By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Oct. 10, the 284th day of 2020. There are 82 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On Oct. 10, 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland.

On this date:

In 1911, Chinese revolutionaries launched an uprising which led to the collapse of the Qing (or Manchu) Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.

In 1913, the Panama Canal was effectively completed as President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph, setting off explosives that destroyed a section of the Gamboa dike.

In 1917, legendary jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after the official was refused seating in a Howard Johnsonís restaurant near Dover, Delaware.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy, responding to the Thalidomide birth defects crisis, signed an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requiring pharmaceutical companies to prove that their products were safe and effective prior to marketing.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office.

In 1985, U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro (ah-KEEí-leh LOWí-roh) to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. Actor-director Orson Welles died in Los Angeles at age 70; actor Yul Brynner died in New York at age 65.

In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams, were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2001, U.S. jets pounded the Afghan capital of Kabul. President George W. Bush unveiled a list of 22 most-wanted terrorists, including Osama bin Laden

In 2004, Christopher Reeve, the ìSupermanî of celluloid who became a quadriplegic after a May 1995 horse riding accident, died in Mount Kisco, New York, at age 52.

In 2014, Malala Yousafzai (mah-LAHí-lah YOOí-suhf-zeye), a 17-year-old Pakistani girl, and Kailash Satyarthi (KYí-lash saht-YAHRí-thee), a 60-year-old Indian man, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives for the right of children to receive an education and to live free from abuse.

In 2016, amid controversy over Donald Trumpís past sexual comments about women, House Speaker Paul Ryan effectively abandoned his partyís nominee, telling anxious fellow lawmakers he would not campaign for or defend Trump in the electionís closing weeks; pro-Trump members rebelled in anger, accusing Ryan of conceding the election to Hillary Clinton.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama delivered one of his most stinging criticisms yet of the GOP record to several thousand people in Philadelphiaís Germantown neighborhood as he urged voters not to sit out the midterm elections. Kim Jong Ilís heir apparent, Kim Jong Un, joined his father at a massive military parade in his most public appearance since being unveiled as North Koreaís next leader. Opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland, 83, died at her home in Switzerland.

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