Video: St. Elsewhere 'Pilot' (Oct. 26, 1982)
(Tuesday, October 26, 1982, 10:00 p.m. EDT) — St. Elsewhere, a medical drama television series set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston’s South End neighborhood, debuted tonight on NBC-TV. It starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, William Daniels, David Birney, Ed Begley, Jr., Denzel Washington, Bonnie Bartlett, Christina Pickles, Mark Harmon, David Morse, Cynthia Sikes, Howie Mandel, Kim Miyori and Bruce Greenwood.
Video: Oct. 26, 1972 (6:32)
(Thursday, October 26, 1972, 11 days before the U.S. presidential election, during the Vietnam War) — Hours after Radio Hanoi broadcast key details of a draft peace agreement, which the South Vietnamese had adamantly rejected a few days before, American presidential advisor Henry Kissinger went on television today and declared “We believe that peace is at hand.” Continue reading ‘Peace Is at Hand’ in Vietnam, Kissinger says 40 years ago today (1972)
Video: 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' trailer
(Friday, October 26, 1962) — What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, a psychological thriller film about a crazed, aging star who torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion, premiered today in New York.
Directed by Robert Aldrich, the film starred Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Victor Buono.
Video: October 26, 1962 (at 4:25)
(Friday, October 26, 1962, day eleven of the Cuban missile crisis, part of the Cold War) — A Soviet-chartered freighter is stopped at the quarantine line today and searched for contraband military supplies. None are found and the ship is allowed to proceed to Cuba.
Meantime, ABC News reporter John Scali is approached by Aleksander Fomin of the Soviet embassy staff with a proposal for a solution to the crisis.
Later, a long, rambling letter from Soviet Premier Khrushchev to U.S. President Kennedy makes a similar offer: removal of the missiles in exchange for lifting the quarantine and a pledge that the U.S. will not invade Cuba. Continue reading Krushchev offers deal to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba 50 years ago today (1962)
(Friday, October 26, 1962) — The Beatles entered the British Top 40 charts today with Love Me Do, coming in at number 27 in the New Musical Express.
Video: 'Battle of Santa Cruz 1942'
(Monday, October 26, 1942, part of the Pacific Theater of World War II) — Japanese planes badly damaged the aircraft carrier USS Hornet today in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. The Hornet sank early the next morning Hornet with the loss of 140 of her sailors; the battle itself ended in a tactical victory for Japan, but ultimately a strategic win for the Allies.
