Today is Monday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2014. There are 72 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History:
On Oct. 20, 1944, during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines,
2 1/2 years after saying, "I shall return." The cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik were
liberated by Russian and Yugoslav troops. The Guatemala Revolution took place as student and military
leaders overthrew the military dictatorship. A series of gas storage tank explosions and fires in
Cleveland killed 130 people.
In 1714, the coronation of Britain’s King George I took place in Westminster Abbey.
In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1914, "Stay Down Here Where You Belong," an antiwar song by Irving Berlin, was published by
Waterson, Berlin & Snyder Co. in New York.
In 1936, Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy, died in Forest Hills, New York, at age 70.
In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and
infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry.