Today is Friday, Oct. 18, the 292nd day of 2024. There are 74 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Oct. 18, 1898, the American flag was first raised in Puerto Rico, shortly before Spain formally relinquished control of the island to the U.S.
Also on this date:
In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.
In 1931, inventor Thomas Alva Edison died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey, at the age of 84.
In 1954, Texas Instruments unveiled the Regency TR-1, the first commercially produced transistor radio.
In 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.
In 1968, American Bob Beamon shattered the previous long jump world record by nearly two feet, leaping 29 feet, 2 1/4 inches (8.90 meters) at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding President Richard Nixon’s veto.
In 1977, West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 87 hostages and four crew members and killing three of the four hijackers.
In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win and a 4-2 Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers; his success in the Fall Classic earned him the nickname “Mr. October.”
In 2018, President Donald Trump threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico if authorities could not stop a caravan of migrants making their way from Central America.
Today’s Birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka is 85. Composer Howard Shore is 78. Actor Joe Morton is 77. Author Terry McMillan is 73. Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova is 68. Boxing Hall of Famer Thomas Hearns is 66. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 64. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 63. Musician Ne-Yo is 45. Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn is 40. Jazz singer-musician Esperanza Spalding is 40. Actor Freida Pinto is 40. Actor Zac Efron is 37. WNBA center Brittney Griner is 34. Actor Tyler Posey is 33. Actor Barry Keoghan is 32.