Moments in Time – October 4, 2023

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• On Oct. 16, 1968, American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos sparked controversy at the Mexico City Olympics by giving “Black power” salutes during a victory ceremony after they’d won gold and bronze medals in the 200 meter race.
• On Oct. 17, 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany after renouncing his German citizenship. He had been barred from working at any universities in his homeland but would become a professor of theoretical physics at Princeton University.
• On Oct. 18, 1648, in response to complaints of shoddy workmanship performed by some members of their trade, the Boston Company of Shoemakers was authorized to form a guild to set a quality standard and protect their interests, resulting in the creation of the first American labor organization on record.
• On Oct. 19, 1990, Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Dances with Wolves” had its world premiere in Washington, D.C. The actor put up $3 million of his own money to complete the film and was made an honorary member of the Sioux Nation after its release.
• On Oct. 20, 1990, a six-member jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, acquitted three members of the rap group 2 Live Crew of violating obscenity laws, stemming from their adults-only concert at a nightclub in nearby Hollywood the previous June. The prosecution’s only evidence was two garbled tape recordings of the event made by undercover deputies.
• On Oct. 21, 1805, a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. He was fatally felled by a bullet from an enemy sharpshooter that tore through his chest and lodged in his spine, Nelson lived long enough to follow the battle’s progress and realize his own victory.
• On Oct. 22, 1979, the U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment of his cancer. In response, the Ayatollah Khomeini incited Iranian militants to attack the U.S., and the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun on Nov. 4, with 66 employees taken as hostages.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.