Today in History - History - October 18th

1946Aaron Copland's 3rd Symphony premieres

1775African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.

1926Frankfurter Zeitung publishes Lenin's political testament

1962Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers record "Let's Dance"

1950Connie Mack retires as manager of A's after 50 years

1977Reggie Jackson hits 3 consecutive homers tying Ruth's series record

1969Rod Stewart joins Small Faces

1685French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants

1942Hitler orders captured allied commandos to be killed

2007After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returns to her homeland Pakistan. The same night, suicide attackers blow themselves up near Bhutto's convoy, killing over 100 in the cheering crowd, including 20 police officers. Bhutto escaped uninjured.

1939Mike Ditka, Carnegie Pennsylvania, NFL coach/tight-end (Bears, Cowboys, NFL rookie year 1961)

1960Jean-Claude Van Damme, Brussels Belgian, actor (Kickboxer, No Retreat)

1956Martina Navratilova, Revnice Czech, tennis (Wimbledon 1989,79,82-87)

1935Peter Boyle, Norristown Pennsylvania, American actor (Joe, Candidate, Everybody Loves Raymond)

1919Pierre Trudeau, Montreal Quebec, 15th Prime Minister of Canada

1939Lee Harvey Oswald, New Orleans, Louisiana, assassin (JFK), (d. 1963)

1986"Fleetwood Mac" member Christine McVie (43) weds keyboardist Eduardo Quintela

1970Actor Lee Marvin (46) weds radio producer Pamela Marvin (40)

1869Sardinia king Victor Emmanuel II (49) weds his mistress Rosa Vercellana (36) in Italy

1926Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh (36) weds midwife Zeng Xueming (21) in Guangzhou

1982Bess Truman, 1st lady (1945-53), dies in Independence, Mo at 97

1931Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, dies in West Orange, NJ, at 84