Today in History - Oct. 11

Today is Sunday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2009. There are 81 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 11, 1884, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City.

On this date:

In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, fighting for American independence, died two days after being mortally wounded during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga.

In 1809, just over three years after the famous Lewis and Clark expedition ended, Meriwether Lewis was found dead in a Tennessee inn, an apparent suicide; he was 35.

In 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, D.C.

In 1958, the lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far out as planned, fell back to Earth, and burned up in the atmosphere.

In 1962, Pope John XXIII convened the first session of the Roman Catholic Church’s Second Ecumenical Council, also known as “Vatican II.”

In 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard. The government of Panama was overthrown in a military coup.

In 1979, Allan McLeod Cormack and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield were named co-recipients of the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in developing the CAT scan X-ray.

In 1984, space shuttle Challenger astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.

In 1991, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a “high-tech lynching.”

In 1998, Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Ten years ago: Dr. Guenter Blobel of New York’s Rockefeller University won the Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering how proteins find their rightful places in cells.

Five years ago: European Union foreign ministers lifted sanctions against Libya and eased an arms embargo. Shiite militia fighters started turning in weapons in Baghdad’s Sadr City under a weapons-for-cash disarmament program. Norwegian Finn Kydland and American Edward Prescott won the Nobel economics prize.

One year ago: President George W. Bush and foreign financial officials, meeting at the White House, displayed joint resolve in combatting the unfolding financial crisis. Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider, 58, was killed in a car accident. Composer and arranger Neal Hefti, who wrote the themes for the movie “The Odd Couple” and the TV show “Batman,” died in Toluca Lake, Calif., at age 85.

Today’s Birthdays: Author Elmore Leonard is 84. Actor Earle Hyman is 83. Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is 82. Actor Ron Leibman is 72. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is 67. Country singer Gene Watson is 66. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is 59. R&B musician Andrew Woolfolk is 59. Actress-director Catlin Adams is 59. Country singer Paulette Carlson is 58. Actor David Morse is 56. Actor Stephen Spinella is 53. Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young is 48. Actress Joan Cusack is 47. Rock musician Scott Johnson (Gin Blossoms) is 47. Comedy writer and TV host Michael J. Nelson is 45. Actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 44. College Football Hall of Fame electee Chris Spielman is 44. Actor Luke Perry is 43. Country singer-songwriter Todd Snider is 43. Actor-comedian Artie Lange is 42. Actress Jane Krakowski is 41. Baseball pitcher Orlando Hernandez is 40. Rapper U-God (Wu-Tang Clan) is 39. Rapper MC Lyte is 38. Figure skater Kyoko Ina is 37. Singer NeeNa Lee is 34. Actress Emily Deschanel is 33. Actress Michelle Trachtenberg is 24. Golfer Michelle Wie is 20.

Thought for Today: “Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady (1884-1962).