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Almanac for Oct. 24, 2026

Today is Saturday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2026. There are 68 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations formally came into existence as the Charter of the United Nations, ratified by 51 nations, took effect. The date is now observed as United Nations Day. Also on this date: In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI. In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco ...

New houses shouldn’t be built on the workers’ backs

Arguments over immigration can be smart or misguided, but they are always complicated. Let's start with an annoying one. Donald Trump's ramp-up of immigration arrests has hit the construction industry, much of whose labor force is undocumented. Employers of such workers are blaming the raids ...

Guilty of wasting our time

I shouldn't get so angry. It isn't healthy. Last week, New York state summoned me to jury duty. I went, of course. It's the law, and my duty. A jury may protect the innocent from government abuse. Ordinary citizens, not officials, decide if you are guilty. But doing our patriotic duty ...

Almanac for Oct. 23, 2026

Today is Friday, Oct. 23, the 296th day of 2026. There are 69 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 23, 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps barracks at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon, while a near-simultaneous attack on French barracks in Beirut killed 58 paratroopers. Also on this date: In 1864, Northern forces won the three-day Battle of Westport on the border between Missouri and Kansas, the largest Civil War engagement fought west of the Mississippi River, smashing ...

Almanac for Oct. 22, 2026

Today is Thursday, Oct. 22, the 295th day of 2026. There are 70 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 22, 2012, cyclist Lance Armstrong was formally stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and received a lifetime ban from Olympic sports after the International Cycling Union chose not to appeal doping charges against Armstrong by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Also on this date: In 1797, André-Jacques Garnerin of France made the first successful parachute drop, descending about 3,000 feet to the ground from a balloon over Paris. He was hailed as the first ...

The Anti-French revolt in France

"All my life," Charles de Gaulle famously said, "I have had a certain idea of France." This, though, was presumably not what he had in mind. France has been wracked by riots targeting public buildings and symbols of the nation, as well as ordinary commercial concerns. Of course, France ...