Moments in Time – September 18, 2024

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• On Sept. 30, 1962, African American student James H. Meredith was escorted onto the University of Mississippi campus by U.S. marshals, setting off a riot in which two men died before the violence was suppressed by federal soldiers. The next day, he successfully enrolled and began classes, though the disruption continued.
• On Oct. 1, 1920, “Scientific American” magazine reported that radio would soon be used to broadcast music, noting that, “Experimental concerts are at present being conducted every Friday evening from 8:30 to 11:00 by the Radio Laboratory of the Bureau of Standards. The possibilities of such centralized radio concerts are great and extremely interesting.”
• On Oct. 2, 1780, British Major John Andre, an accomplice of Benedict Arnold, was hanged as a spy by U.S. military forces in New York. Andre had asked of both his commander and Gen. George Washington that he be executed by firing squad, which was considered a more “gentlemanly” death, but the request was denied.
• On Oct. 3, 1997, 69-year-old Gordie “Mr. Hockey” Howe skated the first shift with the Detroit Vipers in their International Hockey League opener, making him the only professional in the sport to have competed during six decades.
• On Oct. 4, 1988, televangelist Jim Bakker was indicted on federal charges of mail and wire fraud and conspiring to defraud the public. The case against him and three aides exploded into scandal after it was revealed he’d had a sexual tryst with former church secretary Jessica Hahn in a Florida hotel.
• On Oct. 5, 1974, Dave Kunst finished the first round-the-world journey on foot, which took him four years and 21 pairs of shoes. His reason for embarking upon the 14,500-mile journey across four continents: “I was tired of Waseca [his home town], tired of my job, tired of a lot of little people who don’t want to think, and tired of my wife.”
• On Oct. 6, 1961, President John F. Kennedy recommended that American families build bomb shelters as protection from atomic fallout in case of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. He also assured the public that the U.S. civil defense program would soon begin providing such security for every American.

© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.