Removing Debris at the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon.

The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 (also known as the Big Blow)
was a Pacific Northwest windstorm that originated from typhoon
Freda and struck the West Coast of Canada and the Pacific
Northwest coast of the United States on October 12, 1962.

The system brought strong winds to the Pacific Northwest and southwest Canada. It was linked to 46 fatalities in the northwest
and Northern California resulting from heavy rains and mudslides. 

Estimates put the dollar damage at approximately $230 million to
$280 million for California, Oregon, and Washington combined.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (now MetLife) named the
Columbus Day Storm the nation’s worst natural disaster of
1962.

On October 11, 1975, Saturday Night Live (SNL),featuring Chevy
Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris,
Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, made its debut on NBC.

The 90-minute program, which from its inception has been
broadcast live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center, includes a
different guest host and musical act each week. The opening
sketch of each show ends with one actor saying, “Live from
New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Created by the Canadian-born comedy writer Lorne Michaels,
SNL has introduced a long list of memorable characters and catchphrases.

A news update with Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin.

The Coneheads were (from left) Laraine Newman, Jane
Curtain and Dan Akyroyd.

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Mary Lou Retton is ‘fighting for her life’ as she battles a rare
form of pneumonia. She was unable to breathe on own and
is in ICU.

Retton, 55, won five medals in the 1984 Games, including
two silver medals for team and vault and two bronze
medals in the uneven bars and floor exercise.

The United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis,
Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven
professors. Known as the Naval School until 1850,
the curriculum included mathematics and navigation,
gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural
philosophy, and French.

The Naval School officially became the U.S. Naval Academy
in 1850, and a new curriculum went into effect, requiring
midshipmen to study at the academy for four years and to
train aboard ships each summer—the basic format that
remains at the academy to this day.

TIM MAGUIRE

On May 27, 1995, Reeve broke his neck when he was thrown
from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper,
Virginia. The injury paralyzed him from the shoulders down,
and he used a wheelchair and ventilator for the rest of his life.