MOMENTS IN TIME - Oct. 15, 2009

The History Channel

• On Oct. 26, 1825, the 425-mile Erie Canal opens, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. The work was largely done by Irish diggers, who had to rely on primitive tools. They were paid $10 a month, and barrels of whiskey were placed along the canal route as encouragement.

• On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France, is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. On the pedestal was inscribed “The New Colossus,” a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus that begins “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

• On Oct. 31, 1912, “The Musketeers of Pig Alley,” directed by D.W. Griffith, debuts. The movie, which followed the career of a gangster nicknamed the Snapper Kid, initiated a long Hollywood tradition of “gangster movies.”

• On Oct. 30, 1938, Orson Welles causes a nationwide panic with his broadcast of “War of the Worlds” — a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth. Perhaps as many as a million radio listeners believed that a real Martian invasion was under way.

• On Oct. 29, 1948, killer smog continues to hover over Donora, Pa. During a five-day period, the smog killed about 20 people and made thousands more seriously ill. Airborne pollutants emitted from a zinc smelting plant and steel mills appeared to have been trapped by fog close to the ground, where they were inhaled by local residents.

• On Oct. 27, 1954, “Disneyland,” Walt Disney’s first television series, premieres on ABC. The one-hour show, introduced by Tinkerbell, presented a rotating selection of cartoons, dramas, movies and other entertainment. It ran for 34 years under various names.

• On Nov. 1, 1969, “Suspicious Minds,” by Elvis Presley, hits No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The song was Presley’s first chart-topper in seven years and would be his last, as he failed to hit the Top 10 again before his death in 1977.

(c) 2009 King Features Synd., Inc.