*TFT – Texting From Toilet. *

*Now share this with some other oldies, who
are 70+, and make their day.

    
    
   
Theodore Roosevelt, a titan of political progressivism, war
hero, champion of American exceptionalism, Nobel Peace
Prize recipient and 26th president of the United States from
1901 to 1909, was born in New York City on this day in
history, Oct. 27, 1858.

1904

Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United
States and the Soviet Union finally result in a plan to end the two-
week-old Cuban Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which
nuclear holocaust seemed imminent began to come to an end.

Since President John F. Kennedy’s October 22 address warning
the Soviets to cease their reckless program to put nuclear weapons
in Cuba and announcing a naval “quarantine” against additional weapons shipments into Cuba, the world held its breath waiting to
see whether the two superpowers would come to blows. With no apparent end to the crisis in sight, U.S. forces were placed at
DEFCON 2—meaning war involving the Strategic Air Command
was imminent. On October 24, millions waited to see whether
Soviet ships bound for Cuba carrying additional missiles would
try to break the U.S. naval blockade around the island. At the last
minute, the vessels turned around and returned to the Soviet Union.

The Canal connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via
the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, the
driving force behind the project, led the opening ceremonies
and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York
City.

Work began on the waterway in 1817. Teams of oxen plowed the
ground, but for the most part the work was done by immigrants,
among them Irish diggers who had to rely on primitive tools. They
were paid $10 a month, and barrels of whisky were placed along
the canal route as encouragement.

A painting at the Syracuse Canal Museum depicts Governor Dewitt Clinton bringing water from Lake Erie to New York
City, in the ceremony known as the “Wedding of the Waters.”

The Erie Canalway today.

CARLATA BRADLEY

Pat Sajak ( Patrick Leonard Sajdak) is 76 years old today.

Sajak is a television personality and game show host. He is
best known as the host of the American television game
show Wheel of Fortune, a position he has held since 1981.