Today in History – Oct. 22
• Today is Thursday, October 22, the 295th day of 2015. There are 70 days left in the year.
• On October 22, 1962, in a nationally broadcast address, President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation.
• In 1746, Princeton University was first chartered as the College of New Jersey.
• In 1797, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris.
• In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
• In 1915, Israeli statesman Yitzhak Shamir was born in Ruzinoy, Poland, in present-day Belarus.
• In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the “American system of rugged individualism” in a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
• In 1934, bank robber Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot to death by federal agents and local police at a farm near East Liverpool, Ohio.
• In 1953, the Franco-Lao Treaty of Amity and Association effectively made Laos an independent member of the French Union.
• In 1979, the U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment – a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis.
• In 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.
• In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.
• In 1991, the European Community and the European Free Trade Association concluded a landmark accord to create a free trade zone of 19 nations by 1993.
• Ten years ago: Hurricane Wilma punished Mexico’s Caribbean coastline for a second day. Meanwhile, a record 22nd tropical storm of the season formed about 125 miles off the Dominican Republic; because the annual list of storm names had already been exhausted, forecasters called the new system Tropical Storm Alpha. A Nigerian Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed after leaving Lagos, killing all 117 on board. The Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros, 5-3, in Game 1 of the World Series.
• Five years ago: WikiLeaks released 391,831 purported Iraq war logs that suggested more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians had died in the conflict. A gang attacked a teenager’s birthday party in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, killing 14 people. The Texas Rangers clinched their first pennant with a 6-1 victory over the defending World Series champion New York Yankees in Game 6 of the AL championship series.
• One year ago: In Canada, a gunman shot to death a soldier standing guard at a war memorial, then stormed Parliament in the heart of downtown Ottawa before he was shot and killed by the usually ceremonial sergeant-at-arms. The Kansas City Royals defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-2 to even the World Series at one game apiece. Serena Williams was routed 6-0, 6-2 by Simona Halep in the round-robin round of the WTA Finals in Singapore.
• Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale is 79.
• Actor Christopher Lloyd is 77.
• Actor Derek Jacobi is 77.
• Actor Tony Roberts is 76.
• Movie director Jan de Bont is 72.
• Actress Catherine Deneuve is 72.
• Rock musician Leslie West (Mountain) is 70.
• Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is 68.
• Actor Jeff Goldblum is 63.
• Rock musician Greg Hawkes is 63.
• Movie director Bill Condon is 60.
• Actor Luis Guzman is 58.
• Actor-writer-producer Todd Graff is 56.
• Rock musician Cris Kirkwood is 55.
• Actor-comedian Bob Odenkirk is 53.
• Olympic gold medal figure skater Brian Boitano is 52.
• Christian singer TobyMac is 51.
• Singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is 50.
• Actress Valeria Golino is 49.
• Comedian Carlos Mencia is 48.
• Country singer Shelby Lynne is 47.
• Reggae rapper Shaggy is 47.
• Movie director Spike Jonze is 46.
• Rapper Tracey Lee is 45.
• Actress Saffron Burrows is 43.
• Actress Carmen Ejogo is 42.
• MLB player Ichiro Suzuki is 42.
• Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is 40.
• Christian rock singer-musician Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) is 39.
• Actor Michael Fishman is 34.
• Talk show host Michael Essany is 33.
• Rock musician Rickard Goransson (Carolina Liar) is 32.
• Rock musician Zac Hanson (Hanson) is 30.
• Actor Jonathan Lipnicki is 25.
• Actress Sofia Vassilieva is 23.
“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” — Jean de La Fontaine, French poet (1621-1695).