By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Oct. 30, the 303rd day of 2021. There are 62 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire (zah-EERí), known as the ìRumble in the Jungle,î to regain his world heavyweight title.

On this date:

In 1912, Vice President James S. Sherman, running for a second term of office with President William Howard Taft, died six days before Election Day. (Sherman was replaced with Nicholas Murray Butler, but Taft, the Republican candidate, ended up losing in an Electoral College landslide to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.)

In 1921, the silent film classic ìThe Sheik,î starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered in Los Angeles.

In 1938, the radio play ìThe War of the Worlds,î starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS.

In 1945, the U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing, effective at midnight.

In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb, the ìTsar Bomba,î with a force estimated at about 50 megatons. The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalinís body from Leninís tomb.

In 1972, 45 people were killed when an Illinois Central Gulf commuter train was struck from behind by another train on Chicagoís South Side.

In 1975, the New York Daily News ran the headline ìFord to City: Drop Deadî a day after President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.

In 1984, police in Poland found the body of kidnapped pro-Solidarity priest Father Jerzy Popieluszko (YEHRí-zee pah-pee-WOOSHí-goh), whose death was blamed on security officers.

In 1995, by a razor-thin vote of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, Federalists prevailed over separatists in a Quebec secession referendum.

In 2001, Ukraine destroyed its last nuclear missile silo, fulfilling a pledge to give up the vast nuclear arsenal it had inherited after the breakup of the former Soviet Union.

In 2002, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell), a rapper with the hip-hop group Run-DMC, was killed in a shooting in New York. He was 37.

In 2005, the body of Rosa Parks arrived at the U.S. Capitol, where the civil rights icon became the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda; President George W. Bush and congressional leaders paused to lay wreaths by her casket.

Ten years ago: Britainís Sunday Telegraph published an interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad, who warned that a western intervention in Syria would lead to an ìearthquakeî that ìwould burn the whole region.î

Five years ago: The third powerful earthquake to hit Italy in two months spared human life but struck at the nationís cultural identity, destroying a Benedictine cathedral, a medieval tower and other beloved landmarks.

One year ago: A day after Walmart said it had removed ammunition and firearms from displays in U.S. stores because of ìcivil unrestî in some areas of the country, the retailer said the items had been restored to displays because the unrest had remained isolated. ìFull Houseî actor Lori Loughlin reported to a federal prison in California to begin a two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal. A Connecticut prosecutor said Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel would not face a second trial in the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley.