Today is Saturday, Oct. 17, the 290th day of 2009. There are 75 days left in the year.
On this date
* In 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, N.Y., in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.
* In 1919, Radio Corporation of America was chartered.
* In 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion. (Sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone was released in 1939.)
* In 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
* In 1939, Frank Capra's comedy-drama "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," starring James Stewart as an idealistic junior U.S. senator, had its premiere in the nation's capital.
* In 1941, the U.S. destroyer Kearny was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Iceland; 11 people died.
* In 1973, Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974.
* In 1979, Mother Teresa, of India, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
* In 1989, an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.1 struck northern California, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion worth of damage. (The quake hit just before Game 3 of the World Series between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park; the Series was suspended until Oct. 27, at which time the A's resumed their four-game sweep of the Giants.)
Today's Birthdays
Actress Marsha Hunt is 92. Actress Julie Adams is 83. Newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin is 79. Country singer Earl Thomas Conley is 68. Singer Jim Seals (Seals & Crofts) is 67. Singer Gary Puckett is 67. Rock musician Michael Hossack is 63. Actor Michael McKean is 62. Actress Margot Kidder is 61. Actor George Wendt is 61. Actor-singer Bill Hudson is 60. Astronaut Mae Jemison is 53. Country singer Alan Jackson is 51. Movie critic Richard Roeper is 50. Movie director Rob Marshall is 49. Actor Grant Shaud is 49. Animator Mike Judge is 47. Rock singer-musician Fred LeBlanc (Cowboy Mouth) is 46. Actor-comedian Norm Macdonald is 46. Singer Rene' Dif is 42. Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 41. Golfer Ernie Els is 40. Singer Chris Kirkpatrick ('N Sync) is 38. Rapper Eminem is 37. Singer Wyclef Jean is 37. Actress Sharon Leal is 37. Actor Matthew Macfadyen is 35. Rock musician Sergio Andrade is 32. Actor Dee Jay Daniels is 21.th
