On this date in history:

In 1797, the first silk parachute jump from a high altitude was made by Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who dropped in a basket released from a balloon at 3,300 feet over a Paris park.

In 1836, Gen. Sam Houston was sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1929, Professor Irving T. Fisher, head of the Yale department of economics, said that the recent bearish stock market had about reached its bottom and an upward movement was in sight, increasing throughout next year. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 would begin just two days later.

In 1938, inventor Charles Carlson produced the first dry, or xerographic, copy. He had trouble attracting investors.

In 1962, U.S. President John Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles had been deployed in Cuba and ordered a blockade of the island.

In 1966, The Supremes became the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with Supremes a Go-Go.

In 1978, Pope John Paul II was installed as pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1983, Ten U.S. warships sailed toward the violence-wracked Caribbean island of Grenada Saturday, prompting its new Marxist leaders to mobilize their forces for a possible invasion.

In 1992, pioneer sportscaster Red Barber died at age 84.

In 2001, the Pentagon announced nearly 200 U.S. jets struck Taliban and al-Qaida facilities in western Afghanistan and disputed Taliban claims that 100 civilians died when a bomb hit a hospital.

In 2009, the U.S. Congress expanded a hate-crime law to make it a federal crime to assault someone because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

In 2010, nearly 400,000 previously secret U.S. documents on the war in Iraq were posted on the WikiLeaks Internet website. Three months earlier, more than 75,000 undisclosed Afghan conflict documents appeared.

In 2011, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, heir to the Saudi Arabian throne, died after several years of medical problems. The prince, half-brother of King Abdullah and a longtime power in the Saudi government, was 81.

In 2012, a UPI poll indicated 53 percent of likely voters believed President Obama would defeat Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the Nov. 6 general election. Thirty-six percent said they thought Romney would be the winner and the rest were undecided.

In 2013, a U.S. Labor Department report delayed almost three weeks because of a partial government shutdown said hiring was down for September but the unemployment rate dropped to 7.2 percent, lowest in nearly five years.

Copyright 2016 by United Press International