October 18
1469 - Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella of Castile, uniting Spain and making it a dominant world power.
1648 - Boston shoemakers were authorized to form a guild to protect their interests; it's the first American labor organization on record.
1685 - Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes.
1767 - The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon Line, was agreed upon.
1867 - The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia.
1892 - The first long-distance telephone line between New York and Chicago was officially opened (it could only handle one call at a time.)
1898 - The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S.
1912 - The first Balkan War broke out.
1931 - Inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, New Jersey at age 84.
1954 - Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.
1962 - James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were honored with the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
1969 - The federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
1972 - Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding President Richard Nixon's veto.
1977 - West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers.
1984 - Actor Jon-Erik Hexum, 26, was taken off life support six days after shooting himself in the head with a pistol loaded with a blank cartridge on the set of his TV show “Cover Up.”
2001 - Four disciples of Osama bin Laden were sentenced in New York to life without parole for their roles in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
2010 - Four men snared in an FBI sting were convicted of plotting to blow up New York City synagogues and shoot down military planes with the help of a paid informant who’d convinced them he was a terror operative. (James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were each sentenced to 25 years in prison.)
2011 - Gilad Shalit, a 25-year-old Israeli soldier, is released after being held for more than five years by Hamas. He is exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Shalit had been held in Gaza since Palestinian militants kidnapped him in 2006.
2012 - The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. (The following June, the Supreme Court would use that case to strike down provisions keeping legally-married same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits that were otherwise available to married couples.)
2021 - Colin Powell, a trailblazing soldier and diplomat who was the first Black person to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also the first to serve as secretary of state, died at 84 of COVID-19 complications.
2021 - Jury selection got underway in the trial of three white men charged with fatally shooting a Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, as he was running in their Georgia neighborhood. (All three would be convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.)
Birthdays
31 - Toby Regbo (actor)
31 - Tyler Posey (actor)
32 - Bristol Palin (TV personality)
32 - Brittney Griner (basketball player)
33 - Joy Lauren (actress)
35 - Zac Efron (actor)
38 - Freida Pinto (actress/model)
38 - Esperanza Spalding (singer)
38 - Lindsey Vonn (skier)
43 - Ne-Yo (singer)
44 - Wesley Jonathan (actor)
48 - Joy Bryant (actress)
61 - Wynton Marsalis (musician)
62 - Jean-Claude Van Damme (actor)
64 - Thomas Hearns (boxer)
65 - Jon Lindstrom (actor)
66 - Martina Navratilova (tennis player)
70 - Chuck Lorre (director)
71 - Terry McMillan (actor)
72 - Pam Dawber (actress)
75 - Joe Morton (actor)
83 - Mike Ditka (football player/coach)
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Today in Sports History - October 18
1873 - The first rules for intercollegiate football were drawn up by representatives from Rutgers, Yale, Columbia and Princeton Universities.
1897 - Nebraska defeats Tarkio 16-0.
1902 - Nebraska defeats Minnesota 6-0.
1913 - Nebraska defeats Minnesota 7-0.
1919 - Notre Dame defeats Nebraska 14-9.
1924 - Nebraska defeats Colgate 33-7.
1924 - Red Grange (Illinois) scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of a game against Michigan in his debut game. He scored a fifth touchdown, intercepted a pass and threw a touchdown-pass in the second half.
1930 - Nebraska defeats Cockeye State 14-12.
1941 - Indiana defeats #15 Nebraska 21-13.
1947 - #2 Notre Dame defeats Nebraska 31-0.
1950 - Connie Mack announced that he was going to retire after 50 seasons as the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.
1952 - #19 Penn State defeats Nebraska 10-0.
1956 - NFL commissioner Bert Bell disallowed use of radio-equipped helmets by NFL quarterbacks.
1958 - Syracuse defeats Nebraska 38-0.
1967 - The American League granted permission for the Kansas City Athletics to move to Oakland, California; new franchises were also awarded to Kansas City and Seattle.
1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.
1968 - At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Bob Beamon set a record of 29'2½" in the long jump. The record remained unbroken until August 30, 1991, when Mike Powell jumped 29'4½".
1969 - Nebraska defeats Kansas 21-17.
1974 - Nate Thurmond of the Chicago Bulls records the first quadruple-double in NBA history with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks.
1975 - #4 Nebraska defeats Oklahoma State 28-20.
1977 - Reggie Jackson tied Babe Ruth's record, becoming just the second player to hit three home runs in a World Series game.
1977 - The New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games to win the World Series.
1980 - #10 Nebraska defeats Oklahoma State 48-7.
1981 - Joe Danelo of the New York Giants ties an NFL record with six field goals in a game.
1986 - #3 Nebraska defeats Missouri 48-17.
1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-American baseball team to win a World Series game, defeating the Atlanta Braves.
1992 - Randall Cunningham of the Philadelphia Eagles sets an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 3,683.
1997 - #2 Nebraska defeats Texas Tech 29-0.
2003 - #18 Nebraska defeats Texas A&M 48-12.
2008 - Nebraska defeats Cockeye State 35-7.
2009 - Tom Brady of the New England Patriots sets an NFL record with five touchdown passes in one quarter in a game against the Tennessee Titans.
2014 - #19 Nebraska defeats Northwestern 38-17.
1469 - Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella of Castile, uniting Spain and making it a dominant world power.
1648 - Boston shoemakers were authorized to form a guild to protect their interests; it's the first American labor organization on record.
1685 - Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes.
1767 - The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon Line, was agreed upon.
1867 - The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia.
1892 - The first long-distance telephone line between New York and Chicago was officially opened (it could only handle one call at a time.)
1898 - The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S.
1912 - The first Balkan War broke out.
1931 - Inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, New Jersey at age 84.
1954 - Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.
1962 - James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were honored with the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
1969 - The federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
1972 - Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding President Richard Nixon's veto.
1977 - West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers.
1984 - Actor Jon-Erik Hexum, 26, was taken off life support six days after shooting himself in the head with a pistol loaded with a blank cartridge on the set of his TV show “Cover Up.”
2001 - Four disciples of Osama bin Laden were sentenced in New York to life without parole for their roles in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
2010 - Four men snared in an FBI sting were convicted of plotting to blow up New York City synagogues and shoot down military planes with the help of a paid informant who’d convinced them he was a terror operative. (James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were each sentenced to 25 years in prison.)
2011 - Gilad Shalit, a 25-year-old Israeli soldier, is released after being held for more than five years by Hamas. He is exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Shalit had been held in Gaza since Palestinian militants kidnapped him in 2006.
2012 - The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. (The following June, the Supreme Court would use that case to strike down provisions keeping legally-married same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits that were otherwise available to married couples.)
2021 - Colin Powell, a trailblazing soldier and diplomat who was the first Black person to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also the first to serve as secretary of state, died at 84 of COVID-19 complications.
2021 - Jury selection got underway in the trial of three white men charged with fatally shooting a Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, as he was running in their Georgia neighborhood. (All three would be convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.)
Birthdays
31 - Toby Regbo (actor)
31 - Tyler Posey (actor)
32 - Bristol Palin (TV personality)
32 - Brittney Griner (basketball player)
33 - Joy Lauren (actress)
35 - Zac Efron (actor)
38 - Freida Pinto (actress/model)
38 - Esperanza Spalding (singer)
38 - Lindsey Vonn (skier)
43 - Ne-Yo (singer)
44 - Wesley Jonathan (actor)
48 - Joy Bryant (actress)
61 - Wynton Marsalis (musician)
62 - Jean-Claude Van Damme (actor)
64 - Thomas Hearns (boxer)
65 - Jon Lindstrom (actor)
66 - Martina Navratilova (tennis player)
70 - Chuck Lorre (director)
71 - Terry McMillan (actor)
72 - Pam Dawber (actress)
75 - Joe Morton (actor)
83 - Mike Ditka (football player/coach)
======================================
Today in Sports History - October 18
1873 - The first rules for intercollegiate football were drawn up by representatives from Rutgers, Yale, Columbia and Princeton Universities.
1897 - Nebraska defeats Tarkio 16-0.
1902 - Nebraska defeats Minnesota 6-0.
1913 - Nebraska defeats Minnesota 7-0.
1919 - Notre Dame defeats Nebraska 14-9.
1924 - Nebraska defeats Colgate 33-7.
1924 - Red Grange (Illinois) scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of a game against Michigan in his debut game. He scored a fifth touchdown, intercepted a pass and threw a touchdown-pass in the second half.
1930 - Nebraska defeats Cockeye State 14-12.
1941 - Indiana defeats #15 Nebraska 21-13.
1947 - #2 Notre Dame defeats Nebraska 31-0.
1950 - Connie Mack announced that he was going to retire after 50 seasons as the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics.
1952 - #19 Penn State defeats Nebraska 10-0.
1956 - NFL commissioner Bert Bell disallowed use of radio-equipped helmets by NFL quarterbacks.
1958 - Syracuse defeats Nebraska 38-0.
1967 - The American League granted permission for the Kansas City Athletics to move to Oakland, California; new franchises were also awarded to Kansas City and Seattle.
1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.
1968 - At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Bob Beamon set a record of 29'2½" in the long jump. The record remained unbroken until August 30, 1991, when Mike Powell jumped 29'4½".
1969 - Nebraska defeats Kansas 21-17.
1974 - Nate Thurmond of the Chicago Bulls records the first quadruple-double in NBA history with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks.
1975 - #4 Nebraska defeats Oklahoma State 28-20.
1977 - Reggie Jackson tied Babe Ruth's record, becoming just the second player to hit three home runs in a World Series game.
1977 - The New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games to win the World Series.
1980 - #10 Nebraska defeats Oklahoma State 48-7.
1981 - Joe Danelo of the New York Giants ties an NFL record with six field goals in a game.
1986 - #3 Nebraska defeats Missouri 48-17.
1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-American baseball team to win a World Series game, defeating the Atlanta Braves.
1992 - Randall Cunningham of the Philadelphia Eagles sets an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 3,683.
1997 - #2 Nebraska defeats Texas Tech 29-0.
2003 - #18 Nebraska defeats Texas A&M 48-12.
2008 - Nebraska defeats Cockeye State 35-7.
2009 - Tom Brady of the New England Patriots sets an NFL record with five touchdown passes in one quarter in a game against the Tennessee Titans.
2014 - #19 Nebraska defeats Northwestern 38-17.