This Day in History
1905: Tsar Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto in St. Petersburg, giving Russia a constitution, legislature, prime minister, and civil liberties.
1938: Orson Welles causes a nationwide scare with his radio broadcast of a fictitious Martian invasion in War of the Worlds.
1941: The U.S. destroyer Reuben James is torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Iceland.
1973: The House Judiciary Committee begins deliberating on procedures for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
1995: In a referendum, Quebec voters narrowly elect not to secede from Canada.
Today's Birthdays
1632: Jan Vermeer, painter (Netherlands; died 1675)
1735: John Adams, 2nd president of the United States (Braintree, MA; died 1826)
1839: Alfred Sisley, artist (Paris, France; died 1899)
1871: Paul Valery, poet (Sete, France; died 1945)
1873: Francisco Indalecio Madero, Mexican revolutionary and statesman (Parras de la Fuenta, Mexico; died 1913)
1882: William ""Bull"" Halsey, World War II Pacific fleet commander (Edison, NJ; died 1959)
1885: Ezra Pound, poet (Hailey, ID; died 1972)
1893: Charles Atlas, bodybuilder (Acri, Calabria, Italy; died 1972)
1896: Ruth Gordon, actress (Wollaston, MA; died 1985)
1915: Fred Friendly, TV news executive (New York, NY; died 1998)
1929: Joan Ganz Cooney, children's TV producer (Phoeniz, AZ)
1930: Nestor Almendros, cinematographer (Barcelona, Spain; died 1992)
1932: Louis Malle, director (Thumeries, France; died 1995)
1939: Leland H. Hartwell, geneticist and Nobel Prize winner (Los Angeles, CA). Grace Slick, singer (Evanston, IL)
1945: Henry Winkler, actor (New York, NY)
1946: Andrea Mitchell, news correspondent (New York, NY)
1951: Harry Hamlin, actor (Pasadena, CA)
1960: Diego Maradona, soccer player (Lanus, Argentina)
1970: Nia Long, actress (Brooklyn, NY)
