Moments in Time – September 27, 2023

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• On Oct. 9, 2004, Afghan voters went to the polls for the first time in their nation’s history to vote for a president and elected Hamid Karzai, who had served as their interim president
• On Oct. 10, 1845, George Bancroft – historian, educator and secretary of the Navy – founded the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to improve the then-unsatisfactory methods of instructing the service’s midshipmen.
• On Oct. 11, 2000, at a ceremony in London, the International Women of the Year Association awarded the title “Greatest Woman Achiever of the Century” to Russian engineer and cosmonaut Valentina V. Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space when she flew a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963.
• On Oct. 12, 1810, the first Oktoberfest was celebrated in Munich, Germany, in honor of the marriage of Ludwig, the crown prince of Bavaria (who later became King Louis I), to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities lasted nearly a week and ended in a horse race. Today, the festival is the largest in the world, with more than 6 million participants around the globe.
• On Oct. 13, 1950, the movie “All About Eve,” starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, premiered in both Paris and New York City. Known for its acid wit, it won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but was roundly criticized for depicting a character smoking in bed by an Indiana man who was part of his local fire prevention committee.
• On Oct. 14, 1926, English humorist, poet and playwright A.A. Milne published “Winnie-the-Pooh,” a children’s book set in the fictional Hundred Acre Wood featuring the adventures of the eponymous honey-loving bear and his good friends, including Eeyore, Christopher Robin and Piglet.
• On Oct. 15, 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party, with a mission of protecting African Americans from police brutality. The organization developed into a Marxist revolutionary group, calling for, among other things, the arming of all African Americans and the release of African Americans from jail.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.