Local

Oct. 19,1989: Robin Laumann, a Project Charlie volunteer, spoke with fourth graders at Sibley Elementary School about building self-esteem. Project Charlie was a drug abuse prevention program aimed at elementary school students. The name stands for Chemical Abuse Resolution Lies In Education.

Oct. 21, 1979: Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Gustafson of Freeborn hosted Mohamed Osman Mustafa from Sudan and his new bride, Samia. Mustafa was the international editor for the National Daily Arabic Newspaper and was touring the United States as a member of the World Press Institute. The Gustafsons had hosted 22 World Press Institute journalists over 20 years.

Oct. 17,1979: Albert Lea Mayor O.H. Hagen accepted a commendation from Harold Kiewel, accessibility specialist for the Minnesota Council for the Handicapped, in recognition of the city’s support of handicapped accessibility.

Oct. 15, 1969: Gov. Harold LeVander paid tribute to the community of Albert Lea as he proclaimed the day a special one in recognition “for the contribution that the people of Albert Lea and Freeborn County have made not only to their community, but to the state of Minnesota.”

 

National

2018: Kensington Palace announced that Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, the former Meghan Markle, were expecting their first child in the spring.

2017: Actress and activist Alyssa Milano tweeted that women who had been sexually harassed or assaulted should write “Me too” as a status; within hours, tens of thousands had taken up the #MeToo hashtag — using a phrase that had been introduced 10 years earlier by social activist Tarana Burke.

2014: The Kansas City Royals advanced to their first World Series since 1985 after finishing a four-game sweep in the AL Championship Series with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

2009: A report of a 6-year-old Colorado boy trapped inside a runaway helium balloon engrossed the nation before the boy, Falcon Heene, was found safe at home in what turned out to be a hoax.

2003: Eleven people were killed when a Staten Island ferry slammed into a maintenance pier. The ferry’s pilot, who had blacked out at the controls, later pleaded guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter.

1991: Despite sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill, the Senate narrowly confirmed the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court, 52-48.

1976: In the first debate of its kind between vice presidential nominees, Democrat Walter F. Mondale and Republican Bob Dole faced off in Houston.

1946: Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering fatally poisoned himself hours before he was to have been executed.

1940: Charles Chaplin’s first all-talking comedy, “The Great Dictator,” a lampoon of Adolf Hitler, opened in New York.