1985In the Mediterranean, Palestinian gunmen hijack the “Achille Lauro” and an Italian cruise ship off the coast of Egypt. The hijackers kill passenger Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly Jewish-American tourist before surrendering 2 days later.

1991In Washington, US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas faces damaging allegation of sexual harassment. Law professor Anita Hill accuses Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him in 2 federal agencies during the 1980s. Hill urges the Senator to investigate. Thomas denies her claims and the Senator later confirms him.

1998Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, is beaten and left tied to a wooden fence post outside Laramie, Wyoming. Shepard dies 5 days later. Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney are serving life sentences for his murder.

1951“See baby, ain't that America, home of the free, yeah, little pink houses for you and me.” John Mellencamp, the singer and songwriter with heartland rock hits, is born in Seymour, Indiana.

And 1982“Memory all alone in the moonlight.” In New York, Cats, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice opens on Broadway.

Today in History, October 7th, Mike Gracia, the Associated Press.