Random News and Notes 28 October
On this date:
- 312 – Constantine the Great defeats Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius at the Mulvian Bridge.
- 969 – After a prolonged siege, the Byzantines end 300 years of Arab rule in Antioch
- 1216 – Henry III of England is crowned.
- 1628 – After a fifteen-month siege, the Huguenot town of La Rochelle surrenders to royal forces.
- 1636 – Harvard College, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is founded in Cambridge, Mass.
- 1793 – Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin, a machine which cleans the tight-clinging seeds from short-staple cotton easily and effectively–a job which was previously done by hand.
- 1863 – In a rare night attack, Confederates under Gen. James Longstreet attack a Federal force near Chattanooga, Tennessee, hoping to cut their supply line, the “cracker line.” They fail.
- 1886 – The Statue of Liberty, originally named Liberty Enlightening the World, is dedicated at Liberty Island, N. Y., formerly Bedloe’s Island, by President Grover Cleveland
- 1897 – the first oil-producing well on Osage land is completed, setting the stage for one of the greatest oil booms in American history. The discovery brings extraordinary wealth to members of the Osage Nation, making them the richest people in the world per capita.
- 1901 – Race riots sparked by Booker T. Washington’s visit to the White House kill 34.
- 1904 – The St. Louis police try a new investigation method: fingerprints.
- 1914 – The German cruiser Emden, disguised as a British ship, steams into Penang Harbor near Malaya and sinks the Russian light cruiser Zhemchug.
- 1914 – George Eastman announces the invention of the color photographic process.
- 1919 – Over President Wilson’s veto, Congress passes the National Prohibition Act, or Volstead Act, named after its promoter, Congressman Andrew J. Volstead. It provides enforcement guidelines for the Prohibition Amendment.
- 1927 – Pan American Airways launches the first scheduled international flight.
- 1940 – Italy invades Greece, launching six divisions on four fronts from occupied Albania.
- 1944 – The first B-29 Superfortress bomber mission flies from the airfields in the Mariana Islands in a strike against the Japanese base at Truk.
- 1960 – In a note to the OAS (Organization of American States), the United States charges that Cuba has been receiving substantial quantities of arms and numbers of military technicians” from the Soviet bloc.
- 1962 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders Soviet missiles removed from Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1965 – Construction completed on St. Louis Arch; at 630 feet (192m), it is the world’s tallest arch.
- 1971 – Britain launches the satellite Prospero into orbit, using a Black Arrow carrier rocket; this is the first and only British satellite launched by a British rocket.
- 1982 – The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party wins election, giving Spain its first Socialist government since the death of right-wing President Francisco Franco.
- 1992 – Duluth, Minnesota mayor Gary Doty cuts the ribbon at the mouth of the brand-new, 1,480-foot–long Leif Erickson Tunnel on Interstate 35. With the opening of the tunnel, that highway—which stretches 1,593 miles—was finished at last.
- 1998 – President Bill Clinton signs into law the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The legislation was written in order to strengthen existing federal copyright protections against new threats posed by the internet and by the democratization of high technology.
- 2005 – Libby “Scooter” Lewis, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, resigns after being indicted for “outing” CIA agent Valerie Plame.
- 2007 – Argentina elects its first woman president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
We start at the MVAP Sports desk today. In last night’s World Series action, the Rays finally won one. Tampa Bay staved off elimination with a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in 12 innings of World Series Game 4 last night. Milwaukee’s Cooper Pratt hit a solo homer for a 3-2 lead in the top of the 12th, but a throwing error by Joey Ortiz loaded the bases, setting up Williamson’s game-winning hit after singles from Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca, and Chandler Simpson. Jackson Chourio tied Babe Ruth’s 98-year-old record with his 10th hit of the series, while former Rays pitchers like Zach Eflin and Tyler Glasnow cheered from the stands.
The Brewers lead 3-1 heading into Game 5 tonight in St. Petersburg.
In more sports news, the MLBPA Players Choice awards were presented last night. Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs earned Player of the Year and NL Outstanding Player. Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros took AL Outstanding Player and AL Comeback Player, while Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees won AL Outstanding Pitcher after a 1.95 ERA over 193.2 innings. Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies claimed NL Comeback Player with a 14-5 record, 3.00 ERA, and 193 strikeouts following 2025 surgery; he shared, ‘This is exactly who I strive to be,’ as a family member recalled hoping he’d just be okay.
The official league postseason awards will be announced 11 November.
There were elections in Israel yesterday. As of the time of writing – 1100 edt – with 93% of the vote tallied, neither of the two major blocs, Bibi Netanyahu’s Likud dominated right wing coalition and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar opposition coalition are neck and neck. Likud won the largest single party group of seats in the Knesset with 27 seats. All told Netanyahu’s bloc appears to have 53 seats while Eisenkot’s bloc has 48. That makes the Arab parties potential kingmakers with their 19 seats. 61 seats are required for a majority.
The Electoral commission has 30 days to certify the votes.
A Westjet Boeing 737 MAX 8 arrived at Toronto-Pearson airport from Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday evening and struck the upper section of the catering vehicle on the apron. No one was hurt among passengers, crew, or ground workers, though the truck sustained substantial damage. Emergency responders arrived quickly with fire trucks and ambulances, and air traffic control notified nearby flights.
An investigation is now underway, with WestJet and airport officials yet to comment on the cause or plane damage.
Time for trivia with Uncle Danny. Toronto-Pearson’s ATA code is YYZ. In the 1930s and 1940s, before modern flight tracking, Canadian airports utilized a prefix system to tell pilots if a tracking location had an on-site weather station or radio beacon. If it did, authorities attached a “Y” for “Yes”. The first Y. Before aviation took off, Canada’s transcontinental railroad relied on two-letter Morse code identifiers for its stations. The telegraph station located in Malton, Ontario—the exact site chosen for Toronto’s major airport—was assigned the code YZ. The second Y and the Z. It is correctly pronounced Y-Y-Zed
It was also the inspiration for a song. The band, Rush,used the Morse code for Toronto Pearson as the opening riff of the 3rd track on their 1981 album Moving Pictures, YYZ. And I take any excuse I can to post a Rush song:
ICE arrested an Illegal who was given probation for shooting someone in the face. Aldo David Herrera-Andino entered the U.S. illegally in 2021, then in March 2024 shot Brillian Amilcar Mercado-Nunez in the face at a Davidson County residence, leaving him in critical condition at Vanderbilt Medical Center. He pleaded guilty to felony reckless aggravated assault and received five years probation from Judge Cindy Chappell last month.
ICE arrested him soon after, holding him for deportation.
We really need to do something about these activists in black robes. This crap is getting out of hand.
A Brooklyn woman was just convicted for aiding terrorists. Halima Salman a U.S. citizen formerly from Brooklyn, was convicted of knowingly receiving military-type training from ISIS’s all-female Khatiba Nusaybah battalion in Syria during 2016 and 2017. Prosecutors showed evidence like a training certificate for carrying an assault rifle, photos with an ISIS flag, and a video of her with an AK-47, contradicting her claims of family coercion.
She now faces up to 10 years in prison, with sentencing set for February 2, 2027, in a case marking one of the first U.S. trials of a woman for joining ISIS activities abroad.
She should be denaturalized or her citizenship stripped and deported.
Yesterday, 31-year-old gun activist Jonathan Andrew Tijerina sprayed ‘juststopkillingkids.com’ in red paint across bronze panels at Manhattan’s National September 11 Memorial, listing victims of the 2001 attacks and 1993 bombing. Police arrested him nearby on charges of criminal mischief and graffiti.
He faces charges including criminal mischief with over $2,550 in damage. Tijerina called it nonviolent resistance for universal background checks, a national gun registry, and affordable housing, referencing a recent Tallahassee shooting.
Monument staff removed the red paint the same day, restoring the panels without lasting harm.
While correlation is not causation, I I should point out that not once in 15 years has there been an instance of vandalism at the 9/11 Memorial. Yet mere weeks after the commies AOC and Mandami were seen Yucking it up at an event there we see the first instance. Makes you think, or it does me anyway.
A Haitian national has been charged with murder in Pennsylvania. On Oct. 21, 45-year-old Latosha Ann Cooper, a Walmart manager and mother of three, was shot in the head outside the Cheltenham Township store after work. Authorities charged 23-year-old Destino Jean-Louis, a Haitian national who entered the U.S. via a parole program in 2023, with first-degree murder; the two had a sham marriage for his immigration status. The status was denied in July 2025, after which she cut contact. Surveillance showed a masked man waiting by a bush, approaching her and a coworker, then fleeing.
He was arrested two days later. Evidence including cellphone records and matching ammunition linked him to the scene. He remains in custody without bail as the investigation continues.
NSFW: