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Today in History: October 10

0732 At Tours, France, Charles Martel kills Abd el-Rahman and halts the Muslim invasion of Europe.

1789 In Versailles France, Joseph Guillotin says the most humane way of carrying out a death sentence is decapitation by a single blow of a blade.

1877 Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer is buried at West Point in New York.

1911 The Panama Canal opens.

1971 The London Bridge, built in 1831 and dismantled in 1967, reopens in Lake Havusu City, Arizona, after being sold to Robert P. McCulloch and moved to the United States.

1973 Spiro Agnew resigns the vice presidency amid accusations of income tax evasion. President Richard Nixon names Gerald Ford as the new vice president. Agnew is later convicted and sentenced to three years probation and fined $10,000.

1985 An Egyptian plane carrying hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship is intercepted by US Navy F-14s and forced to land at a NATO base in Sicily.

2008 Orakzai bombing, Afghanistan: members of the Taliban drive an explosive-laden truck into a meeting of 600 people discussing ways to rid their area of the Taliban; the bomb kills 110.


Born on October 10

1946 Ben Vereen, actor (Roots miniseries).

1954 David Lee Roth, singer, songwriter, actor, author; lead vocalist for hard rock band Van Halen; member of Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (2007).

1958 Tanya Tucker, singer whose first hit, "Delta Dawn," came when she was just 13.

1974 Dale Earnhardt Jr., stock car racing driver and team owner; won Most Popular Driver Award in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 10 times (2003–2012).

Joke of the Day
Teacher: Billy if there are 5 birds on a fence and you shoot 1 how many birds are left?
Billy: None the others would fly away at the sound of the gun.
Teacher: The answer is 4 but I like the way you think.
Billy: I have a question Miss. There are 3 women eating ice cream cones. 1 licking, 1 biting, and 1 sucking, which one is married?
Teacher blushing, nervously answers “the one sucking.”
Billy: The answer is the one wearing the wedding ring, but I like the way you think.