Today in History....October 20

On this day in …

1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase
1903, a joint commission ruled in favor of the United States in a boundary dispute between the District of Alaska and Canada

1935, just over a year after the start of the Long March, Mao Zedong arrives in Shensi Province in northwest China with 4,000 survivors and sets up Chinese Communist headquarters. The epic flight from Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles, nearly twice the distance from New York to San Francisco.

1944, during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2 1/2 years after he'd said, "I shall return."

1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration within the American motion picture industry

1967, seven men were convicted in Meridian, Miss., of violating the civil rights of three murdered civil rights workers

1973, in the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre," special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned

1981, a bungled armored truck robbery in Nyack, N.Y., left a guard and two police officers dead. (Four suspects, members of radical groups, were later convicted and sentenced to 75 years to life in prison; a fifth suspect, Kathy Boudin, was paroled in 2003.)

2001,


During a visit to Shanghai, China, President Bush challenged Asian leaders to help "save the civilized world" by joining his war against terrorism

Officials announced that anthrax had been discovered in a House postal facility on Capitol Hill