon working.
1956: Israel invades Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, starting the Suez Crisis. The attack, coordinated with Britain and France, followed Egypt's seizure of the Suez Canal and was aimed at regaining control of the canal area. Pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union later forced the invading forces to withdraw.
1950: King Gustav V of Sweden dies in Stockholm. He reigned from 1907 until his death at 92 and championed Swedish neutrality during World War II. His son became king as Gustaf VI Adolf.
1933: Painter George Luks dies at 66. He was a member of the Ashcan school of American realists, known for lively, gritty scenes of New York street life such as Allen Street.
1929: The stock market crashes on “Black Tuesday.” Panic selling swept the New York Stock Exchange, ending the booming bull market of the 1920s. The crash helped usher in the Great Depression.
1923: The Republic of Turkey is proclaimed. It emerged from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, largely through the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He became the republic's founder and first president, with Ankara as its capital.
1901: Leon Czolgosz is executed for assassinating President William McKinley. The anarchist shot McKinley in September 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, and the president died about a week later. Czolgosz was put to death in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York.
1709: The Cistercian nuns of Port-Royal are expelled from their abbey in France. The convent near Paris had become a center of Jansenism, a Catholic movement condemned by the church. On the orders of King Louis XIV, the nuns were dispersed and sent into exile, and the abbey was later torn down.
1618: Sir Walter Raleigh is executed for treason in London. The English adventurer, courtier, and writer had been convicted years earlier of plotting against King James I. After a failed expedition to South America in search of gold, which angered Spain, the old death sentence was carried out by beheading.
Born on This Day
1994: Danielle Hunter, American football player Pass rusher who starred for the Minnesota Vikings for eight seasons before joining the Houston Texans.
1987: Tove Lo, Swedish pop singer Turns 39. Known for the hit “Habits (Stay High).”
1987: Andy Dalton, American football player Longtime starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals.
1981: Amanda Beard, American swimmer Olympic gold medalist in the breaststroke.
1980: Ben Foster, American actor Turns 46. Known for 3:10 to Yuma and Hell or High Water.
1972: Gabrielle Union, American actress Turns 54. Starred in Bring It On and Bad Boys II.
1972: Tracee Ellis Ross, American actress Turns 54. Star of Black-ish and Girlfriends.
1971: Winona Ryder, American actress Turns 55. Known for Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Stranger Things.
1967: Rufus Sewell, English actor Turns 59. Known for A Knight's Tale and The Man in the High Castle.
1967: Joely Fisher, American actress Played Paige on the sitcom Ellen.
1967: Beth Chapman, American reality TV personality Co-star with her husband on Dog the Bounty Hunter.
1961: Randy Jackson, American singer Turns 65. Youngest brother in the Jacksons and co-writer of “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).”
1957: Dan Castellaneta, American voice actor and comedian Turns 69. The voice of Homer Simpson on The Simpsons.
1955: Kevin DuBrow, American rock singer Lead singer of Quiet Riot, known for “Cum On Feel the Noize.”
1948: Kate Jackson, American actress Starred in Charlie's Angels and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
1947: Richard Dreyfuss, American actor Turns 79. Starred in Jaws and won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl.
1946: Peter Green, English guitarist and singer Founder of Fleetwood Mac and writer of “Black Magic Woman.”
1945: Melba Moore, American singer and actress Tony winner for Purlie and R&B hitmaker of the 1970s and 1980s.
1944: Denny Laine, English rock musician Sang “Go Now” with the Moody Blues and played with Paul McCartney in Wings.
1942: Bob Ross, American painter and TV host Host of the PBS show The Joy of Painting, famous for his “happy little trees.”
