Today in History, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017

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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 17, the 290th day of 2017. There are 75 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 17, 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone was released in 1939.)

On this date:

In 1091, a tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London.

In 1604, German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus.

In 1610, French King Louis XIII, age nine, was crowned at Reims, five months after the assassination of his father, Henry IV.

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In 1771, the opera Ascanio in Alba premieres in Milan, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, age 15.

In 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, New York, in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

In 1807, Britain declared it would continue to reclaim British-born sailors from American ships and ports regardless of whether they held U.S. citizenship.

In 1888, Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

In 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

In 1943, the Burma Railway (Burma–Thailand Railway) is completed.

In 1956, the first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, in Cumbria, England.

In 1957, the movie “Jailhouse Rock,” starring Elvis Presley, had its world premiere in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1967, Puyi, the last emperor of China, died in Beijing at age 61.

In 1979, Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1989, the East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actress Marsha Hunt is 100. Actress Julie Adams is 91. Singer Gary Puckett is 75. Actress Margot Kidder is 69. Actor George Wendt is 69. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 49. Singer Wyclef Jean is 48. South African golfer Ernie Els is 48. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick (‘N Sync) is 46. Rapper Eminem is 45. Actress Felicity Jones is 34. Actor Chris Lowell is 33.

Thought for Today:

“To talk to a child, to fascinate him, is much more difficult than to win an electoral victory. But it is also more rewarding.” — Colette, French author (1873-1954).