Today in History for 17th October 2023

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Historical Events

1899 - Sutro railroad sold to Robert F Morrow for $215,000
1957 - II Tsjoendrigar becomes premier of Pakistan
1976 - Coldest World Series game; Reds beat NY Yankees, 4-3 in Game 2 at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati; 39 degrees F (until 1997)
1995 - MLB American League Championship: Cleveland Indians beat Seattle Mariners, 4 games to 2
1998 - At Jesse, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, a petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 1200 villagers, some of whom are scavenging gasoline.
2010 - Brother André is the first Canadian to be canonized post Federation by Pope Benedict XVI

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Famous Birthdays

1704 - William Bentinck, British-born Dutch politician and prominent Orangist (d. 1774)
1734 - Grigori Orlov, Russian military officer and favorite of Catherine the Great (helped her overthrow Peter III), born in Bezhetsky Uyezd, Russia (d. 1783) [NS]
1848 - William "Candy" Cummings, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (credited with creating the curveball), born in Ware, Massachusetts (d. 1924)
1969 - Ernie Els, South African golfer (US Open 1994, 97; British Open 2002, 12), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
1977 - Bryan Bertino, American film director and screenwriter
1989 - Phoebe Tonkin, Australian actress

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Famous Deaths

1660 - Adrian Scrope, English regicide (b. 1601)
1897 - Isidor Dannström, Swedish composer, dies at 84
1979 - Karel Reiner, Czech pianist, composer, and Theresienstadt concentration camp survivor, dies at 69
1993 - Criss Oliva, American musician (Savatage), dies at 30
1995 - Peter Hinchcliff, historian, dies at 66
2019 - Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and founder of the National Ballet of Cuba, dies at 98

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