Today’s highlights

On Oct. 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad while reviewing a military parade.

On this date

1927: The era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, a feature film containing both silent and sound-synchronized sequences.

1973: War erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday, starting a nearly three-week conflict that would become known as the Yom Kippur War.

1976: President Gerald R. Ford, in his second presidential debate with Democrat Jimmy Carter, asserted that there was “no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.”

1979: Pope John Paul II, on a weeklong U.S. tour, became the first pontiff to visit the White House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter.

2007: British adventurer Jason Lewis completed the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe, spanning 13 years and 46,000 miles.

2014: The Supreme Court unexpectedly cleared the way for a dramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States as it rejected appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans, effectively making such marriages legal in 30 states.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Britt Ekland is 82. Irish politician Gerry Adams is 76. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy is 69. Bowler Walter Ray Williams Jr. is 65. Actor Elisabeth Shue is 61.