Today is Wednesday, Oct. 30, the 304th day of 1996. There are 62 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:On Oct. 30, 1938, the radio play that panicked the nation, "The War of the Worlds," starring Orson Welles, aired on CBS.
On this date:
In 1735, the second president of the United States, John Adams, was born in Braintree, Mass.
In 1944, the Martha Graham ballet "Appalachian Spring," with music by Aaron Copland, premiered at the Library of Congress, with Graham in a leading role.
In 1945, the U.S. government announced the end of shoe rationing.
In 1953, Gen. George C. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Albert Schweitzer received the Peace Prize for 1952.
In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb with a force estimated at 58 megatons.
In 1961, the Soviet Party Congress unanimously approved a resolution ordering the removal of Josef Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb.
In 1972, 45 people were killed when an Illinois Central Gulf commuter train collided with another train in Chicago's South Side.
In 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain his world heavyweight title.
In 1975, the (New York) Daily News ran the headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead" a day after President Gerald Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.
In 1979, President Carter announced his choice of federal appeals judge Shirley Hufstedler to head the newly created Department of Education.
In 1985, the launch of the space shuttle Challenger was witnessed by the schoolteacher scheduled to fly aboard the spacecraft the following January, Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire.
Ten years ago: The Commerce Department reported the nation's trade deficit registered a slight improvement in September, shrinking to $12.6 billion from $13.3 billion the previous month.
Five years ago: The Middle East peace conference in Madrid, Spain, opened with addresses to the delegates by President George Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
One year ago: By a vote of 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent, Federalists prevailed over separatists in Quebec in a secession referendum.
Today's Birthdays: Movie director Claude Lelouch is 59. Rock singer Grace Slick is 57. Songwriter Eddie Holland is 57. Actor Henry Winkler is 51. Actor Harry Hamlin is 45. Actor Charles Martin Smith is 43. Country singer T. Graham Brown is 42. Rock singer-musician Jerry DeBorg (Jesus Jones) is 33. Rock singer-musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 29.
Thought for Today: "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." - Marie Curie, Polish Nobel Prize-winning chemist (1867-1934).