On October 18, 1867, the U.S. formally took possession of Alaska
after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less
than two cents an acre. Indigenous peoples settled the unforgiving territory thousands of years earlier.

The Alaska purchase comprised 586,412 square miles, about twice
the size of Texas, and was championed by William Henry Seward,
the enthusiastically expansionist secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson.

William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872)

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845)

Jackson served as the seventh president of the United States
from 1829 to 1837.

(Fox News) – The Louisville Zoo in Louisville, Kentucky,
announced it made the tough decision to euthanize Helen
on Friday, Oct. 14,  because her quality of life declined for
several months due to natural aging.

The zoo said Helen had been in "remarkably good health
for most of her life" despite being diagnosed with "expected
age-related arthritis and some periodontal disease.”

According to the media release, In recent months, Helen
developed instability and tremors that put her at fall risk
and impacted her day-to-day life. 

Female zoo gorillas typically have a median life expectancy
of about 39 years.

Helen’s estimated birth year is 1958, and she was born in the
wilderness of Western Africa, which is now modern-day
Cameroon.

Alphonse Gabriel Capone  (1899 – 1947)

On October 17, 1931, gangster Al Capone was sentenced to 11
years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000, signaling the
downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s
and 1930s.

William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr.

Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson, involved in an incident
during the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16, 2022.

(AP) – The United States Postal Service officially announced the
price of Forever stamps and other postage will go up on Jan. 22,
2023. The move has been anticipated for months after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in August that increases would be
necessary to keep up with costs. Inflation was expected to add
$1 billion to the Postal Service’s operating budget. 

The USPS plans to increase prices of affected postage by 4.2%,
which amounts to a few cents per stamp. The cost of a Forever
stamp would go up 3 cents, from 60 cents to 63 cents. The price
of Forever stamps just went up in July from 58 cents to 60 cents.

A year ago, the stamps cost 55 cents.

Postmaster general Louis DeJoy (65).