Today’s highlights

On Oct. 20, 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte in World War II, fulfilling a promise he made after being ordered to evacuate the country two years prior by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On this date

1803: The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

1947: The House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence and infiltration in the U.S. motion picture industry.

1967: A jury in Meridian, Mississippi, convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of three killed civil rights workers; they received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

1973: In what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed, and Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned.

1977: Three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed in a chartered plane crash.

2011: Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte.

Today’s birthdays

Japan’s Empress Michiko is 90. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Wanda Jackson is 87. Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal is 87. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is 84. Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez is 71. Composer Thomas Newman is 69. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is 69. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 66. Democratic nominee for president and current Vice President Kamala Harris is 60.