Moments in Time: Harlem Globetrotters
The History Channel
On Oct. 7, 1985, Lynette Woodard, who captained the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic women's basketball team in 1984, had the great distinction of becoming the first female player for the Harlem Globetrotters, remarking that she "got chills" when she heard the news. She beat out nine other finalists for the honor.
On Oct. 8, 2009, two people died of heat stroke and more than a dozen others had to be hospitalized for dehydration and other medical issues following a botched sweat lodge ceremony near Sedona, Arizona, at a five-day retreat run by motivational speaker and author James Arthur Ray. A third participant died nine days later.
On Oct. 9, 1942, Chicago bootlegger Roger "The Terrible" Touhy escaped from Stateville Prison in Illinois by scaling the guard tower. Framed for kidnapping by his bootlegging rivals, with the aid of corrupt Chicago officials, Touhy was serving a 99-year sentence for a crime he didn't commit and was recaptured a couple of months later, but released in 1959, then murdered by unknown assailants after just three weeks of freedom.
On Oct. 10, 1845, the United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors. Its curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French.
On Oct. 11, 1975, law professors William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham married in their living room in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Only family and close friends were in attendance.
On Oct. 12, 2011, India successfully launched the Megha-Tropiques satellite into space to exclusively study monsoon patterns. The satellite was made with France's help and would share its data with organizations in Europe and America.
On Oct. 13, 1975, country singer Charlie Rich shocked viewers of the CMA Awards by setting the envelope announcing John Denver's win for Entertainer of the Year on fire with a lighter. By his own admission, "The Silver Fox" was on a combination of prescription pain medication and gin and tonics. But whatever the reason for his act, he was blacklisted from the show for the rest of his career.
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