Today is Friday, Oct. 7, the 281st day of 2016. There are 85 days left in the year.
On this date:
In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.
In 1849, author Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore at age 40.
In 1949, the Republic of East Germany was formed.
In 1858, the fifth debate between Illinois senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in Galesburg.
In 1954, Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent Richard Nixon held their second televised debate, this one in Washington D.C.
In 1979, Pope John Paul II concluded his week-long tour of the United States with a Mass on the Washington Mall.
In 1982, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical “Cats” opened on Broadway.
In 1996, Fox News Channel made its debut.
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