Today’s highlights

On October 26th, 1881, four lawmen, including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, exchanged gunfire with five outlaws, killing three of them, at the “Shootout at the O.K. Corral” in Tombstone, Arizona.

On this date

1774: The First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.

1825: The Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

1861: The legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental telegraph.

1984: “Baby Fae,” a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant. (She lived 21 days.)

2000: The New York Yankees became the first team in more than a quarter-century to win three straight World Series championships.

2001: President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.

2002: A hostage siege by Chechen rebels at a Moscow theater ended with 129 of the 800-plus captives dead.

2020: Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Today’s birthdays

Musician Milton Nascimento is 82. Actor Jaclyn Smith is 79. TV host Pat Sajak is 78. Politician, diplomat and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is 77. Singer Natalie Merchant is 61. Country singer Keith Urban is 57.