Today in History....October 11

On this day in …

1939, Albert Einstein and other U.S scientists inform President Franklin Roosevelt of the possibilities of developing an atomic bomb

1942, the World War II Battle of Cape Esperance began in the Solomons, resulting in an American victory over the Japanese

1962, Pope John XXIII opens the Second Vatican Council in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched

1976, Mao Zedong's widow Jiang Qing and three others, the "Gang of Four", are arrested and charged with plotting a coup in China

1982, the Mary Rose, once Henry VIII's flagship, is raised from the Solent off southern England

1986, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev meet concerning arms control and human rights in Reykjavik, Iceland

1991, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of harassing her; Thomas re-appeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a "high-tech lynching"

1993, William Nygaard, Norwegian publisher, whose firm translated "The Satanic Verses" by British author Salman Rushdie, is shot and seriously wounded in Oslo by practitioners of that "religion of peace"
2000, Jo Myong-rok, deputy to the North Korean leader and the highest-ranking official from that country ever to visit Washington, ends his three-day trip with Secretary of State Albright agreeing to visit Pyongyang

2004, European Union foreign ministers agree to lift an arms embargo on Libya, imposed in 1986, recognizing Tripoli's renunciation of weapons of mass destruction

2005, the United States apologizes to Hungarian Holocaust survivors whose possessions were stolen by U.S. soldiers at the end of World War II after allied forces seized what became known as the "Gold Train"