FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2007

Today is Friday, October 12, the 285th day of 2007. There are 80 days left in the year.

1285 _ 180 Jews refuse baptism in Munich, Germany, they are set on fire

1492 _ Columbus arrives in the Bahamas; the real Columbus Day

1860 _ British and French troops capture Beijing

1915 _ Theodore Roosevelt criticizes U.S. citizens with dual nationalities

1941 _ The Russian government moves from Moscow to Volga as Nazis close in on Moscow

1942 _ The U.S. navy defeats Japanese in WWII Battle of Cape Esperance

1962 _ The U.S. and the USSR sign joint space effort in telecommunications and meteorology

1968 _ The 19th modern Olympic games opens in Mexico City

1968 _ Equatorial Guinea gains independence from Spain

1969 _ Yoko Ono suffers another miscarriage

1972 _ 46 sailors injured in race riot on aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk

1973 _ Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as vice president

1976 _ Hua Guo-feng succeeds Mao Tse-tung as chairman of Communist Party

1988 _ Israel and China sign trade deal, plan diplomatic relations