Updated October 10, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.
On Oct. 11, 1884, Eleanor Roosevelt, the American first lady, social reformer, diplomat and author, was born. Following her death on Nov. 7, 1962, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1811 The first steam-powered ferryboat was put into operation between New York City and Hoboken, N.J. 1884 First lady Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City. 1958 The lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far as planned, fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere. 1968 Apollo 7 was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard. 1975 “Saturday Night Live” debuted on NBC. 1986 President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks on arms control and human rights in Reykjavik, Iceland. 1991 Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, law professor Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a “high-tech lynching.” 1998 Pope John Paul II canonized the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a Catholic nun killed at Auschwitz. 2001 Trinidad-born writer V.S. Naipaul won the Nobel Prize in literature. 2002 The Senate joined the House in approving the use of America’s military might against Iraq. 2002 Former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his 1970s Middle East diplomacy. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actress Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock”) turns 44 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Actress Emily Deschanel (“Bones”) turns 36 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
1925 Elmore Leonard, Author, turns 87 1927 William Perry, Former defense secretary, turns 85 1950 Patty Murray, U.S. senator, D-Wash., turns 62 1961 Steve Young, Football Hall of Famer, turns 51 1962 Joan Cusack, Actress, turns 50 1966 Luke Perry, Actor (“Beverly Hills 90210”), turns 46 1971 MC Lyte, Rapper, turns 41 1985 Michelle Trachtenberg, Actress, turns 27
Historic Birthdays
Eleanor Roosevelt 10/11/1884 – 11/7/1962 American First Lady (1933-44), diplomat and social reformer.Go to obituary »
64 James Barry 10/11/1741 – 2/22/1806
Irish painter62 John Thadeus Delane 10/11/1817 – 11/22/1879
British editor73 Harlan Fisk Stone 10/11/1872 – 4/22/1946
American jurist; associate justice (1925-41) and chief justice (1941-6) of U.S. Supreme Court84 Francois Mauriac 10/11/1885 – 9/1/1970
French writer68 Charles Revson 10/11/1906 – 8/24/1975
American business entrepeneur; founded Revlon cosmetics line78 Joseph W. Alsop Jr. 10/11/1910 – 8/28/1989
American journalist79 Jerome Robbins 10/11/1918 – 7/29/1998
American choreographer
