By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Oct. 12, the 286th day of 2024. There are 80 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 12, 1976, it was announced in China that Hua Guofeng had been named to succeed the late Mao Zedong as chairman of the Communist Party, and that Mao’s widow and three others, known as the “Gang of Four,” had been arrested.

On this date:

In 1492 (according to the Old Style calendar), Christopher Columbus’ expedition arrived in the present-day Bahamas.

In 1792, the first recorded U.S. celebration of Columbus Day was held to mark the tricentennial of Christopher Columbus’ landing.

In 1870, General Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Virginia, at age 63.

In 1933, bank robber John Dillinger escaped from a jail in Allen County, Ohio, with the help of his gang, who killed the sheriff, Jess Sarber.

In 1971, the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.

In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a hotel in Brighton, England, killing five people.

In 1986, the superpower meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate, with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev unable to agree on arms control or a date for a full-fledged summit in the United States.

In 2000, 17 sailors were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.

In 2002, bombs blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians and seven Americans.

In 2007, former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming.

In 2011, a Nigerian al-Qaida operative pleaded guilty to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear; Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO’-mahr fah-ROOK’ ahb-DOOL’-moo-TAH’-lahb) defiantly told a federal judge in Detroit that he had acted in retaliation for the killing of Muslims worldwide.

In 2012, the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize for fostering peace on a continent long ravaged by war.

In 2017, the Trump administration said it would immediately halt payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law.

In 2018, Roelof “Pik” Boetha, the last foreign minister of South Africa’s apartheid era, died at age 86.

In 2021, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets said Kyrie Irving could not play or practice with them until he could be a full participant; New York City required professional athletes to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to play or practice in public venues.Today’s Birthdays: NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett is 92. Singer Sam Moore (Sam and Dave) is 89. Broadcast journalist Chris Wallace is 77.

Actor Hiroyuki Sanada is 64. Jazz musician Chris Botti (BOH’-tee) is 62. Actor Hugh Jackman is 56. Country musician Martie Maguire (The Chicks) is 55. Actor Kirk Cameron is 54. Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller is 47. Actor Josh Hutcherson is 32.