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Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2022. There are 67 days left in the year.

Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Knight is 82. Author Anne Tyler is 81. Political strategist James Carville is 78. Rock musician Matthias Jabs is 66. Actor Nancy Cartwright (TV: “The Simpsons”) is 65. Rock musician Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers; Chickenfoot) is 61. Actor-comedian-TV host Samantha Bee is 53. Actor Adam Goldberg is 52. Actor-singer Adam Pascal is 52. 52. Actor Craig Robinson is 51. Actor Mehcad Brooks is 42. Pop singer Katy Perry is 38. San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto is 24.

In 1760, Britain’s King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II.

In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown went on trial in Charles Town, Virginia, for his failed raid at Harpers Ferry. (Brown was convicted and hanged.)

In 1881, artist Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain.

In 1910, “America the Beautiful,” with words by Katharine Lee Bates and music by Samuel A. Ward, was first published.

In 1945, Taiwan became independent of Japanese colonial rule.

In 1960, the Bulova Watch Co. introduced its electronic “Accutron” model.

In 1962, during a meeting of the UN Security Council, US. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba; Stevenson then presented photographic evidence of the bases to the Council.

In 1971, the UN General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.

In 1983, a US-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect US citizens there.

In 1986, in Game 6 of the World Series, the New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning, defeating the Boston Red Sox 6-5 and forcing a seventh game; the tie-breaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner’s error on Mookie Wilson’s slow grounder. (The Mets went on to win the Series.)

In 1994, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, claimed that a Black carjacker had driven off with her two young sons (Smith later confessed to drowning the children in John D. Long Lake, and was convicted of murder). Three defendants were convicted in South Africa of murdering American exchange student Amy Biehl. (In 1998, all three were granted amnesty by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.)

In 1999, golfer Payne Stewart and five others were killed when their Learjet flew uncontrolled for four hours before crashing in South Dakota; Stewart was 42.

In 2002, Democratic US Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota along with his wife, daughter and five others, a week and a-half before the election.

In 2012, President Barack Obama, seeking to shore up support among women, intensified his pressure on Mitt Romney to break any ties with a Republican Senate candidate, Richard Mourdock of Indiana, who said that if a woman became pregnant from rape it was “something God intended.” Romney ignored the emotional social issue, holding to an optimistic campaign tone as he fought for victory in crucial Ohio.

In 2017, two women who said they had been lost at sea for nearly six months were rescued by a US Navy ship in the Pacific. (The women said they had set out from Honolulu for what was supposed to be an 18-day journey to Tahiti in May but that they encountered a storm; records showed no severe weather in the area at the time, and other inconsistencies in their story came to light in the days after their rescue.) CBS News named correspondent Jeff Glor as anchor of the “CBS Evening News.” The US government announced that all incoming flights to the United States would be subject to new security screening procedures before takeoff.

Last year, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed redrawn voting maps that paved a safer path for the GOP’s slipping majority in the state. Sudan’s military seized power, dissolving the transitional government and arresting the prime minister; thousands of people flooded the streets to protest the coup, and the Sudan Doctors’ Committee said three protesters were killed when security forces opened fire. Hertz announced that it would buy 100,000 electric vehicles from Tesla, one of the largest purchases of battery-powered cars in history.