Random News and Notes 26 October

On this date:

• 1774 – The first Continental Congress, which protested British measures and called for civil disobedience, concludes in Philadelphia.
• 1795 – When General Paul Barras resigns his commission as head of France’s Army of the Interior to become head of the Directory, his second-in-command becomes the army’s commander—Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 1825 – The first boat on the Erie Canal leaves Buffalo, N.Y.
• 1881 – Three Earp brothers and Doc Holliday have a shootout with the Clantons and McLaurys at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

• 1905 – Norway signs a treaty of separation with Sweden. Norway chooses Prince Charles of Denmark as the new king; he becomes King Haakon VII.
• 1918 – Germany’s supreme commander, General Erich Ludendorff, resigns, protesting the terms to which the German Government has agreed in negotiating the armistice. This sets the stage for his later support for Hitler and the Nazis, who claim that Germany did not lose the war on the battlefield but were “stabbed in the back” by politicians.
• 1942 – U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Hornet is sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island, in the South Pacific.
• 1950 – A reconnaissance platoon for a South Korean division reaches the Yalu River. They are the only elements of the U.N. force to reach the river before the Chinese offensive pushes the whole army down into South Korea.
• 1955 – Ngo Dinh Diem declares himself Premier of South Vietnam.
• 1957 – The Russian government announces that Marshal Georgi Zhukov, the nation’s most prominent military hero, has been relieved of his duties as Minister of Defense. Khrushchev accused Zhukov as promoting his own “cult of personality” and saw him as a threat to his own popularity.
• 1958 – The first New York – Paris transatlantic jet passenger service is inaugurated by Pan Am, while the first New York – London transatlantic jet passenger service is inaugurated by BOAC.
• 1967 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran and his wife Farah as empress.
• 1970 – Gary Trudeau’s comic strip Doonesbury first appears.

• 1979 – The President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee, asssinated by Kim Jae-kyu, head of the country’s Central intelligence Agency; Choi Kyu-ha is named acting president.
• 1994 – Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty.
• 2001 – The USA PATRIOT Act signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush, greatly expanding intelligence and legal agencies’ ability to utilize wiretaps, records searches and surveillance.
• 2002 – Russian Spetsnaz storm the Moscow Theatre, where Chechen terrorists had taken the audience and performers hostage three days earlier; 50 terrorists and 150 hostages die in the assault.

We start the news in the skies over Nevada. There was an apparent hijacking attempt made on a United flight from Vegas to Newark. United Airlines Flight 1681, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with about 150 passengers and six crew, departed Las Vegas for Newark around 10:50 p.m. on Oct. 24 but returned an hour later due to a potential security concern. Air traffic control audio captured the crew reporting the suspicious text, leading them to secure the cockpit while the passenger remained unaware.

The plane landed safely, met by U.S. Marshals, and resumed the trip Sunday morning after an overnight delay. The FAA and Marshals service are investigating.

Staying in the air, Jet2 Flight LS1310, a 737-800, landed at Birmingham in the UK Sunday afternoon but veered off the runway during rollout due to gusty conditions. The plane returned to the runway, taxied normally, and all passengers disembarked without injuries.

Storm Boelo – the source of the winds – caused broader UK chaos, including two deaths from falling trees, 90,000 homes without power, school closures, rail disruptions, and flooding, with yellow warnings persisting into early week before calmer weather. The UK CAA (Civil Air Authority) is investigating.

That thing that never happens keeps happening. The DOJ has charged 48 foreign nationals with illegal voter registration and voting in Nevada, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, and New York. In California, the DOJ sued to pause counting mail ballots for about 20,000 potential noncitizens until citizenship verification, but a federal appeals court panel expressed skepticism over timing and authority.

Alaska faces a separate DOJ lawsuit to block Senate results certification if confusion from a similar-name candidate affected votes.

From the MVAP sports desk, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award recipient. The award is presented for character and philanthropy. Lindor’s work in education, youth leadership, disaster relief in Puerto Rico, and support for Queens kids cemented this years award. Lindor launched Lindor’s Leaders with New Balance to teach high schoolers mental health and teamwork, donated over $1 million to education including Lindor Hall at his alma mater, and aided hurricane relief.

The award will be presented before Game 3 of the World Series tonight at Tropicana Field. Lindor becomes the fifth Mets player and fifth Puerto Rican to win it.

There was a shooting at the homecoming festivities at Florida A&M in Tallahassee Saturday night. 11 people were wounded – none fatally – including 6 children. Tallahassee police arrested 15-year-old Anthony Rivers III this morning for the shooting near Bragg Memorial Stadium. He has been charged with 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and firearm possession. The incident apparently followed a physical altercation between Rivers and a couple of other people.

Police described it as an isolated incident. They made the arrest after reviewing digital evidence, and continue investigating how the teen obtained the gun.