Today is Sunday, Oct. 12, the 285th day of 2025. There are 80 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On October 12, 1968, Mexican track and field athlete Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman to ignite the Olympic flame at the opening ceremonies of the Mexico City Summer Games.
Also on this date:
In 1492, Christopher Columbus’s first expedition made landfall on what is now San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.
In 1870, General Robert E. Lee, former overall commander of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, died in Lexington, Virginia, at age 63.
In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev protested remarks at the United Nations by pounding his shoe on his desk.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.
In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher survived an assassination attempt when an Irish Republican Army bomb detonated at a hotel in Brighton, England, resulting in five fatalities.
In 2000, the destroyer USS Cole was targeted by boat-borne al-Qaida suicide bombers during a refueling stop in the port city of Aden, Yemen, resulting in the deaths of 17 on board.
In 2002, bombs attributed to al-Qaida-affiliated militants devastated two nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali, causing the deaths of 202 people, many of whom were foreign tourists.
In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first individual to complete a marathon in under two hours, finishing the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria, with a time of 1:59:40.
Today’s Birthdays:
- NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett is 93.
- Broadcast journalist Chris Wallace is 78.
- Singer-songwriter Jane Siberry is 70.
- Actor Hiroyuki Sanada is 65.
- Jazz musician Chris Botti (BOH’-tee) is 63.
- Actor Hugh Jackman is 57.
- Country musician Martie Maguire (The Chicks) is 56.
- Actor Kirk Cameron is 55.
- Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller is 48.
- Actor Josh Hutcherson is 33.
