Today is Saturday, Oct. 18, the 292nd day of 2008. There are 74 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On Oct. 18, 1962, Dr. James Watson of the U.S. and Drs. Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins of Britain were named winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for their work in determining the double-helix structure of DNA.

On this date

In 1867, the United States took formal possession of Alaska from Russia.

In 1968, the U.S. Olympic Committee suspended Tommie Smith and John Carlos for giving a “black power” salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.

Today’s Birthdays

Rock-and-roll performer Chuck Berry is 82. Tennis player Martina Navratilova is 52. Boxer Thomas Hearns is 50. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 48.

Thought for Today

“Matrimony is not a word, it’s a sentence.”

— Eddie Cantor,

American comedian-singer (1892-1964)