Today is Wednesday, October 20, the 293rd day of 2010. There are 72 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1740, Maria Theresa became ruler of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia upon the death of her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.

In 1827, the last great naval battle of the age of sail: British, French and Russian ships obliterate the Turkish fleet at Navarino, leading to the Turks withdrawing from Greece.

In 1867, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli writes about change in a time that many people were afraid of them, "Change is inevitable in a progressive country, change is constant."

In 1944, the Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik are liberated; US Gen. Douglas MacArthur stepped ashore at Leyte in the Philippines, 2 ½ years after saying, "I shall return."

In 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.

In 1986, Mozambique's President Samora Machel dies in plane crash in eastern South Africa.

In 2000, local and international health workers tackle an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Gulu, Uganda. Officials report a slowing in the spread of the epidemic that has killed 47 people and infected as many as 75 more.

Thought for Today

"Cynicism is intellectual dandyism." — George Meredith, English poet (1828-1909).