Today in History

Celebrity Birthdays for Oct. 17: Actress Marsha Hunt is 100. Actress Julie Adams ("Creature From the Black Lagoon") is 91. Violinist Betty-Jean Hagen is 87. Country singer Earl Thomas Conley is 76. Singer Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts is 75.

Celebrity Birthdays for Oct. 16: Actress Angela Lansbury is 92. Actor Peter Bowles ("Victoria," ''Rumpole of the Bailey") is 81. Actor-producer Tony Anthony is 80. Actor Barry Corbin ("One Tree Hill," ''Northern Exposure") is 77.

Celebrity Birthdays for Oct. 15: Former auto executive Lee Iacocca is 93. Jazz pianist Freddy Cole is 86. Singer Barry McGuire is 82. Willie O'Ree, the first black player in the NHL, is 82. Actress Linda Lavin ("Alice") is 80.

Today in History for Oct.

Today in History for Oct. 27: On this date: In 1746, William Tennent, a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theologian, obtained a charter for the College of New Jersey, later to be called Princeton University.

Today in History for Oct. 26: On this date: In 1774, the American Congress invited Canada to join the 13 colonies opposing Britain.

Today in History for Oct. 25: On this date: In 1147, the armies of the Second Crusade were destroyed by the Saracens at Dorylaeum in modern Turkey. The Crusaders went on with fruitless campaigns against Damascus, Syria.

Today in History for Oct. 24: On this date: In 1260, under Pope Alexander IV, Chartres Cathedral in France was consecrated. Completed in less than 30 years, the structure represents high Gothic architecture at its purest.

Today in History for Oct. 23: On this date: In 4004 BC, according to the sacred timeline worked out by Archbishop James Ussher, "the heavens and the earth" were created on this date at 9 a.m. (GMT).

Today in History for Oct. 22: On this date: In 1692, a 14-year-old girl repelled an Iroquois attack on Vercheres near Montreal. Marie-Madeleine de Vercheres took charge and rallied people inside the fort.